Penn Hills School District renames media center as 'thank you' to Sen. Jay Costa

The Linton Middle School media center sports a new name.

Penn Hills School Board members and district officials gathered in the media center Nov. 26 for a ceremony to formally rename the space as the Senator Jay Costa Media Center.

Superintendent John Mozzocio called the dedication a way to express gratitude for Costa’s support of the district and his efforts to help it tackle its financial woes.

“Tonight, on behalf of the Penn Hills School District, we’d like to extend our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support throughout the year,” Mozzocio said.

He said Costa’s “steadfast advocacy” was instrumental in the district entering financial recovery earlier this year. In 2018, the district was $18 million in debt.

Costa, D-Forest Hills, has a long history of helping the school district procure grant funding from the state. He and other lawmakers helped to secure $4 million in state grants — a $2 million grant in the 2017-18 school year and another $2 million in the current school year.

School board President Erin Vecchio said the idea to rename the media center was her and Vice President Jackie Blakey-Tate’s idea.

“I wanted to name a school after him, and he wouldn’t let me,” Vecchio said.

Vecchio also credited Costa with helping to secure $3.3 million from the state Department of Education in 2019. Costa told TribLive he worked to win support for the funding alongside the late state Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills.

“We worked so hard to get the community back together,” Vecchio said. “The only reason we got here was because of (Costa).”

Costa said the dedication is one of the most significant recognitions he has received. He thanked the board for its efforts to reach financial recovery status. Costa said the health of the district was pertinent to the success of Penn Hills as a municipality, and he saw and still sees the potential the district has to thrive.

“We could have made those investments in Woodland Hills or Wilkinsburg or some other district, but we consistently chose Penn Hills because we knew what needed to be done and what we wanted to achieve,” Costa said.

Costa also thanked Nancy Hines, the district’s previous superintendent. Hines retired in October 2023 after serving as superintendent for eight years. Hines helped to lead the district through tumultuous financial and health-related times, including an investigation by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.’s office into alleged misuse of taxpayer funds and other alleged criminal activity.

The grand jury investigation resulted in no charges.

An audit by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale released in May 2016 also alleged mismanagement of funds, bad decisions and lack of oversight that put the district in abnormal debt.

The 74-page audit covered July 2012 through June 2015, prior to Hines rising to superintendent.

“Dr. Hines was part of the leadership team that helped us make those tough decisions,” Costa said.

Costa said he was especially honored to have the media center named after him.

“I’m particularly thrilled that this is a media center,” Costa said. “As we know — in this day and age — media, how important it is, how important it is to the kids.”

He said the center is a symbol of communication and how important communication is between students, educators and administrators. Mozzocio said the center is used by students to do classwork, read and meet for clubs. School officials use the room as a Positive Spaces-awarded lunch spot for well-behaved students.

“I’m just humbled and honored that you guys would think of me in this way,” Costa said.