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RailRiders to IronPigs in marathon

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Students, profs present original works at ‘poetry auction’

PLAINS TWP. &#8212; Whether it is called a hiring policy or a nepotism policy, it appears some progress is being made on the way employees will be hired at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center.As a follow-up to a strained discussion on the topic at a previous meeting, board member Gene Mancini, representing Crestwood School District, asked board Chairman John Quinn, who represents Wilkes-Barre Area School District, for an update on &#8220;the nepotism policy.&#8221;&#8220;You mean the hiring process?&#8221; Quinn responded, adding that the policy should be referred to by its proper name.Quinn reported that a committee had been formed and had a legal consultation for guidance. He said that the school administrators would be contacting other tech schools and other school districts to form &#8220;a comprehensive policy.&#8221;Mancini also asked if a committee had been formed to look into adjusting the makeup of the tech school board. The tech board members are all representatives of school districts that send students to the CTC, with the number of representatives assigned based on the residential population of the district as reported in the U.S. Census.The last time residency population of the school districts was checked to see if any board representation needed to be changed was unclear, but some board members said it hadn&#8217;t been changed since 1968. Quinn said the committee suggested waiting until after the 2020 census to conduct any reviews.In other business, the board:&#8226; approved a $3,965 payment to Apollo Group Inc. for the second installment of construction management for the day care construction project.&#8226; approved a $500 payment to attorney John Dean for February general legal services and $150 for February legal services related to the practical nursing program;&#8226; approved the purchase of $12,000 in textbooks and equipment for use by eight of the school&#8217;s shop classrooms;&#8226; approved Kenneth Valaitis as an addition to the substitute list for the remainder of the school year;&#8226; recognized Meyers High School senior Edwin Vergara for earning first place in the state level Skills USA competition in electrical and moving on to national competition in Kentucky in June;&#8226; and acknowledged the school&#8217;s law enforcement students for raising $22,000 on behalf of State Trooper Alex Douglass and the family of fallen Trooper Cpl. Byron Dickson, who were shot outside their barracks last September.

Wilkes-Barre Area CTC makes some progress on hiring policy