First Posted: 3/26/2014
The Wyoming Area School Board voted to advertise for the district’s number two position Tuesday night.
The board voted to seek applicants for director of curriculum and instruction, but not before a plea by several board members to keep the position in-house.
Superintendent Raymond Bernardi is retiring in April and his successor, Janet Serino, will lead the district after that. Before Serino was named assistant superintendent, she held the curriculum position, which was then called district principal of curriculum.
Board member Jerry Stofko made a motion to look inside the district for a viable candidate.
“I don’t believe we should have to advertise outside of our school district,” Stofko said. “I believe we have people in this school district, teachers and administrators, that are qualified for this job.”
He was supported by John Bolin and John Marianacci, but the motion failed because it wasn’t supported by Carl Yorina, Kim Yochem, Deanna Farrell, Elizabeth Gober Mangan and board president Estelle Campenni. Mary Louise Degnan was absent.
Campenni said there have discussions by the board over the past six months about whether to keep the position in-house.
“It was the flavor of the majority of the board to not do that,” she said.
The position will be advertised in local newspapers and through the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
In other business:
• Students will no longer be allowed to participate in roadside coin drops.
District Solicitor Jarrett Ferentino said such fundraisers, which are popular, are illegal. He said state law prohibits anyone from standing on a roadway soliciting contributions from occupants of a vehicle and it is a summary offense in the traffic code. He said they may be done in a parking lot or a private area.
• The neutral arbitrator ruling on proposals from the district and the teachers union has requested an extension, said Wyoming Area Education Association President Melissa Dolman.
Unionized teachers called a strike in September and walked out of the classroom after only three days of school. The teachers returned on Oct. 4, when they were required to by law and have been working under terms of an expired contract since August 2010. Salary, health care and health care opt-outs are the primary sticking points.
The district’s and the union’s last, best offers are now in the hands of a neutral arbitrator and his decision is expected around April 10. A possible second strike was nearly eliminated because of the snow days the district used.
• The board passed the first reading of a policy regarding booster organizations. The policy defines what they are, what they’re able to do and what they are required to do.
Campenni said that for the first time ever, the district will have a PIAA community-funded sport, lacrosse. She said the district has a community funded ice hockey team, but it’s not in the PIAA.
“The money has to come to us, so we can buy the gear,” she said. “We need to know about them, who they are, who are the officers, what are their bylaws, where is the money coming from. We have to make sure the district has the final say.”
Two additional readings must be approved by the board.
• Parent conferences and report card distribution were held on Feb. 26. Parental participation for each school was 63 percent at the Secondary Center, 84 percent at JFK Elementary, 87 percent at Montgomery Avenue Elementary, 90 percent at Sarah J. Dymond Elementary and 80 percent at Tenth Street Elementary.
• Bernardi congratulated Paralympic Champion Stephanie Jallen, who earned a bronze medal in her first Olympic event, Alpine Skiing Super G as well as a second bronze medal in Alpine Skiing Super Combined Super G Race. She was honored at a parade on March 22 which began at the Midway Shopping Center and ended at the Secondary Center Gymnasium.
• Bernardi presented longtime football timekeeper George Miller with a certificate upon his retirement.
• The board hired JoAnne Lavelle as a special education aide.
• The board hired James Zarenchak, Brenda Schriber and Justin Searfoss as 10-month cleaning personnel.
• Bernardi announced the kindergarten registration schedule. Children living in Harding or Falls will have registration at the Sarah J. Dymond School from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 2:30 p.m. on April 7; children living in West Pittston will have registration at Montgomery Avenue Elementary from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 2:30 p.m. on April 8; children living in Exeter will have registration at JFK Elementary from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 2:30 p.m. on April 9; and children living in Wyoming or West Wyoming will have registration at Tenth Street Elementary from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 2:30 p.m. on April 10.
