Woodland Hills board fails to approve temporary virtual agreement with Dominus High School after 4-4 vote

The Woodland Hills School District Board voted 4-4 and failed to approve an agreement that would have allowed Dominus High School to operate temporarily as a virtual school for the 2025–26 school year and enroll up to 10 Woodland Hills resident students with tuition waived.

The proposed agreement, read into the record at the meeting, would have allowed Dominus High School to operate virtually “for the 2025–26 school year only, virtually until Dominus commences in-person instruction at 703 Rodeye Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15235.” It would have capped Woodland Hills resident enrollments at 10 students and barred additional Woodland Hills enrollments after Sept. 2, 2025; Dominus would have waived all tuition payments otherwise due from Woodland Hills resident students during the 2025 school year.

Board members and commenters raised concerns about whether Dominus could deliver the hands-on career and technical offerings described in its materials if instruction remained virtual. "I have serious concerns with this program operating virtually," said Dr. Malysnick, citing phone calls from other superintendents and doubts about whether courses such as culinary arts, robotics and biotech could be provided online this late in the year. "It's just looking at it, and if we are really looking at putting Woodland Hills students first in this decision, I have serious concerns," he said.

Laura Artrell said online curricula are difficult to develop and warned the district could be "flying on what people call a wing and a prayer" if Dominus lacked a ready online program. "Online materials are very, very hard to put together," she said, and noted Woodland Hills already offers online options and established programs that might meet students' needs.

Other board members said Dominus representatives had described partnerships with community businesses and organizations to support hands-on elements even if the school began the year virtually. One board member described Dominus as "partnering with those organizations and businesses" and said Dominus leadership told the board it would not risk its charter.

Legal counsel Matt Rakunas addressed a question about whether a board member needed to recuse herself because of a personal connection. Rakunas said "under the ethics act, she would have to recuse herself if she has an immediate family member who has a fiduciary gain from the vote or if a business to which she or an immediate family member is associated." He said he did not see a legal obligation for recusal in this matter but that the decision to step aside could be left to the board member herself.

A motion to approve the agreement was moved by Doneka Griffin and seconded (second not specified in the public record). The board conducted a roll-call vote. The recorded votes in the transcript were: Doneka Griffin — yes; Tamara Allen Thomas — yes; Sarah Ruzewski — yes; Laura Artrell — no; Karen Lyons — no; Mike Belmont — no; Terry Lawson — no. The transcript also indicates a staff member named Jill was counted in the roll call, producing a 4-4 tie; the chair declared the motion failed on the tie vote.

Because the motion failed, the agreement did not pass and the district took no further action on implementing a temporary virtual arrangement with Dominus during the meeting. The board moved immediately to adjourn after the vote.

Provenance: The motion text and proposed terms are quoted from the board reading of the motion at the meeting. The motion reading begins with the board clerk's reading of the agreement terms (motion text recorded in transcript). The vote result and the chair's declaration that the motion "fails" appear later in the same meeting transcript.