Pittsburgh Public Schools agenda review highlights PE teacher vacancy, dozens of contracts and grants

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Mount Oliver Intermediate Unit held a joint agenda review meeting May 21 to preview dozens of proposed contracts, grant awards and policy items slated for future consideration. Board members used the session to press the administration on a long-running physical education vacancy at Pittsburgh Arlington and to thank a donor supporting staff professional development.

The agenda review listed multiple proposed actions across education, business and intermediate unit operations, including a $158,021.85 daily payments item for April for the Mount Oliver Intermediate Unit and several grants and renewals for early intervention services, assistive-technology training, and contracted school supports. No formal votes were taken during the agenda review; the items were presented for board members’ questions and for placement on upcoming legislative agendas.

Board member Ms. Short raised concern about item 6.17, a proposed payment to Venture Outdoors to provide physical education and health lessons at Pittsburgh Arlington. “This position has been vacant since October and the class has been covered from within in addition to providing the students alternative programming,” Ms. Short said, summarizing an administrative response she had received. She added, “I don't think that we are serving our students well by providing a, you know, hodgepodge of, of coverage from other teachers and alternative programming.” The administration told the board it is working to ensure a permanent PE teacher is in place for the 2025–26 school year.

Board member Ms. Telfaira acknowledged item 8.03, a donation that will support staff attendance at the Ron Clark Academy experience; she thanked Huntington Bank for underwriting the work and said she was “always blown away by, the brilliance of children and the way, that, students are able to express themselves and be authentically themselves.”

Highlights presented at the session included: for the Mount Oliver Intermediate Unit, an authorization of April daily payments (item 25.01, $158,021.85), a payment to Bard College to send a teacher from Winchester Thurston to the Institute for Writing and Thinking (25.02), and renewal of a software maintenance agreement with Harris School Solutions (25.03). The IU also previewed insurance- and benefits-related items (26.01 and 26.06), a school calendar for an adjudicated youth program (26.02), depository authorizations for the 2025–26 fiscal year (26.03), a letter of agreement with the Pennsylvania School Boards Association to continue participation in an unemployment compensation program (26.04), and a placeholder to enter into an agreement with Pittsburgh Public to provide compensatory education services in county detention centers (26.05).

On the Pittsburgh Public Schools side, education proposal grant items included grant acceptances for specialized bikes and helmets at SciTech (5.01) and multiple early-intervention grants (5.02–5.04). Education contracts and renewals (items 6.02–6.19/6.2) covered a wide range of services: physical-education vendors, social-work and psychology interns, compensatory-education contracts for students in county detention, assistive-technology and braille training, ASL interpretation from the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, online summer courses for students impacted by COVID-19, and vision and mobility services for early-intervention students.

Payments-authorized and general-authorization blocks (items 7.01–7.05; 8.01–8.13) included routine summer and evaluation payments, donations to individual schools (for example, Center for Organ Recovery to Pittsburgh Allderdice, item 8.01), approval of international travel for one school (8.05), a policy recommendation on private sponsorship of student activities (policy 8.8 802.1, item 8.06), and program amendments to add or reallocate child-care partner slots (several 8.xx amendments). The agenda also included a submission to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the Flexible Instructional Days program (8.08).

The business section previewed a data-governance grant award (9.01) and 27 consultant/contract items (10.01–10.27) ranging from loading-dock repairs and HVAC work to purchases of computers for career-technical programs, library and instructional-software renewals, playground safety servicing, surveillance services, and a lease renewal for employee fleet parking. Payment-authorized items (11.01–11.06) and general-authorizations (12.01–12.08), such as an MOU with the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and amendments to vendor contracts and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program grant, were also listed.

Several agenda-item numbers and descriptions in the presentation appeared duplicated or unclear in the livestream record (for example, item 6.02 was read twice for different payments). The board did not vote on items during the review; members were invited to submit questions or raise concerns before the items return for formal consideration. The meeting adjourned with a note that the next portion of the live stream would host a feasibility update presentation by Dr. Walter.

The agenda review served as an informational check on routine and higher-profile items that will appear on upcoming legislative agendas. Board members pressed for clarification on staffing and student services in high-need schools and acknowledged private-sector support for professional development.