Brentwood Borough

School District

Meet the School Board

Robert F. Kircher, Jr. - Board President

Mr. Kircher was appointed to the School Board in March 2005 and is currently serving his 19th year as a Brentwood School Board Member. Mr. Kircher has been a Brentwood Resident for 46 years and is married to Christine (Brucker) and has two children: Robert Kircher, III and Kelsey Kalpakis. Mr. Kircher and his wife have always held a passion for the Brentwood community, especially our schools. As per Mr. Kircher, "We have a small district that is the envy of larger districts and professional educators. Brentwood provides every child an opportunity to excel and stand out!"

Board Member Term: Current term ends December 2027.

Committee Appointments: Renovation/Construction, Negotiations, SE Area Authority (District Rep)

Current Career / Past Experiences: Union carpenter and project manager, retired 2012

E-mail: [email protected]

Donna J. Werner - Board Secretary

Mrs. Werner was elected to the School Board in November 2001 and is currently serving her 23rd year as a Brentwood School Board Member. Mrs. Werner is married to Eugene Werner and has three children: Stephanie, Nicole, and EJ, and six grandchildren. Mrs. Werner has held many other Volunteer or Board member positions within the community including: Past President and Board Member of the Brentwood Park Initiative, past member of the Brentwood VFD Ladies Auxiliary, Past President St. Sylvester's PTG, Brentwood Athletic Boosters, and the Brentwood Dukes Association. Mrs. Werner states "I am especially proud of the accomplishments of our students over the years and have watched so many Brentwood students grow and accomplish great things over the 20 years I have served on the School Board. The Brentwood School District may be small but what it lacks in size it makes up for in heart, compassion and great accomplishments."

Board Member Term: Current term ends December 2025

Committee Appointments: Community Services (Chairperson), Buildings & Grounds (Chairperson), Athletics, Personnel, and South Hills Area School District Association (SHASDA) representative

Current Career / Past Experiences: Credentialed Epic Trainer for Allegheny Health Network. Prior to this Mrs. Werner was a practice manager for AHN Primary Care Office and independent orthopedic surgery office in the South Hills.

E-mail: [email protected]

Gary Topolosky - Assistant Secretary

Mr. Topolosky was elected to the School Board in November 2007 and is currently serving his 17th year as a Brentwood School Board Member. Mr. Topolosky is married to Megan and has one daughter: Elizabeth. Mr. Topolosky has held many other Volunteer or Board member positions including: 5th grade Sunday school teacher at Zion Lutheran in Brentwood, Mon Yough Chorale member since 2017 and sang the anthem at homecoming in 2018 and 2019, former Borough councilman for Delmont Borough in Westmoreland County. Mr. Topolosky is especially proud that he has assisted with multiple Brentwood Education Association (BEA) and Brentwood Education Support Personnel Association (BESPA) contract negotiations since joining the Brentwood Board of Directors.

Board Member Term: Current term ends December 2025

Committee Appointments: Health, Safety & Transportation; Buildings & Grounds; Renovation / Construction; Personnel (Chairperson); Negotiations (Chairperson); South Hills Area School Districts Association (SHASDA) alternate representative

Current Career / Past Experiences: Patent lawyer for 36+ years, former in-house counsel for Alcoa. Mr. Topolosky started his own practice in December 2005.

E-mail: [email protected]

Richard Briner - Board Member

Mr. Briner was appointed to the School Board in July 2003 and is currently serving his 21st year as a Brentwood School Board Member. Mr. Briner is married and has two grown daughters and is active in various industry groups.

Board Member Term: Current term ends December 2027

Committee Appointments: Budget & Finance (Chairperson) ; Policy & Planning, Curriculum & Technology; Negotiations; SE Area Authority (alternate representative)

Current Career / Past Experiences: Employed in the banking and investment management industry with experience in foreign and domestic regulatory compliance.

E-mail: [email protected]

Kristie Kraeuter - Board Member

Mrs. Kraeuter was appointed to the School Board in April 2016 and is currently serving her 8th year as a Brentwood School Board Member.

Board Member Term: Current term ends December 2025

Committee Appointments: Community Services, Public Relations, and Athletics (Chairperson)

E-mail: [email protected]

Brian Rea - Board Member

Mr. Rea was appointed to the School Board in February 2020 as a Brentwood School Board Member.

Board Member Term: Current term ends December 2025

Committee Appointments: Budget & Finance, Policy & Planning (Chairperson), Curriculum & Technology, and Personnel

E-mail: [email protected]

David Schaap - Board Member

Mr. Schaap was appointed to the School Board in August 2006 and is currently serving his 18th year as a Brentwood School Board Member. Mr. Schaap is married to Virginia (Ginnie) and has three children: Christina, Eliza, and Paul. Mr. Schaap has held many other Volunteer or Board member positions including: President of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit Board of Directors, President of the Mon-Valley Special School Board of Directors, Board member of the Steel Center Career and Technical Schools, President-Elect of the Pennsylvania School Board Association, taking office January 1, 2022, then becoming President of the association in 2023, and is the Pennsylvania School Boards Association legislative delegate for the Brentwood School District. Mr. Schaap states "Brentwood is a small district within our county but its excellent staff, teachers, and administrators make Brentwood an excellent place to raise your children."

Board Member Term: Current term ends December 2027

Committee Appointments: Public Relations, Renovation/Construction, Curriculum & Technology (Chairperson), Special & Private Schools (Chairperson), Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) Legislative Representative

Current Career / Past Experiences: Founder and president of Selah Publishing Co., Inc., an ecumenical church-music publisher and is also the organist/choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh.

E-mail: [email protected]

Jennifer George - Board Member

Mrs. George was appointed to the School Board in December 2023 as a Brentwood School Board Member. Mrs. George is a 1990 graduate of Brentwood High School and a life-long resident. Jennifer is married to Jeff George (BHS Class of 1988) and has two sons, Nicholas (BHS Class of 2016) and Connor (BHS Class of 2028). Jennifer is a 1994 graduate of Duquesne University and has served as the Treasurer of the Brentwood High Athletic Boosters and has served multiple terms on the Moore elementary PTA board. Jennifer is currently serving on the board of South Hills Interfaith Movement (SHIM). Jennifer feels that growing up in Brentwood is a special gift and she looks forward to giving back through service to the community she has loved her whole life.

Board Member Term: Current term ends December 2027

Committee Appointments: Budget & Finance; Policy & Planning; Buildings & Grounds; Health, Safety & Transportation (Chairperson)

Current Career/Past Experiences: Jennifer is the Chief Operating Officer for a bank headquartered in Washington County, PA.

E-mail: [email protected]

Ms. Antonia Focer-Brown - Board Member

Ms. Focer-Brown is a 1995 Brentwood High School graduate, who attended St. Sylvester Elementary School, preschool at Brentwood Presbyterian Church, and the PALS playgroup in the Civic Center. Her mother, aunt, uncle, grandfather, and cousins previously attended Moore Elementary and Brentwood High Schools. She served on the Moore School PTA Board for 2 years; first as the Second Secretary and currently as Treasurer. She played softball for the Brentwood Athletic Association for 12 years, is-because once you are, you always are-a Girl Scout, and if you look hard enough, you can find her picture 3 times on the wall outside of the Band Room. She is Brentwood through and through and feels it an honor to serve the community that poured so much love into her. She has 5 children currently attending Brentwood Schools and had previously homeschooled them for 10 years.

Ms. Focer-Brown is very proud of the way the District has continuously reinvented itself over the years. She hopes to enhance and encourage us all, especially our children, to be the very best versions of ourselves.

Board Member Term: 2025

Committee Appointments: Community Services; Public Relations (Chairperson); Health, Safety & Transportation

E-mail: [email protected]