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First Posted: 12/4/2013 Anthony Guariglia was unanimously named president of the Pittston Area School Board at a reorganization meeting on Dec. 3. This is Guariglia&#8217;s second stint as board president, having also served as president in 2012.
John &#8220;Casey&#8221; Donahue was unanimously named vice president.
The board also voted to request the Albert B. Melone Co. return to finish out the final six months of its contract as business consultant. Newly sworn-in board member Marty Quinn proposed the measure.
&#8220;This will be subject to a letter of acceptance within five days of the board&#8217;s request,&#8221; Quinn said. &#8220;During this six month period, the board will re-visit the business manager/business consultant position.&#8221;
Quinn said there has been a lot of confusion over the position and he and new board member John Adonizio need to be brought up to speed on the district&#8217;s financial picture.
&#8220;Between the budget and the teachers&#8217; contract coming up, John and I are going to have to sit with somebody and see what the finances are. That&#8217;s the reason I&#8217;m doing this,&#8221; he said.
Al Melone, often the face of the Pittston Area School District budget, submitted a letter to the board in September stating his firm will not seek renewal of its contract for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. It is not clear why the firm pulled out, but district officials and board members said the decision was Melone&#8217;s. Melone, a fixture at school board meetings, has not been present at recent ones. The current contact expires in June of 2014.
Before the new leaders were named, new members were sworn in to the board by Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Fred Pierantoni. Quinn and Adonizio, who both served on the board previously, took the oath of office. They replace Bob Linskey, who didn&#8217;t seek a third term, and Marilyn Starna, who was defeated in November&#8217;s General Election. Brue Knick and Kent Bratlee were also sworn in again.
Quinn was unanimously named to a 3-year term as Pittston Area&#8217;s representative to the Wilkes-Barre Area&#8217;s Career and Technical Center&#8217;s Joint Operating Committee. His term will expire December of 2016.
Adonizio was unanimously named Pittston Area&#8217;s representative the Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18. His term expires on June 30, 2014.
Adonizio was also unanimously named the legislative chairman/Pennsylvania School Board Association representative.
Richard Gorzowski was unanimously appointed as voting delegate for the tax collection committee. Guariglia was unanimously re-appointed as alternate voting delegate.
Donahue and Bratlee were named board overseeers for the district&#8217;s purchasing policy.
Guariglia, of Pittston, replaced Charles Sciandra, who served as board president for the past year.
Guariglia said the expired teachers&#8217; contract is his top priority as board president.
&#8220;(The board) has spoken to the teachers a few times,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Now we&#8217;re going to try a different kind of approach. We&#8217;re going to meet more. We want to get this settled.&#8221;
The current contract expired in June.
Guariglia also wants to get up-to-date performance reviews for Superintendent Michael Garzella, district administrators, including the directors of curriculum, technology and special education and in addiction to teachers.
Guargilia is an administrator at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technology Center and formerly principal at West Side Career and Technology Center. He was also an adjunct professor at Wilkes University.
He graduated from Wilkes University with a bachelor of science degree in computer science. He received a masters degree from Temple University and a second masters degree in management and administration of educational programs from Nova Southeastern University. He received a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.
He and his wife, the former Jane Clifford of Avoca, have four children.

Guariglia chosen to lead Pittston Area board