WB Area approves teacher contract, building purchase, athletic upgrades
Feb. 6—PLAINS TWP. — The Wilkes-Barre Area School Board approved a new collective bargaining agreement with the teacher union at Monday's regular monthly meeting, with the deal running from Sept. 1 this year through Aug.31, 2028.
The board also approved two big ticket expenditures: the purchase of property on Maffett Street in Plains Township at a cost of $511,000 and a change order for Keystone Sports Construction for work on two multi-purpose sports fields at the new central high school campus at a cost of $893,818.
The contract increases teacher salaries by $1,500 each year, with no changes in health care or other major benefits. Superintendent Brian Costello said the district is much more financially solvent than the last time negotiations were done in 2016, and that the move shows the work teachers did to get through the COVID-19 pandemic is appreciated.
The building purchase is a negotiated price for the former Russin Funeral Home Property directly across Maffett Street from the main entrance/exit for the high school campus. The district plans to create new administrative office space and a one-stop registration service for residents. Costello said initially it will be for registration and other student/family services sometime in 2024, with administration offices set up and moved there later that year. The district paid Rosen Real Estate, Inc. to appraise the property, and Solicitor Ray Wendolowski said the price being paid is that appraised value.
The lion's share of the change order expense is for lighting and related work, including the purchase of a Musco Lighting System materials at a cost of $430,096 and another $237,905 for six lighting system poles, wire scoreboards and adding Ground Fault Interrupter outlets — designed to protect against electrical shock in wet or damp areas — in the dugouts. Costello said the decision to add the lighting was made so the fields could be used into evening hours when days get shorter.
Site work associated with a softball field option adds another $121,466, while changing a fence from from 4 feet to 8 feet adds $49,584. All told, the change order bumps the total cost of the fields from a bit under $4 million to about $4.8 million, Costello said, but it remains within the amount the district budgeted for the high school, new stadium and field house and athletic facilities at the new campus.
In a security move, the board terminated an agreement with BCM Security Services, Inc., effective March 1 and entered an agreement with Standing Stone Consulting, Inc. for security services at an hourly rate of $25.75, about $6 more than the district was paying BCM. Costello said the move bumps total spending on security officers — both the district school police force and additional security officer, from about $1 million to $1.2 million a year.
Costello said BCM was having problems supplying sufficient security people as needed, so the district "decided to go in another direction." Standing Stone will provide 15 full-time unarmed security officers each day and assure a part-time pool of at least 8 officers is available as needed.
The board also:
—Approved the purchase of choral risers from Wenger Corporation of Owatonna, Minn. at a cost of $24,281.
—Approved an agreement with United Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., of Pittston to replace the kitchen exhaust fan at the Solomon/Plains education complex at a cost of $8,726.
—Approved an agreement with Tristate HVAC Equipment LLC of West Conshocken to repair a bad compressor and related components in the heating unit at the Mackin building at a cost of $13,189.
—Ratified two agreements with Schindler Elevator Corporation of Allentown to install a solid state starter in elevator #1 at Kistler Elementary at a cost of $6,633 plus applicable tax, and to furnish and install emergency lighting using separate fixtures in two elevators at the same school for $8,349.
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish
