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McClay a candidate for Wilkes-Barre city council District E seat

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Confession tape played for jury; defendant admits to sexually assaulting nonverbal woman

<p>PLAINS TWP. &#8212; A motion to accept the resignation of Purchasing Director Jim Post appeared for a second month on the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board Agenda Monday night, but this time the motion was approved, putting Post out of work.</p><p>The same motion was tabled at the Jan. 17 meeting without explanation. The following day, Solicitor Ray Wendolowski offered little beyond saying it was a personnel matter and to explicitly deny any fiscal malfeasance.</p><p>&#8220;I can say we have no indication there is any missing money or theft of any kind,&#8221; Wendolowski said last month. He echoed that opinion again Monday.</p><p>In January, Attorney Kimberly Borland said he was representing Post and that they were reviewing options. Monday night he said the matter was settled and echoed Wendolowski&#8217;s statement that there was no indication of money mismanagement.</p><p>While Post regularly attended board meetings, he rarely spoke. He did make headlines in 2015 when he sent an email publicizing a campaign fundraiser for Louis Elmy&#8217;s run for Wilkes-Barre City Council. The email contained Post&#8217;s district title, the address of the district administration building, and his district phone number and extension. Elmy, Post&#8217;s brother-in-law, was president of the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board at the time.</p><p>Then-Superintendent Bernard Prevuznak said the district has an acceptable use policy regarding district email, and that Post&#8217;s action was a violation of that policy. But he declined to say what disciplinary action was taken.</p><p>Elmy lost the bid for the council seat and his term on the school board ended that December. Months later, he faced federal charges unrelated to the school board involving activities in his job as a counselor at the county prison. He entered a guilty plea to one count each of extortion and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. He was sentenced to six years in federal prison.</p><p>In other business, the board adopted policies related to electronic devices, record management, public records, acceptable use of internet, transportation, school bus drivers and vehicles, transportation video and audio recording, and contracted services personnel. Wendolowski said most of the policies were new and had been in the works for several months.</p><p>Costello announced the district has received additional federal money that will be used to expand the Saturday morning RAISE (Reinforcing Academic Instruction for Student Excellence) program to after school hours at Heights-Murray Elementary. The program provides additional support to students who may be struggling in some academic efforts.</p><p>And the board learned that food service provider, The Nutrition Group, had responded to concerns by visiting schools, meeting with principals and students, and changing some menu items, including offering unlimited fruits and vegetables, creating different lines for students in seventh and eighth grades, starting a faculty menu and starting a breakfast cart at Coughlin.</p><p>Ruth Borland advised the board that the annual Martin Luther King Open Speech and Debate Tournament originally scheduled for Jan. 19 but canceled due to the snow storm has been rescheduled for March 30. </p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Area School District Assistant Solicitor Raymond Wendolowski.  BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Wendolowski-Ray-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre Area School District Assistant Solicitor Raymond Wendolowski.  BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER</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>

A month later, WB Area accepts resignation of purchasing director Post