New Kensington‑Arnold board approves hires, in‑house English‑learner plan and flag‑football pilot

The New Kensington‑Arnold School Board on Feb. 3 unanimously approved routine financial and personnel actions, adopted an in‑house English Learners (EL) plan through a French curtailment, and created a pilot flag football program for spring 2026.

Board members voted to authorize February payroll and payment of properly approved bills after receiving the treasurer’s report. The board recorded January payroll of $1,582,025.77 and approved bills totaling $2,966,335.08; reported cash balances included a General Fund balance of $2,345,549.59 and a PLGIT General Funds balance of $10,440,650.00.

The board approved several personnel motions including the hiring of Taylor Riazzi as a speech‑language pathologist and appointments for Brianna Eckenrode as a special education teacher (effective Aug. 18, 2025) and Amy Gouza as a food prep server at Roy A. Hunt Elementary. The board also awarded supplemental coaching contracts for the 2026–27 school year (for example, Mark Adams as varsity head football coach at $6,600) and appointed summer school and extended‑year staff with the compensation amounts listed in the agenda.

Superintendent Dr. Christopher Sefcheck announced that Roy A. Hunt received grant funding enabling 20 students to visit the NASA facility in Greenbelt, Maryland; "We got…