a TT NT Habe = Fees By te Vol. 108 No. 16 The Back Mountain's The Dallas Pos CE CELINE “al AKE-LEK HM Eni A Lid \ Set” iy Dallas, Pennsylvania Nousbeper Since 1889 RIAL FATE 5% ATER RL 3 RIC -C Bir i es ANIA LE $ 50¢ April 16 thru April 22,1997 Private school busing under fire By KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER Post Staff HARRISBURG - The state school board association is call- ing for reform of the transporta- tion of non-public school students by public districts. The Pennsyl- vania School Boards Association '(PSBA) believes their proposed reforms will save taxpayers mil- lions of dollars statewide. +.-But at least one local private ‘school official thinks reducing the commitment to transportation will do more harm than good. According to a PSBA survey, the average district spends $121,076 a year in local tax rev- enues on non-public transporta- tion. The state subsidizes less than half the cost per student's transport a year. Currently, under Act 372 of 1972, public school districts are required to transport non-public students within their district up to 10 miles outside of the district. The PSBArecommends that the state provide full funding for the actual costs to transport non-pub- lic school students and reduce the 10-mile requirement to some smaller distance from a district's boundary. Some people in the private and parochial school systems are con- cerned with the proposed reforms. “Busing is very important. Par- ents pay a substantial amount of taxes. They are not drawing on the public school districts except for this busing,” said David Davies, Wyoming Seminary Upper School dean. A good number of Wyoming Seminary students rely on both Lake-Lehman and Dallas school See BUSING, pg 5 CoMET oVER DALLAS No, you don't need to take cover, but comet Hale-Bopp does make a spectacular photo as it appears to take dead aim at the water tower at Offset Paperback. This time-exposure photo was taken at about 9:45 April 10. The rotation of the Earth is evident in the movement of the stars during 20 seconds the camera lens was open. POST PHOTO/RON BARTIZEK Taxpayers call for cut By JENNIFER JUDGE Post Correspondent LEHMAN - With the teachers’ contract set to expire August 31 in the Lake-Lehman School Dis- trict, tensions are running high between taxpayers and the school board. Charles Winner, president of the Lake Lehman Taxpayers Association, presented his group’s solution to the district's mount- ing debt at the board's regular April meeting. The group's plan calls for a 3.9 percent salary decrease for all professional staff for the first year. The second year calls for a zero increase. The third year would see an increase based on the con- sumer price index. Winner said last year’s consumer price index was slightly over 1 percent. Winner doesn’t think the teach- ers will accept the plan. “We don't anticipate anything,” he said. “All we anticipate is a fight on our hands.” Winner became involved with the Taxpayers Association in 1991, when, he says, “All at once, we discovered our taxes were sky- rocketing.” Winner says his taxes have gone from $104 per year in in teachers' salaries “It’s going to drive us crazy. We're still trying to live on what we retired on in 1988." Charles Winner President, Lake-Lehman Taxpayers Ass'n. 1990 to almost $2,000 six years later. “It’s going to drive us crazy. We're still trying to live on what we retired on in 1988.” Winner said the average tax bill in the Dallas School District is $800 while the POST PHOTO/JENNIFER JUDGE Three Back Mountain residents will be in the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar when it opens at the Music Box Theater Friday. Taking a break from rehearsal, from left; Steve Stylinski, Dierdre McLaughlin and Garry Taroli. average tax bill in Lake-Lehman School District is $1,200. Lake-Lehman School District is in a relatively unique position because it spreads out over two counties. The largest part of the district is in Luzerne County, but Winner and approximately 500 other property owners within the district live in Wyoming County. The district taxes residents of the two counties at different rates, because Wyoming County reas- sessed property a few years ago, while assessments in Luzerne See SALARIES, pg 12 Local talent will grace Music Box By JENNIFER JUDGE Post Correspondent BACK MOUNTAIN - Steve Stylinski, physical therapist and father of two, recalls his first act- ing experience. “I wanted to im- press the girls, so tried out for my high school’s production of Okla- homa.” Stylinski, a Trucksville resident for the past 10 and 1/2 years, is just one of three people from the Back Mountain in the Music Box Theater's production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Garry Taroli, a real estate /banking attorney with Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald and Dallas Middle School student See TALENT, pg 8 Griffiths voted superintendent Dallas School Board picks McCarthy for Westmoreland principal spot By KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER Post staff DALLAS - The Dallas School District has a new superinten- dent. Dr. Gil Griffiths, acting superintendent, was voted in by the school board at its regular! meeting April 14. | To the applause § of the audience, the 6-2 vote ap- | proved a four-year contract with the first year’s salary set at $80,000, effective May 1. Griffiths, 50, GRIFFITHS came to the district 10 years ago as the middle school principal. He became assistant superinten- dent in 1991 and acting superin- tendent after the late Gerald Wycallis, who served the district for 12 years in that position, passed away in January. Wycallis’s salary was set at $83,187 for this year. DR. GILBERT Pioneer Ave. By KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER PostSstaff KINGSTON TWP. - Kingston Township is gearing up to repair Pioneer Avenue. At its regular meeting April 9, the board of su- pervisors accepted bids from five contractors for the project. The township took over maintenance rights of Pioneer Ave. from PennDOT in December. The following contractors made bids: R.N. Fitch and Sons, Inc., $435,938; American Asphalt Pav- ing Co., Shavertown, $390,297; Linde Enterprises, Honesdale, $379,698; Leeward Construction, “I teel great. I'm very happy the board had the confidence for me to follow Mr. Wycallis in a position that allows the district to grow and allows me to work as an edu- cational leader in the 21st cen- tury,” said Griffiths of the deci- sion. Board members Reese Finn and Maureen Banks voted against the decision. “My vote is nothing per- sonal towards you,” Banks told Griffiths before giving her vote. “I wanted to conclude the candidate search. We only interviewed three of the 22 candidates and one of them was Dr. Griffiths. He is an excellent choice, I just wanted to go through the process.” Joseph Kunec, board member, told the public Dr. Griffiths stood head and shoulders above the rest of the qualified applicants. The board voted unanimously to make Kathleen McCarthy, Dal- las High School vice-principal, the new principal at Westmoreland See DALLAS BOARD, pg 12 to be paved Inc., $361,576; and Vincent Con- struction, Inc., Benton, $316,285. Christopher Borton, township engineer, said all but Leeward Construction have a 20 foot-wide paving machine which would avoid a center seam in the street that could possibly spread apart after time. The supervisors tabled the bids for tabulation by Borton. The board also approved the Fern Ridge Major Subdivision Fi- nal Plan. Developer of the subdi- vision, G.R. Fisher, isadding seven residential lots in Westmoreland Hills. See KINGSTON TWP., pg 12 | Kiwanis Rabies clinic cancelled DALLAS - The Dallas Kiwanis Club will not be sponsoring na . annual Rabies shot clinic this year. The event, which was originally scheduled for April 27 at the loenship municipal building, will be postponed until next year. The low cost Rabies shot program has been a fixture in the Back Mountain for seven years. “I'm sick about it,” said Cliff Parker a member of Kiwanis and organizer of the event. “Isa tradition for Kiwanis and now it's down the tubes (for this year).” : Dr. Brock Phillips has traditionally been the veterinarian who administered the shots, but he politely bowed out this year, giving pending legislation as the reason. Phillips had no comment about the legislation. “The event draws approximately 300 dog owners each year, * said Parker. nw s a worthwhile project. 1 don’t know why laws come in the way.” Parker said the Kiwanis would not try to get a different veterinar- ian for this year, but will begin looking next year. lB Competence builds confidence in pro- gram between College Misericordia and Dallas Middle School. Pg 2. HB Three-peat? If Lehman is to win soccer title again, Adrienne 20 Pages 2 Sections Calendar...................0 8 Classified............... 10-11 Crossword... 8 Editorials. ....... 5... 4 Obituaries.................. 10 SChOOL...c.i.... ch i 7 SPOS. c.ciiiiis is isivivnativons 9 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING The Dallas Post MAILING LABEL- Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612-0366
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