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WVC Volleyball: Kirsten Durling leads Patriots to second win

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Our Opinion: Tell teens how to handle horrible bosses who sexually harass – or worse

<p>PLAINS TWP. &#8212; Repeating a pattern seen earlier this year when teachers were furloughed only to see several rehired, the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board furloughed 24 part-time aids and paraprofessionals Monday, then reappointed half of them.</p><p>The board also voted &#8212; after months of hearing about the problem from Project Manager Gary Salijko of Apollo Group Inc. &#8212; to replace part of the GAR Memorial High School roof, which is believed to be at risk of shattering, at a cost that could top $800,000.</p><p>And the board completed the meeting by agreeing to terminate Coughlin High School teacher Brian Hampel, who had been accused of serving as lookout while then dean of students Stephen Stahl had sexual encounters with a student. Stahl was convicted last year of having sex with an underage student.</p><p>The people furloughed were Samantha Yanora, Allison Fasulka, Mary Flecknoe, Richard Rostkowski, Mary Pape, Melissa Schneikart, Faith Morningstar, Nancy Fedor, Jamie Pesotski, Beth Ann Christian, Catherine Richards, Sonya Brzozowski, Barbara Watlock, Shantel Grohowski, Valerie Rostkowski, Jocelyn Chocallo, Joni Hooker, Paula Bianchino, Tara Konycki, Trisha Kennedy, Gloria Watson, Donna Majikes, Patricia Shinko and Christine Zak.</p><p>As was the case when the teachers were furloughed, the board cited the suspension of four programs &#8212; art, industrial arts, library services and consumer and family sciences. The programs were scuttled to save money as the board works to fulfill a &#8220;pathway to the future&#8221; that calls for up to $11 million in cuts in the next four years.</p><p>After approving the furloughs Monday, the board then voted on a measure impacting 27 part-time positions. The status of 15 employees was changed, and 12 of those just furloughed were appointed to other positions: Shinko, Majikes, Konycki, Bianchino and Valerie Rostkowski were appointed as paraprofessionals; Watson as a locker room aid; Hooker, Chocallo and Grohowski as 15-hour cafeteria aides; Watlock as a 20-hour kindergarten aide; Richards as a 27.5-hour locker room aide; and Christian as a 20-hour bus aide.</p><p>Superintendent Brian Costello said the firing and rehiring was necessary because the 12 that got new appointments had seniority over others and, by contract, could switch positions, bumping the lower seniority workers out of their jobs.</p><p>The roof at GAR includes sections made of a material once believed to be one of the best available, but which turned out to have a critical flaw: Some of the binding material evaporates in hard winters, making it brittle and prone to shattering.</p><p>The delay in repairing the roof stems from the need for related repairs. On Tuesday, board member Denise Thomas said the problem had been put off too long, and she pushed the board to authorize a consultant to draw up plans and Salijko to draw up bids for those plans in the hope of repairing it before winter sets in.</p><p>Hampel had testified at Stahl&#8217;s trial and was the only Coughlin teacher interviewed by law enforcement in the case. The victim accused him of serving as lookout, an the district conducted an investigation, concluding last month that there was enough evidence to begin termination. At the end of Monday&#8217;s meeting, Solicitor Ray Wendolowski said Hampel had waived a hearing, clearing the way for the termination vote.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

W-B Area School Board furloughs 24 part-time workers, rehires 12, fires Hampel