The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Thursday, July 18, 2001 3 By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER Special to The Dallas Post JACKSON TWP. — A mentally handicapped man who, police said, admitted setting fire to his group home July 10 was previ- ously accused of setting two oth- er fires, leading the township's | police chief to question why the L man was not in a more secure ) | city. “He was supposed to be under 24 hour observation. Obviously that's not = working,” Chief Jerome Leedock said of Warren Rensa, 39. Rensa was charged Thursday with four counts of arson and other offenses, including simple nd aggravated assault, reckless ) 1dangerment and risking a cat- astrophe, after police said he set a 1996 incident in which Rensa was charged with setting fire to clothing in a closet in a group home at 210 Johnson St. in Wilkes-Barre Township. Those charges were withdrawn by prosecutors. Court records did not indicate why the case was not prosecuted. Last July Rensa was charged with burglarizing a home and setting papers on fire in a cabin owned by Thomas and Sandy Morris of Jackson Church Road. Police said Rensa broke into the properties after he walked away from the same Step By Step group home he is accused of set- ting on fire. He pleaded guilty to burglary and other charges and was ‘sentenced in September to two years probation. Leedock said he asked mental the Step By Step group home at | 513 Smith Pond Road in Jack- son Township. ! Rensa and three staff workers were home when the blaze was discovered at about 8:30 a.m. One of the workers suffered smoke inhalation and a sprained ankle while trying to extinguish 3 | re fire. " The case is nearly identical to transfer Rensa to a more secure facility but the request was de- clined. “They felt this was his home, and he was entitled to go back to his home,” Leedock said. “They didn't feel he was a dan- ger.” James Bobeck, executive di- rector of Step By Step, said con- fidentiality laws prevent him from discussing Rensa’s case. He did say all residents are eval- uated by the Luzerne/Wyoming counties Mental Health and Mental Retardation program to determine if a group home is a suitable placement. Jim Gallagher, executive di- rector of that agency, said men- tal health officials look at a pa- tient’s history and current men- tal state in making that determi- nation. He said he could not say why workers felt Rensa was safe to return to a group home, citing confidentiality laws. “It's very difficult to predict a person’s behavior in the future,” Gallagher said. “The best we can do is make an educated judg- ment.” Rensa was arraigned before District Justice James Tupper July 11 on the latest charges. Shackled and handcuffed, he rocked back and forth in his chair as Tupper read the charges. He also chatted with two Step By Step workers, ask- ing them if he would be able to return to the home. “I did it now. I'm done. I won't be coming back,” he said, speak- suspect in care home fire had previous record ing aloud to himself. According to the arrest affi- davit: Rensa started the fire with a cigarette lighter, then returned to the home’s kitchen. A smoke alarm alerted group home work- er David Pall, who tried to extin- guish the fire, but was pushed back by heavy smoke and ran from the home. A second group home worker, Christopher Konieski, re-entered the home and tried to extinguish the blaze, but was pushed back by smoke. Konieski became dis- oriented, ran into an object while exiting the home and sprained his ankle. He was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene. At the scene, Leedock ap- proached Rensa, who became belligerent and threatened to shoot the officer and “pull his eyes out.” Rensa ignored Lee- dock’s demands to quiet down, then struggled with the officer and spat in his face as he placed Rensa under arrest. Rensa later admitted he set the fire because the staff “doesn’t take him out anywhere.” Tupper set bail at $25,000 of trouble FOR THE DALLAS POST/MADALYN RUGGIERO Jackson Township police officers escort Warren Rensa from his ar- raignment Thursday on charges he set fire to the group home where he lived. and returned Rensa to the Luzerne County Correctional Fa- cility, where he is being held for violating conditions of his proba- tion in the 2001 burglary case. A preliminary hearing was tenta- tively scheduled for July 18, but Tupper said it will likely be con- tinued. This article appeared in origi- nal form in the Times Leader. Lake-Lehman (continued from page 1) not know they would be affect- ed. b ¢ knew when I bought my : ouse where my children were going to attend school,” said Ron Swingle, a wrestling coach at the junior high school. “I feel we are now being punished by this cre- ating of undue hardships on our families by pulling our children out and now placing them in a situation that I feel is a detri- ment to their education | process.” 3 y» Lisa Swanson, who was over- ; Pome by her emotions at one point, began, “I am very bitter.” Her husband said he felt be- trayed and was concerned about the distance between the schools he must drive to_pick up his children should an emergency ; arise. “I don’t think the board understands the magnitude of CY decision and the effect it will » ave...on parents,” said. . Rick Swanson. Many , parents . stressed. .to board members their inability to adjust work schedules or quit jobs to accommodate the new schedules or to find or afford be- fore and after-school child care. Currently, day care is available at Lehman-Jackson and Lake- Noxen but not at Ross. Lack of information and poor dissemina- bp jon of that information was also n issue. A letter from the school dis- trict, dated June 28, was the first notification beyond rumors most parents received that their children would be transferred to “I don’t think the board understands the magnitude of this decision and the effect it | will have on parents.” Rick Swanson Ross Elementary.. The minimal information in the letter only contributed to parent’s unease. Superintendent Robert O. Roberts apologized for not per- sonally reviewing the letter, which had his signature on it, sent out by the transportation department. Roberts said transportation schedules would be published the second week of August. The high school and middle school will continue to start school at 8 a.m. with Lehman-Jackson and Lake-Noxen starting at 8:25 a.m. and Ross at 9:05 a.m., with teachers.in a half hour, earlier ‘for common planning time. The board voted in May to change the schedules of the Lehman-Jackson and Ross Ele- mentary schools to include com- mon planning time for elemen- tary teachers and approved a dual busing system to allow sec- ondary and elementary school students to ride separate buses. Elementary school principal Dave McLaughlin-Smith said it was his experience that students of teachers who had common planning time performed better on standardized tests. ) | © INL * Annual Percentage Yields are accurate as of date of publication and may change without notice. $1,000 minimum deposit required to open an account and earn listed Annual Percentage Yield. Interest is paid at maturity. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Going Up? Annual Percentage Yield 475 60 Months Tox @® 48 Months Yo * ® 36 Months Let Our Escalator Option CDs Take You To The Top On all CDs with terms of 18 months or greater, you can escalate one time to a higher rate, if rates increase. FNCB COMMUNITY IS OUR MIDDLE NAME 1-877-TRY-FNCB / www.fncb.com Member FDIC Transportation costs increased $62,000 over the previous year due to the changing schedule and dual bus system. Common planning time will save the dis- trict the salary of one teacher. The board decided to address the issues further in a special meeting to be held Thursday, July 25 at 7 p.m. In other business: e Several students and stu- dent athletes voiced concerns once again over the teachers’ contract negotiations, asking board. members. for a speedy conclusion and an avoidance of a possible strike. e The board will reopen the 2002-2003 budget to include $52,502 increase in basic edu- cation funding, $35,800 for non- public and charter school trans- portation and $4,582 for charter school reimbursement. The board decided to spend the extra funds on educational items, with board members An- gelo DeCesaris and Joseph Ka- pitula voting no on the agenda item. DeCesaris felt more time was needed to look over the op- tions and Kapitula wanted to re- duce millage. POST PHOTO/ELIZABETH ANDERSON More than 60 worried parents attended the Lake-Lehman School Board meeting Tuesday night to speak to board members about changing schedule times and the transferring of some 43 elementary school students from Lehman-Jackson to the recently completed Ross Elementary School. * There will be a special meet- ing to address the issues of the parents and to vote on hiring of a band director and music teacher on Thursday, July 25 at 5:15 p.m. in the music room of - DARLING & SONS' FARMS & GREENHOUSES “Growing Quality Is A Family Business Since 1930 FIRST OF THE SEASON SWEET CORN Bedding Plants *S a Tray We are now picking green & yellow squash, red beets, leaf lettuce, fresh peas, yellow & green beans, fresh dill & italian beans, vegetable plants, herbs, vinca vines, perennials and more! Visit our new website at www.darlingsgreenhouses.homestead.com Open Mon.-Fri. 9-5; Sat.-Sun. 9-4 * 675-2080 1/2 mile off Rt. 309, Dallas, Hildebrant Rd. (200 yds. north of the Dallas Elementary School) ° ”» Just Say, CHARGE IT! 1 immediately. Sy VISA The Post now accepts Visa & Mastercard for all your subscriptions, classified ads, and display ads. For maximum convenience, call our office at 675- 5211 with your account and we will set you up The Dallas Post 675-5211 the Lehman-Jackson Elemen- tary School. The next regular committee-of- the-whole meeting will be Tues- day, August 6 at 7 p.m. and the next regular meeting for general { Fomudo Air Accelerators #735-4763 thru 735-4774 \. Waterproof Soft-Sided Car Top Carrier #730-3988 929 « N Ql : ran Fe CEN (ic PN: | } 5] Ye) ; La ® LY Ne A nv A | edi \ / \ p> c= purposes will be Tuesday, Au- gust 20 at 7 p.m. Both meeting will be held in the music room of the Lehman-Jackson Elemen- tary School. 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