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Content about Brenda Barlek

12.10.11
Sworn in

The Avonworth School Board held its annual reorganization meeting on Dec. 5. At that meeting, the five recently elected school board members - David Oberdick, Robert Wible, Jeff Carraway, Peter McKay, and Brenda Barlek, were sworn in.

In addition, the board voted to return David Oberdick to his former position as president. Brenda Barlek, the president during 2011, resumed her prior position of vice president.

09.09.11
Board change

The faces of the Avonworth School Board have changed.

At its work session on Monday, the board voted to accept the resignation of board member Lynn Evans, effective Aug. 26. President Brenda Barlek praised Evans for her many years of service on the board, as well as her ser-vice on the board of the A.W. Beattie Career Center.

The board then voted to appoint Jeff Carraway to fill Evans' remaining term of office, which expires this December. Carraway was nominated for a board seat on both ballots in the spring primary.

06.10.11
Write-in winners named

Although the Allegheny County elections department continues to tabulate write-in votes from the May 17 primary election, elections officials have confirmed the winners of nominations for the Avonworth School Board and Emsworth Council.

The nearly 1,900 write-in votes cast for Avonworth School Board resulted in a slate of candidates comprised primarily of write-in candidates to upset an opposing slate that appeared on both the Democratic and Republican ballots.

05.20.11
Who won? Who knows!

Longtime election observers -- and even some of the Avonworth School Board candidates themselves -- would have told you that it couldn’t be done.

With a healthy slate of cross-filed candidates, it was the longest longshot ever that a write-in nominee would get enough votes to appear on the November ballot.

It appears, however, that the “Concerned Citizens of Avonworth” may have done just that, times three.

05.15.11
Primary Election: Avonworth School Board

In the Avonworth School Board race, voters will need to choose five candidates on each ticket from among those who are cross-filed, not cross-filed and a couple write-in candidates to boot.

04.01.11
Avonworth hears for and against primary center

Two schools of thought clashed in the Avonworth Elementary School gum Tuesday evening, as the district's school board sought public comment on a proposal to purchase adjacent property for the construction of a primary center that would house grades K-2.

03.18.11
No school

Avonworth students will not attend school on April 18.

The date originally was set aside as a snow day make-up day, which was not needed.

The board voted 5-2 at Monday's meeting to give students the day off to start spring break. Opposed were board members Frank Mucha and Brenda Barlek. Marybeth Sommers was absent.

07.23.10
Letters to the Editor

Editor:

The nepotism policy that the Avonworth School Board voted into existence a couple of years ago was put in place to restrict relatives of employees from being considered for a job with the school district. The statement, "this should apply especially to school board members and their families" was emphatically stated by certain board members at that time. The policy was not unanimously approved.

06.18.10
Jersey names vetoed

You won’t be able to tell the players without a program when the Avonworth football team takes the field next fall. The debate over putting names on jerseys ended Monday in a close vote by the school board.

The board voted 5-4 to stop the practice of putting names on jerseys despite the fact that the football boosters would be picking up the cost.

06.11.10
New band director

At the June 7 work session for the Avonworth School Board, board member Brenda Barlek noted that the summer camps were up-coming and the need for a band director was imminent. She requested an early vote to approve Lewis Kroner as band director.

It was noted that seven people were interviewed for the position. "Mr. Kroner has the necessary experience as a band and chorus director, and he is working on his master's degree at Slippery Rock," said David Oberdick, board president.

03.12.10
Student paper funding targeted for cuts

In an effort to trim the proposed 2010-11 budget, the Avonworth School District may cut funding for the high school's newspaper, The Avonews.

Instead of a printed newspaper, administrators are suggesting moving The Avonews to the internet, making it an on-line newspaper.

01.22.10
New social studies position approved

Avonworth High School students who will be scheduling classes for next year will find three new social studies electives, thanks to the addition of a position for a social studies teaching position.

The school board voted at Monday's regular meeting to create the position, and approved economics, American conflicts, and conspiracy theories as electives.

Director of curriculum Dr. Shannon Varley told board members last week that without another teacher, the district would be forced to cut social studies electives.

09.11.09
Avonworth proposes assistant principal for elementary school

The Avonworth School District may hire an assistant principal for the elementary school.

Personnel committee chair Brenda Barlek told school board members at their work session on Tuesday that the district needs to look into hiring an assistant, preferably this year.

Superintendent Dr. Valerie McDonald said that consultant John Esaias currently is helping elementary school principal Dr. Darlene Tartaglione.

06.12.09
Avonworth explores stand options

Avonworth may look to the junior class or create a “super-booster” group to operate the concession stand at football games.

Parents from both the band and cheerleading booster groups were present at the school board's regular meeting on June 8 to discuss who should be running the concession stand.