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WVC girls lacrosse: Lake-Lehman makes statement with win over Sem

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OUR VIEW: Beekman’s grace, class shines through

<p>NANTICOKE &#8212; Greater Nanticoke Area became the second local school board in three days to pass a &#8220;proposed final budget&#8221; with no tax increase for the 2019-20 school year.</p><p>On Monday, the Dallas School Board pulled a similar feat. Both must pass the final budget by the end of June.</p><p>GNA Superintendent Ron Grevera cited two unexpected savings: Health insurance premiums had been expected to increase by 8.2 percent, but the district recently learned it would only increase 5 percent. And the district got a break on the monthly premium it pays for one month.</p><p>The district is a member of the Northeast Pennsylvania School District Health Trust, a consortium of area districts formed to save money by combining buying power. The Trust gave districts a one-half credit for for one month recently, something it has done in the past if the Trust surplus gets above a set point.</p><p>The Trust had issues more than a decade ago with surpluses so large districts complained, prompting several district to withdraw from the consortium in the belief they could save more money on their own.</p><p>The budget calls for total expenditures of $30.9 million and revenue a bit more than $31 million. Business Consultant Al Melone said the budget shows a surplus of about $120,000, which &#8212; if it materializes &#8212; would increase the district fund balance at the end of the upcoming fiscal year to $4.4 million.</p><p>The board voted on a list of athletic appointments, but ran into snag in hiring Ed Grant as girls basketball head coach. With Board Member Matthew Landmesser absent, three members &#8212; Len Olzinski, Wendy Kotsko Wiaterowski and Mark Cardone voted against the appointment, while Erika Jacobs abstained from all the coach hirings.</p><p>Solicitor Vito Deluca noted the abstention was essentially a &#8220;no,&#8221; splitting the board 4-4, which meant the motion to hire Grant failed. Board President Tony Prushinski said he felt any concerns about the appointment should have been brought up in executive session prior to the regular board meeting, but Deluca suggested there should be no discussion of hiring in privacy other than talk related to disciplining employees. Deluca then suggested &#8220;further conversation here is not advisable.&#8221;</p><p>Appointments that were approved included boys basketball head coach John Beggs and assistants Ed Lukowski, Zach Pientka and Matt Meade. The board also accepted the resignation of Marnie Kusakavitch as field hockey head coach and voted to advertise the post.</p><p>The board accepted the resignation of Grevera&#8217;s executive secretary Carol Kelly. Grevera praised her decades of service and extensive knowledge of the district thanks to serving in multiple departments. The boar appointed Sarah Engle as secretary to the superintendent at a salary of $35,000.</p><p>And the board approved a string of bill payments, all below $17,000 except for a new high school alarm system recently installed at a cost of $178,542. Grevera said the new system id primarily hazard detection, with heat, smoke and carbon monoxide.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Grevera </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL082518newschool-mg_2.cmyk_.jpg</photo0><caption0>Grevera </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>

No tax hike in Greater Nanticoke Area budget