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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; The Wilkes-Barre Area School Board passed a proposed final budget with no tax increase Thursday night.
				The meeting also revealed a new YouTube channel with videos of recent awards ceremonies, a &ldquo;substantial leak&rdquo; at the Kistler elementary pool, a $250,000 increase in payments to the Luzerne Intermediate Unit for special education services, and a 2020-21 calendar starting classes Sept. 10 and ending June 11.
				And Superintendent Brian Costello announced plans for online airing of virtual commencement ceremonies next week.
				&ldquo;We will celebrate our seniors Friday, June 5,&rdquo; he said, with the district website streaming the virtual Meyers High School ceremony at 9:30 a.m., the Coughlin ceremony at 11 a.m., and the GAR Memorial ceremony at 1 p.m. After that, all three videos will be archived and available for viewing on demand.
				Costello also announced a new district YouTube channel, WBASD Live, intended to house videos of all virtual ceremonies. As of Thursday night, it had four: National Honor Society awards for three schools, and a district-wide athletic awards presentation. The district homepage, <a href="https://www.wbasd.k12.pa.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wbasd.k12.pa.us</a>, now has a link to the channel.
				The approved budget has no tax increase and expenditures at $127.9 million. The vote was unanimous. Responding to a critical comment emailed to the board that called for a 25 percent spending reduction, Business Manager Tom Telesz said that would be unrealistic, but that the budget approved did include $2.5 million in reductions.
				The increase in costs from the LIU sparked some debate, in part because it was a substantial amount of a resolution for an agreement with the LIU for the upcoming school year for services at a cost of $2.4 million. Telesz said it was largely due to an increase of students requiring services, and not because the LIU increased fees. The LIU provides a variety of services to local schools, most of them charged on a per-student basis. Costello said the district could look into saving money by bringing more of those service in house.
				Sam Troy had also sent in a comment asking the district to extend the deadlines for property tax payments this fall, and Costello said there is discussion in Harrisburg about legislation that would allow that.
				Solicitor Ray Wendolowski read a comment sent in by Richard Holodick that criticized the recent report of State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, which had praised the district for making difficult financial decisions after months of reviewing documents and interviews regarding the consolidated high school. That school, under construction in Plains Township, will merge grades 9-12 from all three current high schools.
				Holodick argued the report, self-described as of &ldquo;limited scope,&rdquo; ignored &ldquo;very questionable expenditures&rdquo; in the $121 million project, and suggested the Federal Inspector General intervene. He also cited a Jan. 14 report by the Luzerne County Conservation District that &ldquo;earth disturbance activities&rdquo; at the school site are &ldquo;in violation of the rules and regulations of the department and the Clean Streams law.&rdquo;
				Wendolowski defended DePasquale as thorough and dedicated, and said the review lasted nine months. He said the earth disturbance report was common in such a large project, as the department conducts periodic reviews, finds new developments that need correction, and orders those changes.
				&ldquo;Some are temporary, some are permanent, none are significant,&rdquo; he said.
				Costello also said the school closing caused by the pandemic may have helped the district catch up on maintenance lists, but also led to the discovery of a leaky pipe for the pool at Kistler Elementary. The amount of water leaking has slowed, but the district is awaiting inspection and advice from Superior Pool.
				And the board approved both the district retirement incentive of half the current year&rsquo;s salary for and the retirement of three employees: Jodie Dunn, Debra Harris and Marie Harding, all effective June 30.

WB Area passes budget with no tax increase, sets times for virtual graduation videos