First Posted: 1/20/2015
YATEVILLE — Eleven days after a fifth grade student went missing from the Pittston Area Middle School, the Pittston Area school board discussed the situation and how to prevent another occurrance.
Audrey Esser, a fifth grader at the Matin L. Mattei Middle School, vanished from the property in Hughestown just after noon on Jan. 9. Esser was found and returned to the school around 10:30 p.m. that night and spoke with local and state police about what happened.
After Esser did not report to the office where her grandfather was waiting to sign her out, Esser was paged throughout the school several times and a search of the school was conducted. Police were then contacted via 911.
School board member Joseph Kelly brought up the situation at the meeting on Tuesday as new business. Kelly touched on the subject of cameras on the premises in Hughestown, and questioned several district principals on whether their respective school’s camera’s are operating properly.
The middle school currently has one working camera that does not record, according to Kelley.
“This is a sad state of affairs,” Kelly said. “This should have been priority. I have a child in this school district. I’m not trying to play politics here. All I care about is a good education and keeping everyone safe. We have to do everything possible to protect our kids.”
Middle school principal Patrick Bilbow, who said the school has just over 1,000 students, reiterated that everyone involved at the school went above and beyond to help find Esser.
“Child safety was the top concern of everyone involved,” he said. “We had knowledge of this occurring and had everyone helping out – from janitorial staff right down to going the perimeter of the whole property.”
The board members discussed an RFP (request for proposal) to be made at the next meeting to address the security situation in the school district.
Board vice president Anthony Guariglia was completely on board with the RFP and wanted to reiterate the safety trust he has at the middle school. Guariglia has a child that attends the school.
Superintendent Michael Garzella was happy with the way the representatives of the school responded to the situation. Bilbow stated that all teachers stayed after school to help in the search, along with maintenance personnel.
“I want our schools to be secure and safe as they possibly can,” Garzella said. “This is a rarity. The way the staff responded and the steps that were taken were spot on.”
The RFP will be discussed at the monthly Safety Committee meeting in early February. Several proposals are expected to be discussed and completed as soon as possible.
Proposed budget discussed
The proposed budget for the 2015-16 school year was presented by Business Consultant Albert Melone in hopes of keeping the school district under the index. In that proposed budget, the school district has $1.9 million is Expenditures On Revenue and just $900,000 left.
The school will carry about $600,000 over from this past year, but several other factors, including an increase in Blue Cross, retirement, charter schooling, out-of-district tuition and transportation have increased.
The total proposed budget for 2015-16 is set at $46 million. Currently, Pittston Area has just $800,000 in its Fund Balance. That’s approximately $3 million from where it should be, according to 8 percent of the budget, Melone said.
Board member John Adonizio asked Melone about layoffs throughout the district. Currently, the district hasn’t had to lay anyone off, but Melone said anything is possible.
Pittston Area School District carries around $42 million of debt, Melone said. Melone said that’s not bad compared to the Wilkes-Barre School District, which comes in at $260 million in debt.
The proposed budget will be put on public display in the school district’s office on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The board will vote on the budget at the next meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 17. The preliminary budget will come out in the coming months.
In other business…
• Three refunds of paid taxes in a court order was approved by the school board. Charles Obeid, 513 Charles Place, Jenkins Township, was awarded $1,240.89. David Yuhas, 458 Foote Ave., Duryea, was given $364.01. Eric Kovaleski, 709 Donnelly St., Duryea, was awarded $527.92.
• The following teachers were approved as homebound instructors: Judy Greenwald, Jim Kupetz, Alane Zurek, Nicole Rugletic and Jill Samuels.
• Arlene Shatrowskas was given permission to attend the Department of Education Neglected and Delinquent Advisory Committee meeting on Feb. 19 and 20 in State College at no cost to the district.
• The letter of retirement received from Valentino Timonte, maintenance mechanic, effective Feb. 17, 2015 was acknowledged and approved.
• Christine Marranca Keren, senior high social studies teacher, will return from Child Rearing Leave on Jan. 21.
• Michael Struckus informed the district that he is resigning as the junior high track and field coach, effective immediately. Brandon Hampton and Nick Barbieri were appointed as Junior High Track and Field coaches, pending clearances, at a split $2,016.
