Greater Nanticoke Area School Board goes through agenda heavy on personnel

Mark Guydish, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

Mar. 9—NANTICOKE — With the bare minimum number needed to form a quorum — five — the Greater Nanticoke Area School Board went through an unusually long agenda at Thursday's monthly meeting, including approval of the 2023-24 school calendar. The first day of classes will be Aug. 30 with the last day set for June 4, Superintendent Ron Grevera said, conceding that winter weather almost always pushes the last day further into June.

"It will be June 4, we hope."

With the agenda heavy on personnel moves, the board:

—Rescinded the approval to purchase a John Deere X570 tractor at a cost of $8,390 from Bartron Supply Inc. "due to a supply chain issue affected by the pandemic," and approved the purchase of two other John Deere tractors from Lindsey Equipment, an X350 for $3,495 and a Z530M ZTRAK for $5,270.

—Approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Franklin & Marshall College at an annual cost of $30,000 for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. The district has had a longstanding agreement in which the college sends people to help high school students who are considering higher education make the choices, fill out applications, and seek government aide and scholarships.

—Approved settlement agreements with two students identified only by number. One is at a cost of $32,000 plus $18,000 in attorney fees, while the other is for $37,000 plus $18,000 in attorney fees.

—Approved a $5,000 donation to the Mill Memorial Library.

—Approved the state-mandated annual financial audit done by Brian T. Kelly, CPA & Associates LLC for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.

—Increased the head teacher stipend from $1,500 to $3,000 for the 2023-24 school year. Grevera said it hasn't been increased for a long time.

—Accepted the retirements of cleaner Diane Kelmer and teacher Eleanor Anthony.

—Accepted the resignations of teacher Megan Iagnemma, cleaner and cafeteria worker Michelle Rondon, Custodian Chantel Williams, and teacher Linda Kelchner

—Appointed Frank Marcinkowski and Daniel Shirers to maintenance positions, Kaitlyn Bigos as math teacher for grades 7-12, Ed Grant as head teacher of the Elementary Center, Michael Ogin Jr. as Spanish teacher for grades K-12, Melissa Gober as cafeteria worker, and Lizette Rodriguez, Kaleigh Kester and Beth Barowski as instructional aides.

—Appointed Kelly Carl as behavior specialist/counselor.

—Approved a new bus stop for the SHINE after school program, at the corner of South Prospect and East Broad Street.

—Appointed as Keystone Valley Transportation drivers Katerine Castillo-Jiminez, Dayelin De-Jesus-Acosta, Shakeera Davis, Nicole Jordan, Yovanna Torres, Karen Kenan, Hectairma Suarez and Melanie Heredia.

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish