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Area school districts nab chunk of state safety grants

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A forum for Wilkes-Barre Area School Board candidates will be held at a new site after a day of conflicting accounts about what exactly happened.</p><p>The Downtown Residents Association had scheduled the &#8220;meet the candidates&#8221; event for Friday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Henry Student Center of Wilkes University, but Patricia Parks, who had been spearheading the organizing effort, sent out an email shortly after 1:30 p.m. Wednesday saying the forum was canceled.</p><p>&#8220;Wilkes has withdrawn the use of the Henry Center Ballroom that was scheduled to be used for the DRA-sponsored forum,&#8221; the email said. &#8220;We are canceling the forum and do not have time before the election to find a new venue.&#8221;</p><p>However, the forum will now be held at at St. Stephen&#8217;sEpiscopal Church in Wilkes-Barre, according to Attorney Kimberly Borland, who does legal work for the anti-consolidationgroup Save Our Schools. The time for the event remains the same.</p><p>Borland said there will be a police officer at the event to provide security, adding that he feels safety concerns are likely tobe a non-issue.</p><p>The new venue came about following talks on Wednesday with multiple parties, including candidates, he added.</p><p>Borland said he began to look into the situation by first calling Mike Wood, the special assistant to Wilkes President Patrick Leahy. Borland said he was told &#8220;Wilkes dis-invited DRA because DRA had requested police presence&#8221; for the forum.</p><p>Borland said he then called Parks, who told him that School Board President Joe Caffrey had called her Tuesday and asked if DRA &#8220;would provide safety and security, based on Facebook posts made by Richard Holodick.&#8221;</p><p>Holodick, SOS president, sparked some social media fireworks when he posted black-and-white pictures of District Solicitor Ray Wendolowski and Superintendent Brian Costello in circular frames in black boxes. Some pointed out it was suggestive of gun sights without cross hairs.</p><p>Borland said Parks was told the university would not provide security, but that she arranged to pay a Wilkes-Barre City police officer to be at the forum. Borland said that, according to Parks, when she told Wilkes officials about that arrangement, she was told the university would still not host the event.</p><p>Borland&#8217;s wife and law firm partner Ruth then said she had been told by a different Wilkes official that the event could be held. That hope seemed to wither by 5:03 p.m., when &#8212; in response to a request for comment &#8212; Wilkes Executive Director of Communications Gabrielle D&#8217;Amico sent an email saying otherwise.</p><p>&#8221;Given the new security measures required of this forum, we determined that Wilkes University is not a suitable location,&#8221; D&#8217;Amico wrote. &#8220;We feel it&#8217;s an important discussion and have offered to help the Downtown Residents Association identify a new venue.&#8221;</p><p>Upon learning of that statement, Borland issued his own written comment on behalf of himself and his wife noting efforts continue to find a new location.</p><p>&#8220;The concerns stated by Mr. Caffrey are baseless and an excuse for the candidates he supports from appearing in a venue in which speakers are not limited to five minutes of speech and where he holds the gavel,&#8221; Borland wrote, calling it &#8220;a political ploy intended to silence opponents of the current administration.&#8221; Caffrey is not up for election this year.</p><p>For his part, Caffrey said it was never his intent to cause cancellation. While he said he didn&#8217;t like Holodick&#8217;s post on the Save Our Schools website, he had called Parks to ask about security because of the &#8220;contentious nature and emotion in some comments and images directed at the board and district officials by some SOS members,&#8221; both on social media and at board meetings.</p><p>&#8220;She was very professional and responsive,&#8221; Caffrey said of Parks. He also noted the school district provides several security guards at board meetings and that a security presence at the forum didn&#8217;t seem &#8220;unreasonable.&#8221; </p><p>In an additional emailed response, Caffrey said the board intended to attend the forum and that cancelling it &#8220;was never a possibility in my mind. &#8220;There was a request to have security present in the room so that all participants, and those in attendance, would be comfortable during the event.&#8221; </p><p>Robin Shudak, one of the candidates who noted she is not a member of SOS but who has generally opposed consolidation, said via-email that a medical condition prevents her from attending school board meetings and that the forum &#8220;would have been my only chance to address the public in a neutral forum.&#8221; Shudak also offer to pay for security.</p><p>Borland also knocked Wilkes, calling the statement emailed by D&#8217;Amico &#8220;disingenuous,&#8221; and saying there were no new security measures required for the forum. &#8220;Wilkes has performed a disservice to the students and taxpayers of this community by cancelling this forum on less than 72-hours notice.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kim Borland</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Borland-Kim-1.jpeg</photo0><caption0>Kim Borland</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_caffrey-Joe-2-1.jpg">
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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>

New site for forum for WB Area candidates