Quaker Valley School Board picks its leaders, welcomes new members

The Quaker Valley School Board selected its leadership and welcomed new members.

Jonathan Kuzma was named president and Daniela Helkowski as vice president during the board’s reorganization meeting Dec. 5.

Incumbents Geoff Barnes and Gianni Floro were sworn in to new four-year terms along with new members Corinna Garcia-Skorpenske, Missy Walls and Jessica Webster.

“We are excited with regard to the new board members coming on board,” Floro said after the meeting. “Hopefully, they’ll be hitting the ground running and roll up their sleeves and get involved in the fray in terms of work that we do and questions we ask of the administration.”

This will be Kuzma’s fourth term as board president. He is a 2001 Quaker Valley grad and has been on the board since December 2013.

“I’m honored and humbled to have been elected board president,” he said. “I’m eager to work collaboratively with our dedicated board members, educators and the entire community to ensure that Quaker Valley continues to be a place where all learners can thrive. I’m looking forward to the positive change that will occur over the coming year, including continued progress on the new high school project.”

Kuzma, a Leetsdale resident, also serves as chairman of Leetsdale’s municipal authority and on the board of Sewickley Public Library.

Helkowski of Sewickley is a Quaker Valley alum and serves as the board’s representative on the Parkway West Career & Technology Center board. She has been a school director since 2013, and her children also graduated from the district.

“Being a part of the Quaker Valley School Board has allowed me the honor to be a part of an amazing group that strives to make Quaker Valley a special place,” Helkowski said. “As vice president of the board, I will continue to work to ensure that the district will guide our children to receive the best educational opportunities and build meaningful relationships that help each of them to find their own unique path.”

Barnes also was named board treasurer. He is a Sewickley resident and has served on the school board since 2019.

He has a bachelor’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a master’s from the University of Oregon. He taught at the Savannah College of Art and Design and Robert Morris University from 1997 to 2005, when he left teaching to practice design full time.

The board had a combined reorganization and voting meeting.

It voted to keep Donald J. Palmer of GRB Law as district solicitor for one year with a $700 monthly retainer and $175-per-hour charge for shareholder-level attorneys and $160 per hour for nonshareholder-level attorneys.

The board approved a resolution to keep any possible real estate tax hike for the 2024-25 school year within the Act 1 index, a state formula that regulates tax hikes.

The index lists Quaker Valley’s maximum tax hike at 5.3%.

District officials would have to seek special exceptions from the state Department of Education if they wished to raise taxes beyond that limit.

Superintendent Tammy Andreyko and other administrators highlighted various students for their achievements so far this school year. The presentation is available to view on the district’s YouTube page.

The next school board legislative meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 17.