Connellsville Area SD committees place contracts, hires and program MOUs on upcoming board agenda

Committee presenters at a Connellsville Area School District board meeting on May 8 asked the full board to place more than two dozen personnel actions, contracts and memorandums of understanding on the district's next agenda, including a special-education services agreement with the Children's Institute and Pre‑K Head Start and dual‑enrollment agreements.

The requests came during routine committee reports and were largely approved for placement on the upcoming board agenda after presenters said there were no objections. The items will be subject to final board action at the scheduled meeting and, where noted, to solicitor review or additional conditions such as required employee clearances.

Among the larger items committee presenters asked to place on the agenda was a proposed agreement with the Children's Institute for day‑school special‑education services at an annual cost stated in the record as $73,141 per year, prorated by student enrollment. The special‑education presenter also asked to place on the agenda a $1,298 purchase for an autism/Life Skills curriculum for two secondary classrooms.

Committee presenters from student services and personnel also asked the board to consider personnel appointments and hires, including a request to appoint a director of student services and workforce development effective June 1, 2025, at an annual salary of $105,000, and to appoint a coordinator of special education effective May 1, 2025, at an annual salary of $94,500. Several hires (for example, a cosmetology instructor and other certificated and support hires) were noted as contingent on required clearances, physicals and drug screening and on compliance with board policy 303 and Pennsylvania Department of Education regulations.

Federal and early‑childhood program requests included memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for Pre‑K/Head Start. The record shows a proposed MOU between the Private Industry Council of Westmore and Fayette and the district to operate a Pre‑K Head Start program at 730 Rockbridge Road from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, with a payment to the district recorded on the meeting transcript as $46,980 per year in 12 monthly installments of $3,915. Presenters also asked to place other early‑childhood MOUs on the agenda; one second MOU's payment schedule and per‑installment amount were read on the record but are unclear in the transcript (see clarifying details).

Other operational and facilities items placed on the agenda included: a one‑year service agreement for cooling and preventive maintenance with Hockenstein Mechanical Services (service frequency stated as twice per year and an amount read on the record as “5,057 and $37.37 cents”); a boiler preventative maintenance agreement for Bullskin Township Elementary (amount as read in the record is unclear); and the proposed sale of surplus Chromebooks at $50 each to graduating seniors through June 13, 2025, then to district staff through June 27, 2025, and afterward to the general public on a first‑come, first‑serve basis (limit of two Chromebooks per person).

Committee presenters also sought placement of a Central Penn College dual‑enrollment agreement, a Point Park University affiliation agreement, renewal of a Smart Futures license funded through a Ready to Learn grant (total cost recorded as $10,080), and a memorandum of understanding for cyber services between the district and its education association for July 2025–June 2026, pending solicitor review.

Finance and federal programs presenters listed donations and stipulations to settle tax assessment appeals and requested placement on the agenda of an ESBA unemployment compensation program agreement for July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026, with an administrative fee described in the record as $4.50 per employee. Several items were explicitly conditional on solicitor review or on successful completion of background checks and screenings for substitute and cafeteria personnel.

The meeting record shows many of these requests were routine consent‑agenda items; presenters repeatedly asked whether there were any questions or objections and, when none were raised, said the items would be placed on the agenda. No final board votes on the underlying contracts, hires or MOUs are recorded in the provided transcript; the requests were for placement on the board agenda for later formal action.

The district's committee presenters emphasized procedural safeguards for personnel actions (clearances, background checks, medicals) and flagged solicitor review for vendor agreements. Several presenters cited compliance with board policy 303 and Pennsylvania Department of Education rules for certificated hires.

Items will return to the full board for final consideration at the next scheduled meeting; the transcript does not include outcomes of any final votes.