Pittsburgh School Board elects new officers amid financial uncertainties

The Pittsburgh School Board elected new officers for the 2026 fiscal year.

The board members were sworn in on Monday at the district’s Board Organization Meeting.

New to the board of directors are Tawana Cook Purnell (District 1), Eva Diodati (District 7) and Erikka Grayson (District 3).

Purnell grew up in the Pittsburgh Public School district.

She graduated from Peabody High School.

Afterward Purnell moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a teacher and administrator for a number of schools.

A philosophy major and English minor, she attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, before transferring to and graduating from Spelman College in Atlanta,

Purnell then earned her master’s in Private School Leadership at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

When she returned to the Pittsburgh area, Purnell also served as principal at the Environmental Charter School and The Campus School at Carlow University.

Purnell could not be reached for immediate comment on Tuesday.

Grayson, who will be representing District 3, moved to the Hill District after relocating from Washington, D.C.

She currently serves as the Senior Clubhouse Director for the Estelle S. Campbell Boys & Girls Club.

Her previous experience includes serving as director of community and engagement at the Early Excellence Project, where she developed tutoring and literacy programs for early childhood and elementary students in the Hill District.

Grayson holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Point Park University. She is also a project manager with volunteer experience supporting Pittsburgh Public Schools, where her children attend.

“My main goal, honestly, is to come to the board with transparency and communication from my constituents from the Hill District,” Grayson said.

Diodati is also a native Pittsburgher.

Diodati grew up in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood and currently resides in Carrick.

In a news release, Diodati said they were honored to be the first Black and open LGBTQIA+ school board director for District 7.

Diodati graduated from Pittsburgh Brashear High School in 2009, received a bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts in 2012 and a master’s degree in English and Media from Duquesne University in 2018.

Prior to being elected as a school board member Diodati worked for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh as a teen library services associate, as a museum educator for the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and served as a board member for the Gemini Children’s Theatre.

Diodati could not be reached for immediate comment on Tuesday.

Returning board members include: Devon Taliaferro (District 2), Yael Silk (District 4), Tracey Reed (District 5), Emma Yourd (District 6), Dwayne Barker (District 8) and Gene Walker (District 9).

Walker was elected as board president for the third consecutive year.

Reed was elected first vice president and Silk was elected second vice president.

Walker told reporters last week that there were many unknowns surrounding the district’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year after the “Future-Ready” reconfiguration plan, which was expected to close nine Pittsburgh Public School buildings, was defeated by a 6-3 vote.

The plan had included more than $102 million in cost avoidance, which was supposed to help stabilize the district’s deficit.

“Because the plan was not approved, we must now prepare and present a 2026 budget that includes a larger operating deficit,” Superintendent Wayne Walters said in an email that was sent to stakeholders last week. “The challenges the plan sought to address have not changed… Our staff continue to be stretched as resources continue to be diluted across schools and our district continues to operate far more buildings than our enrollment can sustain.”

On Monday, the school board also reelected Walters as Secretary of the board.

Walker told reporters last week that things were up in the air until the new board members were sworn in.

“I don’t have a comment on that (the Future-Ready plan and budget), because I’m fairly new … I’m coming in with eyes wide open to learn and understand where the money is and what we can do to ensure that we continue the district in a positive direction,” Grayson said.