Board approves curriculum items including Title I grant, library consolidation and affiliation agreements

The Bethel Park School District Board approved several curriculum committee items on a grouped motion and separately voted on an additional affiliation agreement.

On a single motion, the board approved items that included a minor change to the 2025–26 school calendar (adding a two-hour delay in October), professional development contracts funded by outside partners, a contract with Follett Library Services to consolidate and redistribute library materials across six elementary and middle school libraries, acceptance of the 2025–26 Title I grant and related nonpublic school services, approval of the 2025–26 student handbooks, and an affiliation agreement with PennWest University. The grouped motion (items 1–7) was moved by Mister Scalzo and passed 9–0. The board noted the Title I acceptance and thanked administrators and outside funders; the Cook Center for Human Connection was named as a funder of administrator professional development.

Item 8, an affiliation agreement with Western Governors University (WGU), was moved separately. The motion passed with eight votes in favor and one abstention (board recorded the result as 8–1 with one abstain). The transcript records a board member saying they needed to abstain from item 8 because it was their current employer; the meeting recorded the motion’s passage as "motion passes 8–1 abstain."

Board members emphasized that the Follett contract would produce lists of materials to be packed and moved to the new building and items to be resold or redistributed. The calendar change was characterized as a minor administrative correction that does not alter start or end dates or holidays.