Monroeville’s Gateway School Board unanimously approved two property assessment settlement agreements this week.
The first was for One Monroeville Center, 3824 Northern Pike. The 10-story building was built in 1984 and has about 101,665 square feet of space. The property owner initiated an assessment appeal for the 2025 tax year, providing an appraising from Robert Gelman of Ditio Appraisal Services.
Gelman gave the building a fair market value of $11.175 million. Once the 2025 common level ratio of 52.7% is applied, it supports an assessment of $5,889,200.
After extensive negotiations, Gateway’s attorney – Weiss Burkardt Kramer LLC – recommended the district accept the settlement proposal of an $8.3 million assessed value.
Because the appeal impacts the 2025-2026 school year, the settlement does not require any refunds.
The second was for a a multi-story office building at 300 Oxford Drive. The building, built in 1989, has approximately 90,966 square feet of space.
The building was sold on Oct. 4, 2023 . Both the previous and current owners requested an assessment appeal for the 2022-2025 tax years. After negotiations with William W. Rielly, Jr. of Integra Realty Resources, Weiss Burkardt Kramer LLC agreed to a settlement, resulting in a refund of $183,464.26 for the 2022 – 2024 tax years.
Weiss Burkardt Kramer LLC recommended the district accept this offer, since the worst-case scenario would be a potential refund of an additional $44,580.17.
Artificial intelligence program
District technology coach Troy Ulewicz addressed the board to discuss Artificial Intelligence Fellows Program. He and and staff from about 20 neighboring school districts were able to attend the five-day training program at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.
Fellows offered an in-depth exploration of AI and its impact on education.
“AI is definitely a part of our lives,” Ulewicz said. “And it’s all about trying to capture it as educators so that we are to utilize it in an appropriate manner in the classroom.”
Ulewicz attended a conference in Austin, Texas, with leaders in the AI field, including Gemini, Google, Microsoft and Apple.
Ulewicz spoke with Gateway staff about how to incorporate AI into their teaching and how to talk about AI with their students.
Gateway plans to pilot a software called SchoolAI, in which the teacher controls a bot and can create a virtual space for students to learn about what they are studying. The goal is for SchoolAI to personalize learning for every student, save time and increase engagement.
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SchoolAI also is beneficial for English as a Second Language students, because bots can speak to the students in their native language, Ulewicz said.