Students Appeal for Calm at Heated Meeting

As recriminations repeat, calls for new conversations arise at MASD

By Adam Reinherz
The Tube City Almanac
June 06, 2025
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

McKeesport Area School Director Jason Pavlecic updates attendees about the district's relationship with Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation during a meeting Wednesday. (Adam Reinherz photo for Tube City Almanac)

Amid the accusations and blame surrounding the end of a partnership between McKeesport Area School District and Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation, several parties are asking for new discourse.

“Apparently you guys need to hear from a student like me,” Founders’ Hall seventh grader Zada Carr told MASD school directors during a standing-room-only — and often heated — board meeting on Wednesday.

“Food, water, clothing, showers, those are all basic needs for a regular human being that you guys are cutting off,” she said. “If you guys really care about the kids, please try to bring back Dick’s.”

The middle schooler, who was one of two students to speak during the 90-minute contentious meeting, implored adults to remember those affected by a May 27 announcement signaling the end of a nearly four-year relationship between DSGF and MASD.

“It is important to all the kids who need this,” Zada, 13, said.

MASD President Mark Holtzman Sr. praised the student and her remarks but told this reporter he wished to remind community members what prompted the breakup: “We did not tell Dick’s to leave. Dick’s left on their own volition.”

Clarifying that position occupied most of Wednesday night.

Speaking before nearly 70 attendees, school director Jason Pavlecic said he was contacted by DSGF on May 16 and asked to attend a May 21 meeting.

“I believe at that time, the only other people invited may have been [Assistant Superintendent Matthew] Mols, [Superintendent Don] MacFann and possibly President Holzman,” Pavlecic said.

During the May 21 meeting “we were informed [about] the end of our partnership effective on the sixth.” The Foundation’s rationale for terminating the relationship, according to Pavlecic, was that the pairing of public education and private corporations “doesn't seem to be mixing well and they no longer wanted to have partnerships. They wanted to have grant availabilities. They felt that was their best path forward.”

Pavlecic characterized the May 21 get-together as “a very brief meeting. There was no back and forth. There was no banter between anybody. They laid out what they laid out, and then we left.”

Six days later, DSGF released a statement noting their disappointment about the partnership’s conclusion.

“From the beginning, we were clear that we weren’t just looking to provide funding, we were looking to be a true partner sitting side by side with the McKeesport team to reimagine how the elementary school experience could be approached in a holistic way – one that serves the whole child, their family and the community,” the statement read. “Unfortunately, the current school board and district leadership did not uphold the written partnership agreement we had in place. When we sought a path forward, the school board president made it clear that there was ‘no page to get on.’ That response left no room for continued collaboration.”

Holtzman referenced the “no page to get on” comment during Wednesday’s meeting and read from an April 22 email he sent DSGF representatives, MASD school directors and administrators:

“There is no page to get on. Over the past two years the school board and district have not been informed or included in the DSGF discussions and renovations. We were continuously being told what is going to be done without our approval. No remodeling or changing of school names has ever been approved by the board which is required by state law,” Holtzman noted. “The school board and district are responsible for all initiatives and changes within the district, not DSGF. We must answer to the taxpayers, not Dick’s. I’m looking forward to sitting down with DSGF to discuss the future and the guidelines that must be followed. There is no rush to move forward. We have other issues to deal with in the district besides DSGF. Our goal and number one priority is to educate students.”

Pavlecic, and several district representatives, reiterated a desire to renew the relationship with DSGF.

“I'm still open to working with them. I'll be more than happy to talk to anybody from the foundation about how this can be moved forward. Because the bottom line here is, no matter what everybody's personal opinion is about anybody, the only people getting hurt here are the children,” Pavlecic said. “I feel that a lot of these partners, a lot of this stuff, would have been resolved with effective communication from both sides. If there was a problem that they felt was going on, even if it involved one of us, I think that if they would have addressed it with somebody and said, ‘Hey, listen, this is what's going on.’ We could have worked to resolve that. Unfortunately, we're at the situation that we are.”

Prior to its cessation, the relationship between DSFG and MASD provided $13 million to the district and resulted in a community center, summer programs and academic, athletic and wraparound support for students and families, according to DSGF.

The parties could have benefited each other, and children, by “sitting down and talking at the table,” School Director LaToya Wright said. “That did not happen. That is the problem. The problem is communication on both sides.”

Telling attendees she has “nothing to lose” by sharing her perspective, Wright said, “Dick’s did not come to us as a whole, as a board, and tell us that there was any issue. I'm a parent and raise kids here in this district. Do you really think that I would agree to them walking away, or if there was an issue, to not try to resolve the issue before we got to this place? There was no communication about that. There was none.”

Zoey Carr and Zada Carr attend a June 4 meeting at McKeesport Area School District. (Adam Reinherz photo for Tube City Almanac)

Wright questioned why it’s so difficult for adults to “have communication and accountability.”

Zada Carr, the Founders’ Hall middle schooler, wanted to know the same thing.

Following Wednesday’s meeting, she told this reporter she decided to voice her concerns to school directors because perspective has been lost: “I just thought that me speaking up would hopefully help them understand.”

McKeesport high schooler Zoey Carr, 15, praised her sister for “speaking up for people in this community, and said, “It's not about the adults. It's about the kids in the school, about how much our education is off because kids need homes and better clothing — that's the problem, that some kids can't focus on schoolwork because they need better hygiene.”

Neither of the Carr sisters is convinced the district has acted maturely. Still, one practice could alter the narrative.

“It’s about communication,” Zoey said. “Yeah, that’s maybe it.”

Adam Reinherz is a Pittsburgh-based journalist. He can be reached at adam.reinherz@gmail.com. 

Originally published June 06, 2025.

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