Women's Club Celebrates 68th

35 Teachers Retire At Hazleton Area

By JENNIFER LEARN; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Sunday, June 30, 1996 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





HAZLE TWP. -- Restructuring at the Hazleton Area Career Center will create
at least eight new teaching positions. Two already have been filled by
relatives of Hazleton Area School Board members. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Elizabeth Rossi, wife of board member Lou Rossi, will teach a new "Pastry
Arts" program at the Career Center in January, school district officials say. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Another new job teaching a "General Distribution Operations" is held by
board member Anthony Bonomo's sister-in-law, Lori Bunchalk. She was hired in
April. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 New teaching positions also are planned for the following new programs,
according to district officials and documents describing renovations planned
for the school: Plumbing Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning, Retail and
Marketing Operations, Audio Visual Communications Technology, Law Enforcement,
Occupational Transition Career Exploration, and Diesel Technology. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 District Pupil Services Director Ed Lyba, who also oversees vocational
education, said some current teachers are expected to retire to offset costs
of the new teaching positions. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For example, the cabinet-making teacher and plumbing teacher are scheduled
to be cut next year when the programs combine with others, Lyba said. Also, a
"Community Service" program now taught by Elizabeth Rossi is scheduled to be
cut sometime during the 1996-97 school year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lyba said he will not know until July 1 which jobs will require new
hirings. By then, the district will know which teachers are retiring under an
early retirement package and who is state-certified to teach the new classes,
he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Elizabeth Rossi, who is paid about $45,900 annually, had a right to the
"Pastry Arts" job because she has tenure and is the only teacher in the
district who is state-certified in food service and food preparation, district
Superintendent Geraldine Shepperson said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The pastry class also will teach students how to store, decorate, display
and package pastry, Shepperson said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bunchalk's salary is $29,425 annually. Bonomo, a member of the district's
Pupil-Teacher committee that recommended Bunchalk's hiring, has been accused
by taxpayers of nepotism, but he has said Bunchalk is qualified for the job. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The district must wait until the Career Center is renovated and expanded
before it can offer all new programs, Lyba said. Some new programs might be
ready by September, and the rest will be offered by January, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Although the warehousing program might not start until January, district
officials hired Bunchalk in April to oversee a district-wide inventory and to
help design curriculum for the program she is to oversee. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

2 Related To School Board Members Hired