001Good evening. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Kelly, can you please call the roll? Yes. Mr. Broski? Yes. Mr. Cora? Yes. Mrs. Drory? Yes. Mr. Fiorelli? Yes. Ms. Heen? Yes. Mr. Montani here Mrs. Sexton here Mrs. Treanor here and Dr. Mariano present on to announcements and recognitions and before I send it to Dr. Castagna I'd like to say thank you to our technology department for getting this meeting online I know it has taken a few months but I know last evening's meeting went well and the public can expect every future meeting to be streamed
002online so thank you Dr. Castagna Thank you, so we have a few announcements and recognitions first I want to start we had two teams competing for a trip to Hershey this year our high school boys basketball who made it to the semi-finals of the Western region It was a heartbreaking ending to a wonderful season. So we want to congratulate them the coaching staff and the players These last two years that I've been able to watch basketball here, it really is something special. So it's a legacy that Star Valley continues to honor. So congratulations to them. The second team that won at the semifinal level and then made it their way to Hershey and then ended up winning their bracket was our unified bocce, and they are now the state champs for Pennsylvania. So congratulations to
003them and our unified model that we have at the high school in many aspects and again another legacy we'd like to continue. This is a special recognition item 2.2. Our high school received PBIS, that's positive behavior intervention supports, tier one recognition. It's the highest compliment you can receive from the states for PBIS intervention. Very few high schools receive this. because of the fact that you're working with high school students. They are not always willing to peer mentor and peer interventions and to work together with the true model that you see the effectiveness in the middle school and the intermediate school. So it's really something special, and it shows that our staff does a great job with building relationships with kids to where they feel comfortable being involved in a program like this. We're excited to
004announce that the Shark Trees Valley High School was recognized for the PBIS statewide network for Tier 1 implementation. It's among a limited number of high schools in Western PA to receive this distinction. Congratulations to our assistant principal, Mrs. Schmidt, for her leadership and to the PBIS team of teachers and students for their achievements. So congratulations to all of them. 2.3, this is our first year using our VEX robotics team. Our middle school team qualified and advanced to the VEX state tournament at Penn West, Clarion, Clarion campus of Penn West. Mr. McAleer and his team advanced to the semifinals, which was a huge accomplishment for a first-year team. I will say the first competition they asked us to attend, they came in last place. They came back to the school, they reconvened, they talked to the
005team together, and they said, do we want to do this again? And they said, yes, we do. So it was really impressive to see that they rallied back together. They ended up winning the next competition and were able to advance to the state that quickly. So it shows you the resiliency of kids and, again, the relationships good teachers build with their students. So congratulations to our middle school VEX Robotics. And then item 2.4, we have a high school robotics team. This is separate from VEX. We want to congratulate them. Their team name was Horsepower4991, who brought home a blue banner as winners at the Greater Pittsburgh Regional Contest. The team also won the Creativity Award for their unique wire management system on the robot. So congratulations to our high school robotics team as well. Dr.
006Mariano, these are tremendous academic and athletic accomplishments that we all should be very proud of at this table up here. So thank you to all. Anything for the superintendent's report for this evening? I just want to thank the parents that came in person last night and watched online. We had over 200 participants online last night, and I want to say 80 in the audience. We enjoy and encourage that engagement. We want to hear your care and your concern, and that collaboration is the team effort we need to solve those big issue problems that we were trying to tackle last night. So appreciate everyone's participation. yes i'd like to thank mr fiorelli and mrs sexton for attending and for the words that you gave last night i think it was inspiring and for the community to
007know that the board's listening to you and we're weighing different options as we move forward in trying to pivot On to public comments on agenda items. Mrs. Treanor. We would like to invite any resident or taxpayer of CVSD who wishes to address the board to please state your name and address when you approach the podium. We appreciate your interest. Please keep your comments to two to three minutes. Thank you. Kelly, did anyone sign up to speak on current agenda items? Yes. I can't read the first name, but the last name is O'Neal. Sorry. That's okay. Better? I live in Bridgeville I wasn't quite sure about what I was looking at I wanted to say something about the busing situation I'm guessing that's incentive 12.8 that's it was kind of confusing because it doesn't really say
008on the agenda in particular leave Dr. Costagna your that's to help bus it's to help the school district everything everywhere yeah monitors after school possible buses It's multiple. If you want to speak to that, you can. All right. All I want to say is I am in support of keeping the bus company as we have it. Two things I wanted to talk about is I'm aware that some families are leaving CV School District because They're not happy with the current situation as it is. I've only heard of eight right now, but when it becomes 80 or 800, that's going to start affecting the tax base. I myself live in Bridgeville, which is 1.0 square miles of the township. However, I have again heard rumors that they are considering splitting Bridgeville into both South Fayette and
009to Upper St. Clair. Most people who live in Bridgeville, we love our community and our mayor as it is. But if the shenanigans continue here, then what's going to happen is the younger families that move in are going to say, look at St. Clair and look at Salfayette, and they've got a really good thing going here, and there's a hot mess going on over at CV, so why should we stay here? And that might change. And that, again, will affect your tax base. And lastly, and this is not a rhetorical question, I brought this up at the last meeting, did anyone, yourself, the principal, The assistant vice principal did anyone ever call Norwin school district and find out why they canceled class due to the busing situation and they have That bus company that they
010is the bus company they use that you want to employ Did anyone ever get a decisive answer as to why school was canceled that day from the Norwin administration? Or did you just not care what I have to say? Thank you i'd like to announce that we had an executive session prior to this public meeting to discuss personnel legal and safety matters anything mr racunas for the solicitor update i have nothing for the public portion of the meeting thank you on to an informational agenda shazda ms sexton this evening uh mr montani anything for pathfinder uh yes thank you um pathfinder and its board met last wednesday that was march 18th We discussed mostly the 2026 and 2027 budget, which will hopefully be approved coming up in April. The consortium is raising its building maintenance
011fee from $3,250 to $5,000 per student. That does not affect us. That affects the non-consortium schools who send kids to Pathfinder. But this will adjust to costs and put Pathfinder in line with other Allegheny County special ed schools with what we charge the non consortium school districts The students had a career fashion show recently two basketball games one home and one away Against some of the other Allegheny County special ed schools and last week they held their annual spelling bee. That's all Thank you, Mr. President. Parkway West Administration wants to thank this board for attending our annual meeting out there at Parkway. They're always happy to make the school available to us. We do have the most students that attend there. Also, all of you received your parent-student employee survey, which was rated quite highly.
012And our wonderful grant writer got us another $398,000 grant plus another $50,000 grant. That puts us up close to a million out there. The $50,000 grant is going to go to the auto body for some upgrades. The $390,000, that's going to go repair some old flooring in the cosmetic area. So we're going to do that. Also, our annual summer camp will be held on June 17th. We do feed the students, and it's for all the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders from other school districts to come out and look over Parkway to see if they would like to attend. And our graduation will be held on May 13th. We've had so many people over the years. This is the second year in a row we will be renting Robert Morris College. because we get about 50
013hundred people so they do a great job for us also our open house went great we had a giant barbecue for all the parents out there and all 12 members passed the parkway budget that's it thank you okay thank you on to board meeting minutes may have a motion to approve the board meeting minutes for march 10th 2026 so moved motion made by mr chura i have a second second mr. Ruri any discussion on this item all in favor aye anybody opposed the motion passes we have a motion to approve the credit recovery program as presented so moved second by miss heen any discussion on this item I just want to speak to appreciate the board support it's the first year we're going to try this is a virtual program hosted out of TJ we
014are going to offer credit recovery to all students 9 to 12 they need to make up classes over the summer so it's a first year virtual that we will we will participate in all in favor aye anybody opposed the motion passes may have a motion to approve the student enrollment agreement between Wesley schools and the chargers valley school district so moved motion made by mr. chura may have a second second second from mr. montani any discussion on this item all in favor aye anybody opposed the motion passes may have a motion to approve the spring chicken chase at chargers valley high school on march 28th 2026 From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., proceeds will benefit the Bridgeville Community Food Bank. So moved. Motion made by Mr. Chura. May I have a second? Second. Second from
015Mr. Montani. Any discussion on this item? All in favor? Aye. Anybody opposed? The motion passes. May I have a motion to approve the Human Resources Report for March 24, 2026? Second. Motion made by Ms. Heen. Second by Mr. Chura. Any discussion on this item? All in favor? Aye. Anybody opposed? The motion passes. May I have a motion to approve the payments of construction invoices as presented? So moved. Motion made by Mr. Chura. May I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Fiorelli. Any discussion on this item? All in favor? Aye. Anybody opposed? The motion passes. i have a motion to approve the agreement with collier township for two school resource officers from july 1st 2026 through june 30th 2031 one per attack so moved motion by miss trainer miss heen second by mrs trainer any
016discussion on this item i would like to ask dr costagna did you fix the typographical error yes yes all in favor aye anybody opposed the motion passes may have a motion to approve the agreement with Scott Township for one school resource officer from July 1st 2026 through June 30th 2030 as attached so moved motion made by Mr. Chura second by Mr. Montani any discussion on this item i would like to say this is great uh it's nice that we've gotten ahead of this um and that these officers will be within our school buildings all in favor aye anybody opposed the motion passes may have a motion to approve the two-year substitute staffing replacement agreement with substitute teacher service inc effective july 1st 2026 per attached so moved motion made by mrs trainer may have a
017second second by ms heen any discussion on this item all in favor aye anybody opposed the motion passes we have a motion to approve a one-year agreement with red rover for absence management software and time tracking software effective july 1st 2026. so moved motion made by mr chura may have a second second by mrs sexton any discussion on this item just an explanation of how this fits in with substitute service or whatever or any of those it's gonna replace our time it'll replace Red Rover will replace time clock that we use right now and a SOP slash frontline so that it will take over both of those great and then STS is actually writing us a check for the implementation I have a motion to approve the remake learning day grant for $1,000 to support
018Charters Valley initiatives as a future ready school district second by Mrs. Traynor second by Mr. Montani any discussion on this item all in favor aye anybody opposed the motion passes we have a motion to approve the 2025 kids run the nation grant in the amount of $750 so moved second second second by mrs. trainer any discussion on this item all in favor aye anybody opposed no motion passes we have a motion to approve an incentive of $35 per day for staff members to assist with after-school supervision and bus monitoring second motion made by miss heen second by mr trura any discussion on this item um dr costagna do you want to explain this just a little bit sure this is something the administration is asking the board to consider To deal with several issues. Number
019one, we have a lot of students that have to stay in our cafeteria after school, and our principals are often alone, and so they can't be in the cafeteria with a large number of students and in the office fielding phone calls. And also, we have posted positions for bus monitors and haven't been able to fill those positions. So I'm looking for staff members that would be willing to help out, riding buses, staying after school with students until they leave. and how this incentive grows or has to be adapted to whatever that situation turns out to be, it would grow from there. But I'm using this to gauge staff interest, and then we'll report back to the board on how we're using that additional manpower. Can you define what you mean by staff, anyone? Any employee
020of the district. Anyone who was hired by the district in any capacity is more than willing to. yep yeah well if you're hired by the district obviously you know clearances are here on file but it's you know teachers secretaries custodians bus drivers coaches etc anyone anyone that's been on an HR report in this district and a good standing okay all in favor aye anybody opposed the motion passes on to construction Dr. Castagna would you like to say a few words prior to us entering this yes i would like to invite mr rouse and our construction team up to the microphone they have split items 13-1 through 13-4 into separate motions i am asking them to address the board on their process and why they're making the recommendations they have and then the board can individually
021individually vote to approve so could you come up and speak to that please okay so um We obviously produced the drawings for the renovations to the admin and Jim, put them out to bid, received the proposals back, evaluated them, and we're making the recommendations based on the work that's critical to do, which would be the admin suite. We have recommended the award of the general contractor, the plumbing contractor, mechanical, and sprinkler contractor. The electrical packages need to be rebid. due to lack of participation from the community. So we are in the process of putting together a revised electrical package to resend out and resolicit bids for the electrical portion. Any questions from the board on what this encompasses? Because we had discussions about parts that we were leaving off until we have further information and
022further studies. And then this is excluded from these projects. Yeah, this would be just the admin portion of the project. And you're resubmitting the electrical bids because you didn't receive any electrical bids? Correct. Okay. And so for these, there was at least three for each category? Correct. We had participation, responsible bidders, correct scope, bonds, all the necessary paperwork. Any questions for these gentlemen for us? Thank you. okay i have a motion to approve package one general contractor award-based bid for central administration area to r.a clancy and sons incorporated for a value of 1 million 310 000 per attached so moved motion made by mr chura second by miss heen any discussion on this item this is the money that has to be spent from the previous bond issue that was issued what six seven years
023ago yes that's correct all in favor anybody opposed the motion passes may have a motion to approve package for fire protection award-based bid for central administration area to Vrabel plumbing company LLC for a value of sixty two thousand two hundred dollars per attack second any discussion on this item all in favor aye anybody opposed May have a motion to approve package 5 plumbing award-based bid for central administration area to Huck and Stein mechanical services LLC for a value of fifty seven thousand nine hundred and twenty dollars per attack so move second second from mr. Brodsky any discussion on this item all in favor We have a motion to approve package 6 HVAC award base bid for central administration area an alternate 06-001A CMS controls to Legalia Mechanical Incorporated for a value of $676,500 a base
024bid of $557,000 plus alternate 06-001A. cms controls for 119 500 per attack so moved motion made by mr fiorelli second by miss heen any discussion on this item all in favor aye anybody opposed the motion passes craig and dave thank you um for your work with this i know that was a lot um you will contact the successful bidders that were awarded tonight right you will let them know okay all right yes thank you okay mrs. trainer on to public comments on non-agenda items we would like to invite any resident or taxpayer of CVSD who wishes to address the board to please state your name and address when you approach the podium we appreciate your interest and please keep your comments to two to three minutes Kelly did anyone sign up to speak on current
025non-agenda items yes first is Lindsay Larson can you all hear me great Lindsay Larson 615 Lindsay Road Scott Township I recently sent you all an email, but I'm not sure if you read it, so I wanted to share it today. I am the parent of two kids in the school district, one in the primary, one in the intermediate, but also a taxpayer. Concerned doesn't seem to accurately cover how I feel about the contract negotiations with CVESP. My biggest priority is the safety of my children and clearly first student isn't a good choice considering all the negative press they get for hiring drivers with DUIs. But this union group, CVESP, isn't just bus drivers. I've seen the proposals and it doesn't seem like outsourcing busing is more cost effective to the district or taxpayers. My question
026is, what about the other functions and services this group manages for the district? like maintenance, plowing, custodians, grass cutting, set up and clean up for events. Will these services be outsourced as well? When will we see the proposals for those? Who will manage that? Is it really cost effective from an administrative standpoint to go from one agreement to possibly four or more? Also, if we sell off our fleet of buses, we will never have the capital to go back to in-house and purchase a new fleet. This group... CVESP is a jack of all trades to our district. They go at the drop of a hat wherever they are needed to do whatever is needed. How lucky we are to have them. I wish you saw it that way. I implore you to do the right
027thing and sign an agreement with this group. A few weeks ago, I put my intermediate school daughter on a first student bus with a man I'd never met before and no app to confirm that she got to school. I emailed her teacher that day to confirm that she made it and she was in good spirits. The uncertainty I feel is apparent in this situation is unnecessary. Please do the right thing and sign a fair agreement. And if that doesn't happen, I'm curious to see what the plan is for the other services that currently fall with CVESP. A couple more things I wanted to bring up that I've heard in recent weeks regarding the bus situation. First and foremost, I in no way think or feel these issues are related to our in-house drivers or the
028transportation office. I know they're doing the best with the hand that they've been dealt. But we still do not have a tracking. bus app for the intermediate school for my daughter's bus on any app. A fellow mom told me that her sons were in their first week of their first student busing. The lack of an app made things challenging, but also a neighbor's son was not on the bus. They scrambled to find him, but imagine the fear that mom felt. Another mom informed me that her middle schooler is on a first student bus with children that do not go to CV. They live in the district but are bused to a private school. How safe is that? Also, I heard that coaches are now driving their student athletes to events. Thank you. Next is Kaitlyn
029Trong. Good evening, members of the school board. My name is Kaitlyn Trong. I live in Collier Township, and I'm a senior and four-year varsity softball player at Chargers Valley High School. I'm grateful for the opportunity to stand before you today and speak not only on my behalf, but on behalf of many dedicated student-athletes who are facing a growing and deeply impactful challenge. Being a student-athlete is a privilege. We are proud to represent our school, and we are committed to upholding the standards of both our teams and our classrooms. However, the current structure of early dismissals for athletic events is placing an increasing strain on our ability to succeed academically. Missing multiple class periods several times a week is not a minor inconvenience. It's a significant disruption to our education. Even with the support of understanding
030teachers, it is incredibly difficult to replicate the value of in-class instruction, active discussion, and real-time learning. Over time, these repeated absences create not only academic gaps, but also mounting stress and anxiety as we struggle to keep pace. I have personally witnessed classmates miss some of their most rigorous and essential courses two to three times per week for games that are, in some cases, less than 30 minutes away. While I understand and respect the challenges posed by the ongoing bus driver shortage, it is disheartening that students are bearing the academic consequences of circumstances beyond their control. Equally concerning is how our time is used once we leave school. Upon arrival at game sites, we're often required to wait, sometimes for over an hour, before we're even permitted to begin warming up. This is valuable time that
031could be used productively, yet we often lacked access to the materials and resources needed to complete our academic work, such as Wi-Fi. There are also practical concerns that remain unresolved. When games are canceled due to weather, there is not always a clear or reliable plan in place for students to return home. In these moments, students are left uncertain and unsupported, which raises serious questions about both safety and accountability. I stand before you today not to criticize, but to advocate for fairness, for balance, and for solutions, whether it involves reevaluating departure times, improving transportation coordination, or ensuring students have the right resources needed to stay academically engaged while traveling. I strongly believe that meaningful improvements can be made. Student athletes are among the most dedicated members of this school community. We willingly commit long hours, push
032ourselves to excel, and strive to represent our school with integrity. All we ask in return is the opportunity to pursue our education without being placed at a disadvantage. We should not have to choose between being successful students and committed athletes. With your support, I believe we can create a system that truly allows us to be both. Thank you for your time, your understanding, and your consideration. Is Alexis ready? Alexa Ceretti, 276 Sunrise Drive, Collier Township. I'm here once again in support of our bus drivers, people who safely transport our kids every single day and still work without a contract. I appreciated the time that you took yesterday to review safety protocols in our district. In those conversations, a stronger case was unintentionally made for keeping transportation right here in-house. We're still seeing late buses, missed
033pickups, and growing frustration from us, the parents. And those problems didn't come out of nowhere. They are not the fault of our drivers. They're the result of instability. When people are asked to do this essential work without a fair contract and without security, they leave. That's not surprising. It's predictable, and it was preventable. Now we're seeing behavioral issues on buses and that's not happening in a vacuum. Kids respond to consistency. They do better when they know the adult in charge, when there's trust and routine. I saw this firsthand this year. My son had a major surgery in January and he missed nearly a month of school. What got him through was not a grade or a benchmark, it was his teachers. With one exception, every one of them has been at CV for years. They
034knew him, they met him where he was, and they helped him get caught up because they cared about him as a person, not just his transcript. That kind of relationship doesn't appear overnight, it's built through years of showing up for this community. Our bus drivers offer the same thing. Think about when a substitute teacher comes into a classroom. Behavior changes because the relationships and expectations are not the same. Now imagine that kind of inconsistency each and every day on the bus. Rotating drivers and outsourcing will not fix behavioral problems. It will make them worse. Our bus drivers are not interchangeable. They know our kids, they know our streets and our neighborhoods, and they're part of our community. If we want reliable transportation, which we're all saying we do, the solution is not to replace them,
035it's to support them. We ask our kids every day, show up, be patient, do the right thing, even when it's hard. They deserve to see every adult in this room do the same. Settle the contract, restore stability, and model the behavior that we're asking from them. Rich Poplosky. My name is Rich Poplosky. I live at 609 Elm Street. But I believe you know that. I have been up here advocating for student safety, the union, the school district. And this board and this administration has taken active steps to retaliate against me trying to chill my advocacy. Well, I'm still here. And you want to hear about First Student? I got a little more about First Student for you, the company you're trying to bring in here. Well, the cell phone. They were using it the other
036day while driving. It's video clear of that. People like to send me lots of things. So that's up there. I'm sure you've seen that. I'm trying to wonder what happened to that driver. I guess I'll have to post that video when we find out that she is still driving for CV through First Student. A driver on their cell phone. But I guess you don't care. She's still driving. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, first student has had 651 reportable crashes in 24 months. Four fatal, 265 of them sending people to the hospitals, 382 wrecked vehicles. That is one crash every single day. Regulators have hauled them in for 10,884 inspections, catching constant failures, violations, negligence. This isn't safe, this is reckless, this is dangerous. The assaults are even worse, and this is across
037the country, a national company. Albany, New York, 2021. Bus monitor, Yanad White, subjected a seven-year-old boy to repeated sexual contact on the bus. First student was sued for negligence. Springfield, Illinois, October 2024, driver Anthony Marconi, arrested for child sex abuse material, received a 23 year sentence. He was a first student employee. Kenosha County, Wisconsin, November 2025, driver Peter Johnson charged with years of child sexual assault. Multiple victims, the company filed a fire on him. Shawnee Mission, Kansas, an autistic student sexually assaulted on a first student bus, It's to be supervised, another lawsuit. Sexually, I mean, I can keep going on. Right here in Pittsburgh, we've had the drunk driving incidents with them. First student is actively being sued for their hiring practice for what happened to Baldwin Whitehall. This Board the majority of this board
038and this administration Mile after mile day after day are putting our students in harm's way get back with our regular drivers This is insane what you are letting happen to our kids and our community I stood up here about six months ago asking for the board to work with the union and get a contract in place to keep our drivers in-house. What has happened in those last six months? We've had higher staff losses in the transportation department requiring outsourcing or doubling up to fill runs. We've had families waiting longer or children getting home exceedingly late due to outsourced drivers not knowing routes. We have coaches being informed that they may be driving the short buses to get their student athletes to matches. We've heard from community member after community member standing up here asking for
039you to get a contract for these drivers and keep transportation in-house. Fun fact, at this point you've heard from at least a fifth of my son's kindergarten class. But yet we still do not have a contract for our drivers. We're in a crisis of our own making There may be a driver shortage nationwide But they aren't feeling it at South Fayette or at North Allegheny where our former drivers have found employment with districts that value them I have an active kindergartner and first grader. I speak with parents throughout the district at games dance practices parties They may not be here to talk to you and in person as they have young children at home that often require child care However, I have yet to encounter a single parent who is in support of outsourcing our
040transportation. Our families here love these bus drivers. We are asking over and over again to please work with the drivers in-house, please get a contract, and stop all of the chaos that has been going on. Thank you. Next is Denise O'Neill. My name is Denise O'Neill. I just want an answer to my former question concerning the Norwin situation. It's not rhetorical. Has anyone spoken to the Norwin School District concerning the Spence Company? I have not. Well, that gentleman has made clear what's going on there, and they were just on the news. Can you really afford to have children missing classes because the bus doesn't show up? A lot of people here work. They have young children. They need reliable transportation. I was fortunate to stay home with my kids and then take a job at
041the school that they attended as an employee, so I didn't have to worry about that. But there are many parents here who have to both work. You're putting all of those kids in jeopardy. What happens when there's an emergency at the school also? They know and trust their bus drivers. Their bus drivers know where they're supposed to be dropped off. Their bus drivers, I used to text my bus driver all the time. Hey, my kid's not coming in. Hey, I'm taking my kid to the orthodontist. There are many bus drivers that these parents know. They speak to their bus drivers. Hey, I'm running five minutes late because of the school emergency. These bus drivers do their best and what that person said about consistency is so true. And some of you are former teachers and
042have worked in other areas of the school and you know that consistency far outweighs confusion and just unprecedented confusion and people getting confused scared little kids get scared as it is it's much better when you have your bus driver and any of you have been parent who have been parents you often know that that first week of school your kid is screaming and does not want to get on that bus but when they see the same friendly face that knows their name every single day they're not so afraid Okay, I'd like to announce that our next board meeting will be on April 14th, 2026. May I have a motion to adjourn? Motion made by Ms. Keene. May I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Schor. All in favor? Aye. Meeting is adjourned. Have a
043good evening.