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Judge halts deportation of families

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PA labor board dismisses Wilkes-Barre’s appeal; paramedics to remain in Local 1310

<p>Options are extremely limited for the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board in the effort to oust member Ned Evans, attorney Stuart Knade. Having been chief legal counsel at the Pennsylvania School Boards Association for at least a decade, Knade noted there are many instances where school boards ran into legal limitations on such matters.</p><p>&#8220;I know of numerous occasions where, in the face of outcry, board members engaged in reprehensible behavior have just stuck to their guns the whole time,&#8221; Knade said. He confirmed Wilkes-Barre Area Solicitor Ray Wendolowski&#8217;s legal position that the board&#8217;s eight other members &#8212; who unanimously called for Evans&#8217; resignation last week &#8212; can only vote to remove him from his seat if he misses two consecutive meetings without cause.</p><p>The board made the unusual move July 10 following public outcry over a comment Evans posted on Facebook regarding a story of alleged sex between a female teacher and a 13-year-old student in Arizona. Superintendent Brian Costello issued a statement saying he and the other board members were asking for Evans resignation, a request he has repeatedly rejected.</p><p>Board Member Melissa Patla issued her own statement later in the week saying she will ask Evans to resign at the Aug. 7 meeting. Evans has insisted he apologized for the Facebook comment about oral sex between the teacher and the student, admitting it was a mistake but insisting he will stay on the board.</p><p>Knade noted law enforcement officials &#8212; typically the county district attorney &#8212; also have some power to force the removal of a school board member, but that would be an option only under very narrow circumstances such as conviction for a felony or having no residency in the school district.</p><p>The latter was the reason the Luzerne County District Attorney&#8217;s office began looking into board member Robert Corcoran&#8217;s residency in 2013, after Corcoran had moved to Germany but initially attended a board meeting via Skype. The DA&#8217;s actions became moot when Corcoran missed two meetings, allowing the board to vote to declare his seat vacant.</p><p>Knade said there have been instances where school boards felt so strongly about a board member&#8217;s behavior that they passed a resolution to further distance themselves from that member&#8217;s actions, officially condemning the actions or calling for the member&#8217;s resignation. But that would not force a member off the board.</p><p>Asked if the board could take further action, such as removing a member from all board committees or from appointments to other outside positions &#8212; Evans is one of the Wilkes-Barre Area representatives on the Joint Operating Committee that runs the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center &#8212; Knade said state law is largely silent on those issues so they would fall under a specific board&#8217;s policies.</p><p>But even if a policy allowed removal of a member from a committee, the board could risk a lawsuit. In this case, because Evans has been criticized for a post on a friend&#8217;s Facebook page, such a lawsuit would likely allege denial of free speech.</p><p>Evans has already said he is considering a suit against Richard Holodick, the president of the Save Our Schools group organized in opposition to a high school consolidation plan Evans has strongly stood behind.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Evans </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_wb_sb5_faa-13.jpg</photo0><caption0>Evans </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<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>

Attorney: Options are scant for W-B Area Board if Evans won’t resign