2 The Dallas Post NEWS Sunday, October 19, 2003 LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL BOARD Renovation add-on questioned By KALEN CHURCHER For The Post LEHMAN TWP. — School Board members debated Octo- ber 14 how far they can dig into School District ceffers to fund additional construction projects. In a report to the board, dis- trict architect Doug Trumbow- er presented a sound- and light- booth plan, estimated to cost about $15,000. The booth would provide a secure location in the auditorium to store ex- pensive equipment and a safer area from which students could work. The plans sat well with member Sheila Gionfriddo, who sought to get the item placed on next week’s agenda. Not everyone shared her enthu- siasm. “You can’t keep going to the pocket when there’s nothing there,” said member Charles Balavage. “We have a cost-con- tainment committee. Are you going to talk about this in the cost-containment committee?” Angelo DeCesaris reminded fellow board members they were never advised they could not afford to take on particular construction projects — not the junior-senior high school, elementary school renovations or the district's new athletic complex. “I really don’t think it’s fair (to the students),” Gionfriddo said regarding not moving for- ward on the auditorium addi- tion. “It’s not fair to hit the taxpay- ers either,” member Lois Kopcha quipped. Trumbower did manage to present some good news. It is likely Manville Roofing will provide some reimbursement to the School District for prob- lems with part of the junior- senior high school roof. Small holes found in the rub- berized roof could stretch in the future, causing major roof- ing problems and leaks. The roof should be covered under its 20-year material warranty. Trumbower estimated imme- diate roof costs associated with tightening up problems to cost more than $37,000. Preventa- tive costs for the future could climb to $39,000. The next regular Lake- Lehman School Board meeting will be 7 p.m. Tuesday in the music room of the Lehman- Jackson Elementary School. A) Business group gets updates The October meeting of the Back Mountain Business and Professional Association featured presentations by three community groups working to add amenities to the region. Represen- tatives from the Back Mountain Trail, Back Mountain Recreation and Dallas Visioning out- lined recent activities. BUBPA supports those organizations financially, and many members volunteer time with them. In photo, Judy Rimple, Anthracite Scenic Trail Association, described how the trail has re- covered from damage caused by the summer's heavy rains, and plans to bring it into Dallas. Seated behind her were Lynn Banta, BMBPA president; Joe Moskovitz, Dallas Borough Manager; and Brian Grove, Back Mountain Recreation Inc. BMBPA meets the second Thursday of each month. For information, call 675-9380. Students in hazing will be charged By KALEN CHURCHER For The Post LEHMAN TWP. — The same day simple assault charges were filed against four Lake-Lehman football players accused of hazing a teammate, the School District finalized its own punishments for the juve- niles. Luzerne County District At- torney David Lupas petitioned the four players to juvenile court Wednesday afternoon. That evening, School Board members met for what was scheduled to be an open expul- sion hearing for junior Ryan Arcangeli. After 90 minutes of closed- door negotiations, officials an- nounced the Arcangelis opted out of the hearing and settled with the School District. Lake-Lehman solicitor Charles Coslett and Arcangeli’s attorney Patrick Rogan, would not release punishment details, citing state and federal laws. A group of people — includ- ing some members of Arcan- geli’s family — were heard af- ter the hearing saying the pun- ishment was basically the same as what had been offered earli- er, including expulsion. The previous punishment, which has been accepted by the other three players, in- cludes expulsion through the end of the second marking pe- riod (sometime in January), counseling, community service and no extracurricular activi- ties for the school year. Numerous sources have identified’ seniors Chad Der- hammer, Josh Cragle and Bran- don Wren|as the other students involved in the alleged hazing on Sept. 24. The players are accused of taping sophomore Adam Har- ris, 15, to a wheeled chair, rub- bing Icy Hot balm on his head and face, and shoving the chair across a hallway and into an adjacent gymnasium. When the students let go of the chair, it hit the door threshold and Harris fell facefirst to the floor. He suffered a fractured jaw and other injuries. “Anyone who would think these kids would maliciously hurt anyone is an idiot,” said Ryan’s sister, Maria. “We feel he was unfairly punished and we want him back in school.” Maria Arcangeli was one of many people at the meeting toting “We love Ryan” signs and wearing “The School Board went overboard” stick- ers. Nearly 200 people filled the Lehman-Jackson Elemen- tary School for the hearing. Some taunted the School Board by shouting “I'm a regis- tered voter” and “November’s coming” as the board entered the room. Though agreements have been signed with the other three players, Coslett said stu- dents might still petition against the punishment. How- ever, he is hopeful the School District can move on to pre- venting similar incidents from happening again. “I believe the matter has been fairly resolved,” Coslett said after the hearing. He stressed no students were forced into signing the “initial agreement and any or all of them could have opted for a hearing. eh Juvenile hearings for the four students will be held be- fore Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark Ciavarella. “Incidents that result in in- juries to students cannot be tolerated,” Lupas said in a re- lease. “All students should be able to feel safe in their schools, and parents should not have to worry about the safety of their children when those children are in school.” Ae rg Tell our advertisers you saw them in The Post. They'll appreciate it, and so will we. SIZES 7 1/2 - 14 W-WW INSULATED 400-600 GRAMS WATERPROOF PON EE OPEN MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9 T0 9 + SATURDAY 9 TO 5 » SUNDAY 12 T0 5 161-163 E. MAIN ST. (MINERS-MILLS SECTION) OF WILKES-BARRE PHONE 825-5346 WORX BY RED WING SHOES O10] 7\ Service - Installations - Tune-ups Gas - 0il - Air Conditioning | 24 Hour Emergency Service | ull ETE rr Fr = BE BR BR BB BB 283-5950 OR 696-3831 DALLAS SCHOOL BOARD Bond refinancing saves $$ By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS TWP. — Money saved, spent and not yet ar- rived was the dominating theme of the October 13 Dallas School Board meeting. The board paid out nearly $200,000 to contractors, refi- - nanced bonds that will help save the district over $1 million and explained that although no funds had yet come from the state, the district was expected to make it through until a state budget is passed. The board voted to refund 1998 bonds that will save the district $187,962. Raymond Lowery, Managing Director of PNC Capital Markets, ex- plained that when the amount is added to two other refund- ings done earlier in the year, the district has generated total savings of $1,157,931. “You truly have been good stewards of the taxpayers’ mon- ey,” said Lowery. “The three re- fundings have saved the taxpay- ers by lowering the debt serv- ice. The board, superintendent and business manager really should be recognized.” The savings is some good news at a time when the state has not yet passed a budget and the district has not re- ceived the annual $14 million it usually gets to operate. Board President Ernie Ash- bridge Jr. said while some dis- tricts are looking into such drastic measures as “shutting down,” Dallas has enough mon- ey in reserve to make it through the state’s budget cri- sis. Ashbridge said, however, that although the district can cover the temporary shortfall, the fact that Dallas has not re- ceived the $14 million means the district won’t gain as much on its investments. “Normally we would have gotten the money in August or September and would have started investing it (immediate- ly),” said Ashbridge. In other business: e The board approved a 48- month contract with Hewlett Packard Financial for server and security upgrades to the district's eight comput servers. The cost of the con? tract is $64,790, a two-thirds in- crease, said Gil Griffiths, Su- perintendent. The changes were made in response to a sit- uation last spring in which someone hacked into the dis- trict’s computer system and caused $9,000 worth of dam- age. e The board paid out $182,170 to contractors for work completed at the middle school; $86,000 went to Krueger International, $92,403 went to J.P. Lilley and $89,766 went to G.R. Noto Electrical. New board members certain By MARK GUYDISH For The Dallas Post DALLAS TWP. — With five seats and six candidates, the Dallas School Board election may barely look like a race, but it signals big change. . Three incumbents — Ernest Ashbridge, Thomas Russ and John Litz — were bumped off the ballot in the May Primary. Two others — Deborah -Mor- gantini and James Richardson — won nominations but were among the lower vote-getters. Bruce Goeringer, a dentist, received the most votes on the Republican and Democratic tickets, and seems assured a victory in November. Goeringer wants to open School District buildings to outside groups, in- clude the public more in deci- sion-making and push to hire local people when they are qualified. Russ Bigus and Gary Mathers also nabbed high vote tallies in both parties. Bigus, a Catholic school principal, stresses the need for the School Board to work as a team, to make sure the School District keeps up with rapid changes in curricu- lum and state standards, and to balance fair taxation with school needs. Mathers, a lifelong Dallas- area resident and former School District teacher, wants more options for average stu- dents. “I think the academics for the advanced students are out of this world. I would like to bring offerings for the other students to the same level.” Morgantini, a Wyoming V: ley West School District princ pal, also won nominations in both parties. She ran with the other incumbents, including Richardson, all standing on their records of building reno- vations coupled with fiscal re- straint that built a large cash re- serve and high student achieve- ment. The real race may be be- tween Richardson, running on that record, and Dennis Go- choel. Richardson nabbed a spot on the Republican ticket but failed on the Democratic side. Gochoel did the opposite. In total vote tallies for both par- ties from May, Richardson out- did Gochoel 1,385 to 1,220. While Richardson can stand on his record, Gochoel has promised to use his engineer- ing experience to scrutinize fur- ther building renovations, and has said his experience outside the area — he lived in other school districts in other states before settling here — allows him to come to the board with a fresh perspective. “HOME. AUTO. LIFE. TALKTO AREAL, LIVE PERSON WHO'S INTHE SAME PHONE BOOK AS YOU. Edward Donahue, Jr. 696-0380 Dallas, PA 18612 405 N. Memorial Highway S Allstate. You're if good hands. Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company. Allstate Indemnity Company and Allstate Life Insurance Company, Home Office; Northbraok, Hlinois. € 2002 Alistate Insurance Company LJ Have a story idea? by to order. 15 N. MAIN ST., WILKES-BARRE PA 18711 » 570-675-5211 any gunders ahings created by a story. Call 675-5211. lease call, we'd like to hear about it. 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