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WILKES-BARRE — During a 1 p.m. virtual meeting Monday that drew rebuke from two people via email, the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board announced it was in the very early stages of talks with someone interested in buying the Meyers High School building, voted to reconfigure all schools this fall when the new high school is set to open, and re-affirmed plans for students in all grades to return to in-person learning March 1.

The monthly meeting was moved from 6 p.m. Feb. 8 to 1 p.m. Monday, with the agenda posted Sunday afternoon so people could send in comments. Three did, with two questioning the decision to hold the meeting at a time when many people work.

“As a taxpayer I’m appalled at the way this board is conducting business,” Sam Troy wrote in an email read by Superintendent Brian Costello. “Why is this meeting being held at the worst possible time of the day?” Troy also repeated a previous recommendation that a “taxpayer relief fund” be created with money taken from administration and faculty salaries while the district is in remote-only mode, to help those struggling due to economic hardship.

Costello noted that that virtual meetings, held via Zoom and streamed live over the district YouTube channel, are posted on that site so anyone interested can watch them at their convenience.

Board Member Denise Thomas announced the interest in buying Meyers, which is set to be closed this fall when the new consolidated high school in Plains Township opens. She stressed repeatedly that the School Board is taking the sale of the building slowly to assure the south Wilkes-Barre neighborhood is not negatively impacted, and with the hope that much of the exterior and the auditorium, complete with extensive stained glass windows and ceiling, might be preserved.

Reconfiguration of grades in existing buildings has been discussed before with the new high school in mind, but the board formally approved changes near the start of the meeting:

As planned, the new high school will house all students grades 9-12.

Flood, Kistler and Heights-Murray elementary schools will switch from housing grades K-6 to K-5.

The Solomon/Plains Memorial complex, which has operated an elementary K-6 side and a junior-high 7-8 side, will be recast with K-5 on the elementary side and 6-8 on the other side.

GAR Memorial High School, currently with students in grades 7-12, will become a middle school housing grades 6-8. In other words, Solomon/Plains and GAR “junior high schools” will become middle schools for the entire district.

The Mackin building, which had been closed as an elementary school before being remodeled and opened to house two of four grades from Coughlin High School (which will be closed), will become a K-5 school. When the board voted to renovate and re-open the building, it had noted the potential to switch from a high school to an elementary school (its original use) if needed.

Dodson Elementary, which has been housing K-6 students, will be dedicated to serving special education students in grades K-5. The board had also discussed the option, the theory being that more resources could be directed to some special needs students in a stand-alone building.

The new high school is still set to open on time for classes this fall. Michael Krzywicki of Apollo Group Inc, the firm contracted as the district construction manager, told the board the school is about 79% done with a wide range of work continuing inside during the cold weather. He also noted a little less than half of a contingency fund has been spent, with nearly $2.4 million remaining untouched.

Costello said that data regarding the spread of COVID-19 in Luzerne County has been very encouraging lately, with both the number of new cases and the percentage of tests coming back positive dropping sharply, increasing odds the district will be able to return students who had signed up for in-person learning back to schools March 1 as previously announced.

The board also:

Extended a phone service agreement with Ironton Global Company at a cost of $10,690 per month for three years beginning July 1.

Extended a lease agreement with Hewlett Packard set to expire Feb. 28 for five months at a fixed rate of $15,106 per month, and approved a new lease agreement for Chromebook computers with Hewlett Packard at an annual cost not to exceed $237,495. Business Manager Tom Telesz said the new contract is slightly higher than the current one due to high demand for the computers amid the pandemic.

Approved the purchase of furniture from Stone Office Furniture for $1.38 million, fitness equipment from Fitness Headquarters at a cost of $182,905, and cameras and related equipment from Torbik Safe &amp; Lock, Inc. at a cost of $559,150. All three deals are for the new high school and are arranged through the state Co-Star system, which allows local municipalities to “piggy-back” onto prices negotiated by the state with companies in an effort to reduce cost.

WB Area finds interest in Meyers building, reconfigures grades in all schools