@° 118 No. 03 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 January 21 - January 27, 2007 The DALLAS POST. SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS AND LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS @ Renovate Elementary Al @ build new high school o New sports fields Dallas School District building improvement project + Jchool options unveiled CONYNGHAM AVE. Three plans are being considered. Here are highlights of each. 1» Demolish elementary school for high school parking 8 Build new high school on site of sports field @ Rennovate high school into elementary school Renovate Elementary Build additions and renovate high school By DAVE KONOPKI Dallas Post Editor DALLAS TWP. - Identifying the problem is easy. Just take a few minutes to tour the aging and undersized Dallas High School and Dallas Elementary School. Solving the problem? Well, that’s a lot more complicated. The Dallas School Board voted 5-3 to adopt a preliminary 2007- 08 budget that would raise prop- erty taxes 9 mills with total spending at $27.7 million, almost $1.3 million more than this year. The vote came after board mem- bers received revised estimates for construction and renovation costs for the high school and Dal- las Elementary School. Those costs could reach $50 million. Architects from Crabtree, ed the school board with three options for the schools: 1) build a new high school near the on the baseball field near the football stadium, demolishing the old high school for parking, and reno- vating the elementary school; 2) build a new high school where the Dallas Middle School foot- ball/soccer field now sits. Also, renovate the existing high school for elementary students while razing the existing elementary for parking; and 3) renovate both existing buildings. Dennis Gochoel — who joined fellow board members Gary Mathers and Russ Bigus in voting against the preliminary budget —- wants the district to carefully consider the correct route to take. “I have a lot of questions,” Go- DALLAS POST GRAPHIC/MARIE GUGLIELMO Rohrbaugh & Associates present- choel said. “There are several ways to approach things. You can do it in an individual manner or a holistic manner. The simplest thing do would be picking a building and going ahead with it. I don’t think that’s the best solu- tion. “We need to look at our needs and the project going into the fu- ture. We need to come up with five- or seven-year plan that fac- tors in everything. I don’t want to see us make a choice to build or renovate and then three years lat- er have to deal with another prob- lem, especially with Dallas Ele- mentary.” Board members Maureen Ma- tiska, Bruce Goeringer, Karen Kyle, Rich Coslett and Dick Or- lowski voted in favor of the pre- liminary budget, while James Ri- See OPTIONS, Page 3 An emo- tional Demetria Brown gives her speech during a special program at Lake- Lehman. Essays pay FOR THE DALLAS POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK tribute to artin Luther King Jr. While many of their counter- parts were enjoying a day off from school by sleeping late, watching television or just hanging out, Lake-Lehman students were hearing about the dreams of their classmates. The Lake-Lehman Junior-Se- nior High School held several ac- tivities to mark the legacy of Mar- tin Luther King Jr. last week. Stu- dents in teacher Gail Honeywell's ninth grade English classes deliv- ered their own modern versions f King’s “I Have a Dream” beech To prepare for their own speeches, the students they lis- tened to King’s version of the speech and were o used it as a template for their own, paying close attention to sentence struc- ture and the use of repetition. Honeywell said the students’ words are sincere and often very personal, going beyond universal requests for items like world peace and racial equality. “We don’t have that huge fac- tion of students who are cultural- ly diverse, but then again, Martin Luther King Jr. Day really isn’t just about black and white,” Hon- eywell told a Times Leader re- porter. “It’s about inequality and individuality. It’s about size, weight, the color of their hair, their pimples. It’s about smart students and learning support students ... girls versus the boys.” The Dallas Post made several requests for the students to sub- mit their speeches for publica- tion. No one responded to the re- quests. FOR THE DALLAS POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Lake-Lehman High School students, from left, Aime Sgarlat, Ryan Wagner, Sara Farrey and Jaime Lipski participated in a school assembly during Martin Luther King Jr. Day. ¥ How To Reach Us News: 829-7248 news@mydallaspost.com 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 1871 L Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 V Inside The Post 12 Pages, 1 Section Puzzles 2 Church services 2 Only Yesterday 4 Obituaries 5 School......¥. 8 SPOILS occ iiinnisiirisisaisiriavionsie 7 Cathie Pauley continues to The Noxen Historical Society holds a meeting in the old Noxen School. Old-school satisfaction By TOM VENESKY tvenesky@timesleader.com NOXEN TOWNSHIP - Since 2000, Cathie Pauley has worked to save the old Noxen School from the wrecking ball. With the support of residents, she con- vinced township officials the building is worth saving. She has filled out numerous grant appli- cations, organized fundraisers, solicited donations and spent countless hours in the century old building fixing, cleaning and maintaining. The effort has re- quired Pauley to make some sac- rifices along the way, mainly with her time and energy, and even her house. “My house needs a roof big time. I have more pots and pans in my attic than I do in my kitch- en,” she said. Coincidently, the Noxen School needs a new roof, too. Age and wind have taken a toll on the shingles, and Pauley said it’s not going to last much long- er. Considering her passion for the old school, it’s not surprising that the roof on Pauley’s home is going to have to wait until enough money is raised to re- place the roof on the Noxen land- mark. It’s just one example of her dedication to the pfoject. It’s a dedication that is borne TIMES LEADER STAFF PHOTO/S.JOHN WILKIN Some of the recent updates to the old Noxen School include a plaque with names of people who have help preserve the his- torical building. out of a sense of pride for one’s hometown. “It’s important to remember where we came from,” Pauley said. “Our grandparents came here and built a tannery, hotel, movie theater, and an entire town. The school was built in 1897, and it’s a part of that. It’s part of my heritage and this town’s heritage.” Today, the school resembles the impressive structure it was when it was built more than a century ago. Through the work of Pauley and the Noxen Histor- ical Community Association, Inc., the two-story structure boasts many new or updated parts, including 52 windows, 10 doors, new wiring and plumb.) ing, a modern kitchen and a new heating system complete with two new furnaces. Fresh coats of paint have brought new life to the large community room, art room and the upstairs bath- rooms. And it all happened in a little more than four years. Now, Pauley and the commu- nity association are setting their sites on the roof. Like all the oth- er projects, it’s going to be costly. Pauley said the association was awarded a $10,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic De- velopment last year. She is still waiting for the money to come in, and, assuming it does, an ad- ditional $8,000 will be needed for a new roof. It might seem like a large sum for the small Wyom- ing County community, but the preserve Noxen landmark TIMES LEADER STAFF PHOTO/S.JOHN WILKIN association will rely on some proven methods to get the cash — fundraisers, private donations and volunteer time. Pauley admits the work isn’t easy and it is time consuming. She also acknowledges it is final- ly starting to take a toll. Her role as president of the as- sociation ends this May, and Pauley is ready to hand over the reins. She will still lobby for grants and put the hours in at the school, but Pauley would like an- other resident to pick up some of the work load. “It’s a fight every day, but it is also rewarding at the same time,” she said. “That building is used more than ever and it’s en- joyed by the community more than I expected. It’s really taken off. “I want to cut back, but not completely. I enjoy serving the community and seeing people’s faces when they walk in and see what we’ve done. This building is drawing the community to- gether, that’s why it’s a success.” In the meantime, Pauley will forge ahead scheduling commu- nity dances and hoagie sales to get a new roof for the school. Hopefully, when May comes around, she’ll be able to start on another roofing project and put a few pots 2nd pans back in her cupboards.
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