District to commission ESL audit through AIU; DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation partnership expands at Francis McClure

The McKeesport Area School District reported on Jan. 16 that it has secured funding to commission a third-party audit of its English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program through the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU). The audit will include a multi-day review and a written report identifying strengths and areas for improvement.

“Mister Hillengas and I took an opportunity to visit the Latino Community Center,” a board member said during the community relations report, and the district said it “got funding to commence an audit of our English as a second language scope of instruction here, and that's gonna be done through the AIU. They're gonna come 3 days, not 3 days in a row because they're trying to get a good sample. And then what they're going to do is provide us with a report, a third party report on, things we're doing well and, areas of improvement.”

The board also heard an update on the McKeesport Area School District’s partnership with the DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation. Lindsay Painter was introduced as the DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation program manager for Francis McClure; the transcript states “each building now will have their own program manager.” The Francis McClure design sessions were scheduled to begin Jan. 16 and run weekly for six weeks. Those sessions are internal meetings intended to synthesize input from earlier community and staff events and to shape a facility-level vision.

District officials said the partnership will also assist with strategic planning around ESL instruction and that another public “state of the partnership” event is planned for mid-March.

Ending: The audit and partnership activities are planned to continue; the board received the reports during committee updates and took no separate action at the Jan. 16 meeting.