At the special meeting on Tuesday night, the Pleasant Valley School Board decided to dissolve the supervisor of transportation and administrative services position.

The position was held by Doug Palmieri since July 1, 2020. He has been with the school district in various capacities since 2000.

Originally the position was called the director of buildings and grounds, but the name was changed last summer at the June 25, 2020, school board meeting, and the position definition was adjusted.

Before the changes were made, the position was held by Travis Serfass.

Palmieri isn’t necessarily out of a job. Before the school board took a vote on dissolving his position, Director Dan Wunder suggested that they offer him employment in a different capacity in the school district with something that he is certified to do.

The school board agreed to give him that option. If he declines it, then he would be laid off and would not be a member of the Act 93 group, said Mark Fitzgerald, the solicitor for the school district. Act 93 is state legislation adopted in 2015 under the Education and State Employees Retirement Code, which covers eligibility for benefits.

Palmieri began his career at PVSD as a special-education teacher and held that position for six years, then he taught seventh-grade geography for two years.

In 2008, he became the coordinator of the district’s Cyber Academy. In 2012, he concurrently held that position while also being an assistant principal. During that time, he completed a master’s degree in special education, and became the supervisor of special education in 2015. That was the position he held when he was named the supervisor of transportation and administrative services.

The decision to amend the original motion, that was strictly to dissolve the position and said nothing about offering Palmieri employment in another capacity, narrowly passed in a 5-4 vote.

With the amendment approved, the vote to dissolve the position and offer Palmieri employment in another position passed 6-3. The three voting no also voted no to change the amendment in the first place. They were Len Peeters, Donna Yozwiak and Delbert Zacharias. Laura Jecker, who made the original motion, voted no to amend it but voted yes after the change was approved.