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Board Pauses Meeting Room A/V Upgrade
Seek additional information before agreeing to spend $70,000
By Adam Reinherz
The Tube City Almanac
September 05, 2025
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Adam Reinherz photo for Tube City Almanac)
A proposal to upgrade the board room at McKeesport Area School District was met with reservations by school directors during Thursday’s agenda meeting.
After a proposal for audio and visual improvements to the board room, totaling $70,232, with work to be completed by Horizon Information Services, was placed on the agenda, several school directors questioned the costs.
“Some type of upgrades need to occur to this board room. I’m not sure to what extent,” school director Jason Pavlecic said. What should be addressed, he said, was the ability of school directors to participate in meetings remotely.
In the event that a school director is not present, that person has to call in and another school director holds a phone to a microphone in order for the absent school director to participate.
Having seen that process unfold, “I thought it was quite an embarrassment,” Pavlecic said. There must be a better system for people to “conference in.”
School Director Matthew Holtzman said improvements should include a camera that films individuals speaking during the hearing of citizens and a screen that shows school directors who’ve called in for meetings.
Holtzman said the improvements would support the public’s desire for increased “transparency.”
School Director David Donato questioned whether the room’s acoustics enabled attendees to hear comments and discussion during meetings.
Fellow School Director David Seropian agreed that costs must be examined before renovations are undertaken, but pushed back against other directors’ characterizations of the room.
“I'm not saying we don’t need upgrades,” he said. Still, “I have been in quite a number of board rooms and school districts in Allegheny Country, and elsewhere, and this is one of the nicest boardrooms.”
Before voting to undertake upgrades, it would be helpful for school directors to receive a presentation from contractors or experts — beyond the three-page bid, which listed proposed audio/visual system upgrades — explaining “what we’re getting for $70,000,” Pavlecic said.
School directors agreed and removed the item from next week’s agenda.
Adam Reinherz is a Pittsburgh-based journalist. He can be reached at adam.reinherz@gmail.com.
Originally published September 05, 2025.
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