Ambridge Area School District board adopts multiple plans and contracts, tables handbook language amid parent concerns over clear backpacks and transportation

The Ambridge Area School District Board of Directors on June 24 approved several routine financial and personnel items, adopted state-required school improvement plans and multiple vendor contracts for technology and athletics, and directed staff to seek bids for removal of deteriorating visitor bleachers. During public comment and committee discussion, parents and board members pressed the district to revisit a clear-backpack requirement and to provide a clearer update on transportation service performance before the start of the school year.

Board members voted to pay the district and cafeteria monthly bills and personnel salaries and to adopt changes to the district 403(b) plan effective June 1, 2025, as recommended by the district's third-party administrator. Those finance items were approved by the board during the meeting.

The board adopted final Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) plans submitted for the Ambridge Area High School, Ambridge Middle School and Economy Elementary School that the district reported are required when particular subgroup thresholds are met. The board also approved several education-technology and instructional items: dual-enrollment agreements with Robert Morris University, Carlow University and the Community College of Beaver County; a $12,880 purchase of Itopia cloud applications via state-contracted pricing through CDW/G; a one-year renewal of the EDU JamSchool iOS product for district iPad maintenance at…