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Though Dave Tosh was still 14 days away from officially becoming superintendent, he subbed for retiring Irv DeRemer during a hybrid meeting that was broadcast via Zoom but had many board members sitting appropriately distant from each other on the Wyoming Valley West Middle School stage.
				Tosh&rsquo;s first order of business when it came time to give the superintendent&rsquo;s report was to praise DeRemer, who officially retires the end of the month.
				&ldquo;Mr. DeRemer has been an integral part of Wyoming Valley West since 1989, over 21 years,&rdquo; Tosh said in a prepared statement. &ldquo;Mr. D., as he is affectionately known, will be greatly missed. My profound thanks for his wisdom, his guidance and his friendship.&rdquo; During the meeting, the board voted to accept DeRemer&rsquo;s resignation, announced earlier this year.
				Tosh also related the story of Tessa Kopetchny, who spent the last school year quietly raising money by selling bracelets and hand crafted items, collecting enough to buy three violins for the Middle School music department. She got a fourth from a former member. &ldquo;And she did it all without telling her teacher until the end of eighth grade.&rdquo;
				Tosh noted that, with Luzerne County officially going &ldquo;green&rdquo; in Gov. Tom Wolf&rsquo;s COVID-19 re-opening system, plans for a graduation ceremony are &ldquo;full steam ahead.&rdquo; More details will be announced Monday, he added.
				Finally, Tosh announce an agenda item appointing teacher Anthony Dicton as district pandemic officer, a post required by the state before school districts can bring students back to the classroom for in-person lessons this fall. Dicton will be leaving the teacher union to become an Act 93 employee, referring to a state law that sets how non union employee contracts are set up.
				Tosh said Dicton will lose a stipend he was paid as a department chair and get his teacher salary plus a $2,500 stipend, but that the district overall will not spend any additional money because his teaching position will not be filled.

Tosh heads first Wyoming Valley West School Board meeting