EXETER — Wyoming Area School District’s Feb. 7 board meeting ended with a discussion between attendee ReeRee DeLuca and board member Gerald Stofko.
DeLuca, on behalf of Wyoming Area boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, came in front of the board to inquire about a letter she said she sent in October asking the board to include a request for funds for lcrosse.
“I don’t want them to pay for lacrosse; I just want them to give us some funds because we started off on our own,” DeLuca said after the meeting. “We raised quite a bit of money and I just want them to help us get over a hard spot.”
Rob Switzer, president of Wyoming Area’s boys’ lacrosse team, said the organization plans to hold eight fundraisers throughout its season, which starts in early March. According to Carl DeLuca, Wyoming Area girls’ lacrosse coach and vice president of Wyoming Area boys’ lacrosse, the program currently includes 45 girls and 48 boys.
During the meeting, ReeRee DeLuca brought up concerns for funding to other programs not recognized by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. Stofko’s response focused on the board’s previous interactions with Wyoming Area lacrosse and the understanding that the board would provide facilities and insurance only.
“They came to us community funded,” Stofko said after the meeting. “It was Jan. 28, 2014, when they said it was going to be community funded, you won’t have to donate or anything. Now they’re asking for $20,000.”
DeLuca was told to make her request in a letter to the board for consideration during March’s meeting.
In other business…
• On Jan. 28, Wyoming Area hosted the Great Northern History Bowl, a competition that included 18 teams from throughout Pennsylvania. Teams competed to attend History Bowl Nationals in Washington. Peter Butera and Bella Scappaticci qualified for the National History Bee and freshman bowl team members Bella Scappaticci, Mary Kate O’Brien, Michael DeSanto, Sarah McCormic and Tierney Porfirio qualified for nationals in the Junior Varsity Team/Bowl division.
• The Mobile Agricultural Education Science Lab, an initiative of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, will visit Wyoming Area Primary Center in March. Elementary and middle school students will use the lab to learn about agriculture science.
• On Jan. 18, Wyoming Area district administrators held a forum with representatives from local colleges to assess student readiness.
• A request from Drama Advisor Barbara Bullions during January’s meeting for the board to fund two students’ trip to the 2017 International Thespian Festival at University of Nebraska was amended to ask the board to match up to $1,500 worth of funds raised. The request was approved.
• The $150 fee for use of the Secondary Center gym was waived for Two Mountains Boy Scouts and the organization’s April 29 Pinewood Derby.
• The board has decided to explore donating playground equipment from the now-closed Sarah J. Diamond Elementary School to Wyoming Area Catholic. The board anticipates the auctioning of the school property to occur in late May.
