Saint Clair Area school board members voted x-x Tuesday evening to enter into negotiations with Pottsville Area School District on a long-term high school partnership deal.
That means, if the two sides come to an agreement, Saint Clair Area students will complete their secondary education at Pottsville Area High School. The decision likely continues a partnership that’s been in place since 1989. The current agreement between the schools – which has Saint Clair Area ninth graders attending Pottsville Area High School – expires at the end of the 2027-28 school term.
Saint Clair set a deadline of Jan. 30, 2026, to get a deal done. However, the district may be stuck with its decision on Tuesday based on the comments of superintendents from the two other districts that submitted proposals to be the next high school partner.
7-2 Vote
Board members voted 7-2 in favor of the motion. Gerald Kuperavage and Bernard Kuperavage each voted against entering into negotiations with Pottsville.
Both expressed concerns about the Request for Proposal (RFP) process.
“I’m just not overall happy with the process and how we got to this point,” Bernard Kuperavage tells The Canary.
On whether he would have preferred Saint Clair choosing one of the other districts – Schuylkill Haven Area or North Schuylkill – he said, “I think other schools made better offers.
Gerald Kuperavage says he thought Pottsville’s RFP was the “third-place RFP” among the three.
He expressed concerns about the process overall, too. Kuperavage believes it’s not fair that, in his opinion, Pottsville had a chance to revise their proposal and the other schools did not.
“It really hasn’t been a level playing field. The other two schools did not have the same opportunities that Pottsville had to change their numbers,” Kuperavage says.
He added that his vote against entering into negotiations with Pottsville was his looking out for “what’s right for K-12 Saint Clair students and our taxpayers.”
“As it stands now, in writing, the only RFP we truly have is their initial RFP, which was not a good one,” Kuperavage says of Pottsville’s offer. “I am open to, if negotiations go well, voting for it.”
Board President Michael Holobetz, who voted to enter into negotiations with Pottsville Area, disputed the fact that the district had a chance to revise their offer after the RFPs were submitted.
“Pottsville never revised their RFP, they clarified it,” he says.
Holobetz says Pottsville’s proposed tuition cost for Saint Clair Area was based on a formula, not hard numbers that the district got from North Schuylkill and Schuylkill Haven Area.
He adds that after speaking with Pottsville Area officials once more regarding the formula and how the district arrived at its proposal, Saint Clair officials were “more comfortable” with its RFP.
Saint Clair approved an RFP earlier this year after school officials expressed frustration with the ongoing negotiations with Pottsville Area.
However, it was a continuity of the long-standing relationship and support from the public that led at least two board members to vote to re-enter negotiations with Pottsville Area.
“A lot of the public feel that we should still go there,” board member Virginia Bartashus says, adding that she hopes the two districts can regain the good footing they previously had. “I’m hoping we can come to some understanding within the next two months.”
Board member Dr. Erin Portland says voting to enter into talks with Pottsville Area is “the next step that’s necessary.”
She adds, “We’re always open to possibilities and opportunities, however after much review and discussion, the logical step was to absolutely open negotiations again with Pottsville.”
Now that the board members at Saint Clair Area have voted to enter talks with Pottsville Area, details of an agreement can be hammered out. Saint Clair officials said in previous town hall meetings that it couldn’t give firm terms of a deal until it chose a district among the three.
North Schuylkill, Schuylkill Haven Backing Out?
Tuesday’s decision is disappointing for North Schuylkill and Schuylkill Haven Area school districts. Each submitted a proposal to be Saint Clair Area’s next high school partner.
In the end, they were turned down and superintendents from each school say their district isn’t really keen on taking the issue any further.
Each said, however, they respect the Saint Clair Area board’s decision on Tuesday.
“We genuinely wish Saint Clair well as they move forward with their negotiations,” Dr. Robert Ackell, superintendent at North School, tells The Canary in a statement. “While we are certainly disappointed by the outcome, we respect Saint Clair Area School District’s decision-making process.”
Schuylkill Haven Superintendent Shawn Fitzpatrick expressed a similar sentiment in a statement to The Canary on Tuesday.
He says, “While we are certainly disappointed that the Saint Clair School Board did not select the proposal submitted by Schuylkill Haven, we respect the board’s decision to choose the option they believe best meets the needs of their students and community.”
Fitzpatrick says he understands that board members in Saint Clair had a very difficult decision on their hands.
However, both superintendents say this is essentially the end of the line in its talks with Saint Clair.
“Given the circumstances and the history of this process, North Schuylkill would not be interested in submitting a proposal in the future or revisiting our current proposals,” Ackell says. “This was the second time North Schuylkill submitted a proposal, and each time we believed we offered a strong partnership, high-quality educational and extracurricular opportunities, and a significantly lower tuition rate.”
Fitzpatrick basically says the same, saying that his board and school administration spent long hours putting its proposal together, this for a second time to Saint Clair, and that it wouldn’t be interested in discussing it further.
“Our district remains proud of the thoughtful, student-centered proposal we submitted, and we stand firmly behind the quality, opportunities, and value it would have provided for the families of Saint Clair,” he says.
“I want to thank our school board directors and administrative team for their hard work and dedication throughout this process. We remain committed to supporting public education across Schuylkill County, and we wish the Saint Clair School District the very best as they move forward with their selected path. Schuylkill Haven Area School District will continue focusing on delivering exceptional educational experiences for the students and families we proudly serve,” Fitzpatrick says.
Ackell adds, “Our administration and board remain extremely proud of what North Schuylkill provides to families.”
NOTE: Pottsville Area board president Linda Wytovich was contacted for comment prior to tonight’s meeting in Saint Clair but no response has been received just yet.
FULL COVERAGE – Coal Region Canary was the first to break the story on a potential Saint Clair-Pottsville break-up. Check out our archives for coverage from the beginning …
- Saint Clair School Officials Again Urged to Wait on Potential High School Switch Vote
- Saint Clair May Break from Pottsville Area High School; Reopening Own High School a Future Possibility
- Pottsville Responds to Saint Clair School Seeking Proposals from Other High Schools in Schuylkill County
- Pottsville School Officials Say Saint Clair Isn’t Being Truthful About Tuition Talks
- Saint Clair Schedules Tours of Prospective Host High Schools
- Saint Clair Gets 3 Bids for High School Students, Offers Different Insight on Pottsville Negotiations
- Saint Clair Parents Express Worry About New High School, School Outlines Costs at Town Hall
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