A majority of the Ambridge Area School Board is now comprised of individuals who were appointed to their positions, rather than elected to them by the voting public.
Terry Mylan resigned her position with the board during a public meeting Wednesday night, the third member to do so in as many months.
Mylan’s resignation came after the board appointed two new members to fill vacancies from prior resignations.
The board voted to appoint Denise Manganello and Kathleen Curtis for positions previously held by Jodi Gill and Meagan Trimbur.
Manganello works as principal of the Seneca Valley’s cyber charter school. The charter is currently under contract with the district for online learning, with expenses based on online enrollment. Ambridge signed a four year renewal of its agreement with the Seneca Valley School District in February.
Manganello has a doctorate of education in online education from the American College of Education, an online for-profit college based in Indiana.
She was named chair of the district’s education and technology committee, which oversees core functions of the district, such as its curriculum, the student handbook, and the health and safety plan.
Curtis Controversies
Kathleen “Kitty” Curtis works as a network operations supervisor for Pennsylvania American Water, and previously worked as a maintenance supervisor for Van Buren Homes. Curtis has a bachelor’s degree in business management from Belford University, a now defunct online “school” that sold unaccredited degrees based on “life experience.”
Curtis was named chair of the public relations committee, which is responsible for interacting with the news media.
Curtis is the wife of Carl Curtis, who previously worked as the district’s JROTC instructor. He was arrested in Sept. 2014 on first degree misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of children after police alleged he drove a student while intoxicated. Carl was acquitted by a jury on the charges in May 2015 and remained at the district.
