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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Robin Shudak, a staunch opponent of the Wilkes-Barre Area School District consolidation project, submitted a letter to the Luzerne County Election Bureau saying she is withdrawing from the School Board race, but her name will remain on the ballot.</p><p>Shudak brought the letter to the Election Bureau on Friday, posted it on the Facebook page for the anti-consolidation Save Our Schools organization, and sent a copy to the Times Leader. The greeting, or salutation, in the letter is &#8220;to all it may concern.&#8221; The body of the letter begins: &#8220;Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw from consideration for School Director for the Wilkes-Barre Area School District.&#8221;</p><p>The letter then refers to an unexplained phone discussion &#8220;yesterday,&#8221; and goes on to say &#8220;Though it is too late to remove my name from the ballot,&#8221; Shudak will not campaign, accept donations or participate &#8220;in any political events such as debates.&#8221;</p><p>The letter concludes &#8220;I will not accept the position if the votes tally in my favor.&#8221;</p><p>A person at the Election Bureau confirmed the letter was brought in Friday and that it is too late to remove names from the November ballot. Shudak did not return a call for comment Friday afternoon.</p><p>While the letter itself offers no explanation, Shudak&#8217;s posting on the SOS Facebook page did include two short sentences under the image of the letter itself: &#8220;I cannot, in good conscience, be part of the WBA High School Construction. This is for the greater good.&#8221;</p><p>In 2015 the school board voted to merge grade 9-12 from Coughlin and Meyers high schools into a new building on the Coughlin site, but that plan died when the Wilkes-Barre zoning hearing board denied a required variance. The school board then voted to consolidate all three schools to a new site in Plains Township, but critics have argued the former mining site is full of coal ash and other toxic materials and is unsafe &#8212; an allegation the district repeatedly rebutted.</p><p>A tour this week of the construction site showed most of the foundation is complete, utilities lines have been installed, and walls for the gymnasium and several neighboring rooms have risen substantially.</p><p>Shudak joined four other anti-consolidation candidates in the May Primary: Bob Holden, Terry Schiowitz, Debra Formola and Beth Ann Owens-Harris. Schiowitz and Owens-Harris won a spot on the November ballot on both the Republican and Democratic tickets, while Shudak won on the Republican slate.</p><p>Recently, Formola and newcomer Jody Busch announced plans to run a write-in campaign this November.</p><p>Unless Shudak changes her mind and decides to accept a seat if she garners enough votes, her departure from the race lowers the odds of getting five opposition candidates on the nine-member School Board this December. Melissa Patla, long an opponent to consolidation, won a seat on the board last year, but the eight other members have supported it.</p><p>Three incumbents who have favored consolidation are on the November ballot: John Quinn and Mark Atherton won both party nominations in May, while Shawn Walker did not cross-file but did win a spot on the Democratic ticket.</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>

Robin Shudak withdraws from W-B Area race, remains on ballot