W-b Man Charged With Possessing Child Pornography

Area Roundup

By FEMI LEWIS flewis@leader.net
 Wednesday, February 13, 2002 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 14A 





Consolidation and reorganization could possibly be the most cost-effective
way to save money in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District, school officials
said Tuesday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``With enrollment going down and budgetary problems, we just can't go on
like this for another 10 years. We can't afford 11 buildings,'' said district
Superintendent Jeff Namey. ``Like any organization, we need to plan for
tomorrow.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Namey spoke at the first meeting of the Long-Term Advisory Committee for
the Wilkes Barre Area School District. School Board officials approved the
15-member advisory committee in December after a study predicted the district
will have 1,000 fewer students by 2011. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The district's main source of revenue is the real estate tax, said district
Business Administrator Ralph Scoda. The district has lost at least $10 million
in several court-ordered abatements. Another 53 percent of property in
Wilkes-Barre is tax-exempt. State subsidies are stagnant and school officials
expect $1.5 million in subsidies for the next school year. According to the
census, Wilkes-Barre lost 5,000 people, cutting the earned income tax credit
the district received, Scoda said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Wage earners were part of that,'' he said. ``The rest was an aging
population. That hurts what the School District gets.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Scoda also expects health insurance to go up to $1.2 million; retirement
contributions to be $900,000 and salary increases to be least $600,000. Other
expenditures such as vocational, special education and charter schools will
cost the district $350,000. By the end of this year, the district will have
exhausted its fund balance and will need $4.1 million for next year's budget. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Consolidating some of the district's 11 schools and reducing staff through
retirement would save the district money, officials said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
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W-b Area Leaders Pitch Consolidation