Bethel Park welcomes new board members
Pamela Dobos will now lead a Bethel Park School Board that features several new faces.
The board unanimously appointed Dobos board president at its reorganization meeting Dec. 3. Dobos, a retired Bethel Park High School English teacher, has been on the board for six years. She succeeds longtime board president Donna Cook, who lost her re-election bid and is no longer on the board.
Voters ousted three other incumbent school directors this year and elected a slate of new members who ran with the endorsement of Bethel Park Forward, a political action committee that has lobbied against staff reductions and other spending cuts.
Cook, David Amaditz and Ron Werkmeister lost in the May primary and Jim Means was unsuccessful in the Nov. 5 general election. They have been replaced by Jim Modrak, a retired school resource officer; Vince Scalzo, a Mt. Lebanon High School science teacher; Kim Walsh-Turner, an attorney specializing in educational entities; and Darren McGregor, a Mt. Lebanon special education teacher.
The board also appointed Modrak as its vice president. The vote for Modrak was 7-2, with two members voting for Director Ken Nagel.
The board also approved a preliminary 2020-21 budget for $92.4 million, which is an increase of about 2.8 percent over this year’s budget. However, the spending plan will see significant changes in the coming months and the board is not expected to pass a final budget until May or June.
The board also agreed to resurface the high school track at a cost of $251,709. Nagle Athletic Surfaces of East Syracuse, N.Y. will do the work. The track was last replaced 13 years ago.
The board also accepted a letter of retirement from Leonard Corazzi, director of finance, operations and human resources. Corazzi plans to retire June 30.
The board hired Katie Mesinere, language arts teacher at Independence Middle School.