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By BONNIE ADAMS badams@leader.net
 Saturday, February 08, 2003 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE - Some options the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board will
consider to restructure the School District require significant teaching staff
reductions. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The EdVise consulting firm's final report, which includes a staffing
analysis, predicts the options could mean four to 41 fewer teachers for a
maximum annual savings of $3.2 million. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Superintendent Jeff Namey said a veteran teacher costs the district about
$80,000 annually in salary and benefits. There are 525 teachers in the
district. Forty-one fewer would mean a 7.8 percent reduction in faculty. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The number of teaching positions that could be eliminated varies and is
based on whether buildings are closed and whether there are four or five
instructional periods per day. A greater number of instructional periods means
fewer teachers would be required. Namey said teachers now have between four
and five instructional periods daily. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 EdVise's final report contains no recommendations for which option the
School Board should choose, which is what the district requested. Namey
explained that the School Board wants to consider all options before
eliminating any. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Then we will say to (EdVise), what is their opinion?" Namey said Friday.
The School Board plans to meet again with the Harrisburg firm. The district
paid EdVise $36,000 for the study, which examined each building and estimated
renovation and upgrade costs. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 EdVise said Meyers is by far the most costly building in terms of
short-term upgrades and maintenance. The firm estimated a $4.2 million cost
for ventilation, roof, masonry and other work. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The five suggested alternatives were derived with input from a citizens
advisory group that overwhelmingly chose Option D as the best one. The others
follow in descending order of attractiveness to the advisory group: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Option D, Flood and Dodson would close. The three high school buildings
would house seventh to 12th grade. Solomon-Plains, Kistler and Heights Murray
would house kindergarten to sixth-grade. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Option E, build a new high school at a cost of $59.5 million to $68
million and close Meyers, Coughlin, Dodson and Flood. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Option C, or the "feeder plan" would close Dodson and Flood elementary
schools. Coughlin and Meyers would house grades nine to 12 and GAR and
Solomon-Plains would have fifth through eighth-grade. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Option A, closing Meyers High School and keeping Coughlin and GAR high
schools open for grades nine to 12. Students would be grouped in kindergarten
through fourthgrade and in fifth to eighth-grade in the other buildings. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Option B, close Meyers and use GAR for grades 11 and 12 and Coughlin for
grades nine to 10. The remaining six buildings would group students to
accommodate kindergarten through eighth-grade. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

W-b Area Options Include Teacher Cuts Edvise Report Predicts Possibly Four To 41 Teacher Layoffs To Save $3.2 Million A Year.