Content about David Oberdick

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.

06.10.11

Absenteeism

The subject of absenteeism among board members was discussed at the Avonworth School Board’s work session on Monday, where board member David Oberdick pointed a finger at fellow board member Jeff Schmid.

Oberdick stated that he "wanted the minutes to reflect and the public to know" his concern that the board had a "non-functioning" member "who was not discharging his duties to this board."

Oberdick said that Schmid had now missed five meetings in a row, as well as 2 executive sessions and 3 work sessions. Oberdick stated that Schmid had been similarly absent in previous years.

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.

03.18.11

Avonworth cuts 15 aides

The Avonworth School District will eliminate 15 aide positions in the next school year, the first step in budget cuts that could encompass an end to full-day kindergarten, salary freezes, and a request for voluntary concessions from union employees.

08.13.10

Boosters will get money back

By VICKI MORTIMER

The Avonworth School Board, at its regular meeting on Monday, voted to refund the $2,600 spent by the football boosters to purchase nameplates for the football team's away jerseys.

The board recently received a letter from an attorney representing the boosters, asking that the nameplates be allowed to go on the jerseys or the amount spent by the boosters be refunded. The letter stated that the boosters had obtained permission from the coach, athletic director and members of the school board's athletic committee before going ahead with the purchase.

04.09.10

Co-op wrestling targeted for cuts

The Avonworth-Northgate wrestling program is the latest target of school officials looking for ways to trim their budgets.

Wrestling is one of four cooperative sports programs shared by the two local school districts because neither has enough students to support its own teams. The other sports, for which the districts split the costs evenly, are golf, swimming and track.

A recent meeting of administrators from both districts produced what Avonworth superintendent Dr. Valerie McDonald termed a "collaborative agreement" to eliminate wrestling for a number of reasons.

03.05.10

Avonworth debates make-up days

Although the Avonworth School District may ask the state to waive snow day make-ups, it remains likely that students will be spending their spring break in the classroom.

01.22.10

News Briefs

Chief search A police officer who lives in Avalon told borough officials Tuesday not to look too far from home for a new police chief.

With current Chief Robert Howie set to retire this year, council hired a consultant to conduct a search and recommend candidates for his replacement.

07.20.09

News Briefs

Beattie project expanded

The A.W. Beattie Career Center board has decided how to spend the last of the excess bond funds.

Approximately $3 million in bond funds were left over when bids for the renovation project came in under what was projected. The board already had decided how to spend $2 million of that money, with about $1 million going towards paying down the debt created by the bond, and another $1 million going towards more energy efficient repairs.

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.

06.12.09

Letters to the Editor

Editor: The June 5th article “Concession Stand Up for Grabs” was very misleading. Avonworth School Board President David Oberdick indicated that the Avonworth Football Boosters were giving up the concession stand due to “lack of volunteers.” This is not the case. The decision to eliminate the concession stand as a fund-raising endeavor was not taken lightly and the pros and cons of operating the stand were considered for several months. The school district, in fact, started this whole process when they tried to take the stand from the football boosters this past season. The events and facts that led up to this decision are as follows:

06.05.09

Concession stand is up for grabs

The Avonworth School District may be going into the concession stand business, much to the dismay of booster groups who want the fund-raising opportunity.

The concession stand at varsity football games has long been the domain of the football boosters, with other booster groups relegated to peripheral positions and sales items. According to Avonworth School Board president David Oberdick, however, the football boosters are giving up the concession due to a lack of volunteers.