`dreamcoat' Is Flashy, But Also Bright, Bouncy And Enjoyable

3 Local Residents Among Spin Finalists 
Three Luzerne County Residents Are Among The 10 Finalists In Tonight's 
Wednesday's Million Dollar Spin Sponsored By The Pennsylvania Lottery.

By DAVE JANOSKI; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Thursday, October 10, 1996 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





KINGSTON -- A student's report on homecoming preparations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Votes to hire cleaning ladies and swim coaches. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bills to pay and salaries to set. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The issues gripping the Wyoming Valley West School District were not on the
official agenda handed to members of the public attending Wednesday's school
board meeting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But the apparent suicides of two high school students three weeks ago, and
allegations of drug use by district students, were very much on board members'
minds. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Superintendent Andrew Marko began his monthly report noting "the great
things" happening in the district before turning to the "tragedy" and thanking
the board and district employees for how they handled its aftermath. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Following the meeting, board President Neil McAndrew was defensive about
reports that the two victims, dead from single gun shot wounds to their heads,
and some of their fellow students, might have been using drugs, including
heroin. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I have no proof of it," he said, before acknowledging, "I'm sure there are
drugs in the school. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We do want to address this problem. From what the district attorney says,
it's a problem in a lot of school districts." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Both McAndrew and Marko said they could not recall a seizure of illegal
drugs at the high school in Plymouth Township. And both emphasized the
allegations of drug use are just that. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Luzerne County District Attorney Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. has said an
investigation into the deaths of Valley West students Shaun Marc Zarcufsky and
Stanley J. Szczupski has turned up evidence of drug use by district students. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His office is trying to determine if adults were involved in supplying
drugs to the victims or other students. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The bodies of the two 16-year-olds were found on a wooded hillside near the
West Side Landfill in Plymouth Township on Sept. 22 along with two handguns,
drug paraphernalia, empty liquor bottles and suicide notes to friends with
references to the occult. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Investigators say they're certain it was a double suicide, but an official
ruling won't be made until they receive the results of toxicological tests
that will show if the boys had drugs or alcohol in their systems when they
died. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In a letter to the board, Olszewski praised the district's counselors and
administrators for their response to the deaths. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Their concern and compassion for your students was outstanding," Olszewski
wrote. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A staff of 30 counselors from the district, Children's Service Center and
Wyoming Alcohol and Drug Services counseled about 70 of the high school's
1,400 students after the deaths, McAndrew said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He said news media reports of the apparent double suicide, with their
emphasis on drug use and the occult, did not give a fair impression of Wyoming
Valley West and the 1,330 high school students not directly affected by the
deaths. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Board member Raymond Lowery told the board it could improve the impression
by honoring exceptional students and their accomplishments at board meetings,
as many local school boards do: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I think we're not doing a good job of promoting positives." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Wvw Board Addresses 2 Deaths