Shaler Area School District has seen many changes this year: a new high school principal, a new assistant superintendent, and most notably, a new superintendent.
After Dr. Sean Aiken stepped down from the job in June, Dr. Bryan O’Black was named the new superintendent of Shaler Area. Dr. O’Black graduated from Baldwin High School, worked at South Fayette until 2009, and has been working at Shaler for the past 16 years. He first ran the IT and curriculum departments, then he became the assistant superintendent.
One thing he has learned about his new position is that the days can be long. Dr. O’Black’s day starts around 4 a.m. everyday.
“There’s a lot that can happen overnight. I have to check some emails to see if we are having any transportation issues, power outages, or any buildings that don’t have water,” Dr. O’Black said.
He arrives at the district office at 6 a.m. and leaves around 9 p.m.-10 p.m.
“It’s a twenty-four hour, seven days a week job. I want to see the events that we’re doing. I want to see our kids, whether it’s a football game, whether it’s a soccer game, whether it’s a musical performance, whether it’s attending a PTO meeting,” Dr. O’Black said.
While he wants to be part of all of the events that take place in the Shaler Area community, he is aware that taking away the word “assistant” from his title has added a lot of responsibility to his duties.
”The superintendent is the CEO of the school district. So you’re ultimately responsible for every facet of the district, from busing to food service to building and grounds. You become the face of the district, which is a big difference from assistant superintendent to superintendent,” he said, “As the superintendent you are the final decision maker. I never had to be that decision maker because there has always been a superintendent sitting next to me.”
It didn’t take long for Dr. O’Black to get a feel for what it’s like to be the decision maker. In September, a bullet was found on a Shaler Area school bus and in the same week an Elementary School student was charged with making threats of school violence on social media. It was a reminder for Dr. O’Black that he has to be ready for just about anything.
“There is no day that is the same. I can come in with the best of intentions, as I did (in September) and have a list of things I want to get done and all of a sudden, one event can have a domino effect of three days of work to sort through issues,” he said. “You’ve got to be flexible. You’ve got to function under stress and pressure. It’s always interesting being a school superintendent.”
While he has only been on the job for a couple of months, Dr. O’Black is already actively planning for the future of our school district.
“We will develop a plan that will begin in 2025 and will take us all the way up to the school year 2030. That is going to be a comprehensive look at academic programs that we want to add or modify in the school district. It is going to look at short-term and long-term facilities improvements that we need to make within the school district,” Dr. O’Black said.
This strategic planning is not going to be a one-man job.
“I don’t want to single handedly make these decisions. We want to bring in parents, students, teaching staff, and former graduates into the mix.”
While strategic planning is a long-term initiative, there are some short-term questions that Dr. O’Black has considered such as, Is Shaler Area considering starting school later. Dr. O’Black said he has put a lot of thought into this question.
“It’s something we are committed to exploring and it will be part of our strategic planning process,” Dr. O’Black said. “In full transparency, there’s a lot of hurdles with changing start times, especially with high school students.”
Despite the long days, immediate questions and long-term planning, Dr. O’Black feels very lucky to be leading the Shaler Area School District.
“Within Allegheny County there are 42 school districts, so there’s 42 people that have this role. It is a job that it’s an honor to have,” he said. “Shaler Area is such a unique school district. It’s a unique community. It reminds me very much of where I grew up. That’s why it really is a special place to me.”
