Alumni and students urge Plum Borough SD to honor late coach, press board to name new cheer head coach

Dozens of alumni, parents and student‑athletes addressed the Plum Borough School District board on March 11, asking the district to rename the high‑school track for recently deceased running coach Joe Ionta and urging the board to hire Morgan Loewen Adler as the high school cheerleading head coach.

The requests came during the public‑comment portion of the meeting. Tim Wharton, speaking as an alumnus, described Ionta as “an amazing teacher…an awe‑inspiring man who transformed so many lives” and said the coach helped “over 80 boys and girls earn WHIP deal medals with over 35 state qualifiers,” comments echoed by several other alumni and former athletes.

More than a dozen current cheerleaders, alumni and parents urged the board to name Morgan Loewen Adler the program’s head coach, saying her work this season led the competition and sideline teams to historic results. Jen Corson, representing Plum Cheerleading parents, told the board the program currently has “approximately a hundred student athletes” and said tryouts and open gyms were canceled after multiple coaches resigned, which she said is delaying athlete preparation. Student speakers described improvements in skills, competition finishes and team morale under Adler’s coaching.

Board and district leaders declined to discuss personnel or memorialization requests at length. Dr. Anderson told the speakers, “the coach Ionta is not on the agenda for this evening and won't be discussed any further and the cheerleading coach is a personnel item, so it won't be discussed any further.” The superintendent/administration invited speakers to stay for the budget workshop but said the board could not address those personnel matters in the public meeting.

Speakers and audience members asked the board to consider naming and coaching decisions publicly and to move quickly because of near‑term deadlines for tryouts and summer planning. Several speakers said they would continue to press the district by submitting written proposals and following up with administrators.

No formal board action was taken on either the proposed track renaming or the cheer‑coach hiring during the March 11 meeting.

The district noted that personnel matters are handled under established human‑resources processes; the board did not provide a timeline for addressing the requests.