W-B Area getting more cameras at school, athletic facilities

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

Feb. 5—PLAINS TWP. — Wilkes-Barre Area School District's relatively new high school is getting a few more cameras, and the expanded athletic fields and field house are getting a lot of them.

At Monday's meeting, the school board approved two agreements with Torbik Safe and Lock Inc. One for four Avigilon Fish eye 12-megapixel cameras at the high school at a cost of $11,236, the other for cameras at the new high school field house at a cost of $167,571.

In both cases, prices are set through the state COSTARS system which allows districts to piggy-back on contracts made by the state. Superintendent Brian Costello said the district determined that, while there are numerous cameras, there are two stairwells in the school that could use better views, and the fish eye systems — actually multiple cameras in a single case — will remedy the problem.

The cameras for the athletic field house were already in the budget, but Costello said the district waited until it was complete to get a better idea of how best deploy cameras on several new athletic fields and the field house itself. Some cameras will also provide a different angle and view of the high school facade.

Costello opened the meeting by noting the district has received some comments regarding communication with parents, and that while multiple options are available, including postings on X (formerly Twitter), the district will launch a new official Facebook page this week for those who get their primary information from that outlet.

The board also:

—Approved an agreement with United Therapy, LLC, of Mountaintop to provide speech and language services through August 2025 at $90 per hour.

—Renewed flood insurance with Selective Insurance for the former Meyers High School property on Carey Avenue at a cost of $5,686. The district is in the process of selling the property but maintains responsibility for flood insurance until the deal is finalized. Solicitor Ray Wendolowski said progress continues on finalizing the deal and the closing could come sometime next month.

—Agreed to an increase of $1,612 for Kistler Elementary flood insurance with Selective Insurance, bringing the total premium to $13,768.

—Approved a contract with Otis Elevator Company to service the elevator at the former Mackin Elementary building, now called Dodson @ Mackin. The contract is for five years beginning Feb. 1 this year, at a cost of $140 per month.

—Accepted the retirements of Carol Burke, Susan Schwab and Elizabeth Hochreiter.

—Appointed Abby Muth as social studies long-term substitute teacher, John Marianacci as English long-term substitute teacher, Omego Castellano as art long-term substitute teacher, Caitlin Strausser as school nurse long term substitute, and Kristen Reap as elementary long-term substitute teacher.

—Accepted the resignations of Jamie Rivera-Gutierrez, Rebekah Garms and Huy Nguyen.

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