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WILKES-BARRE — Supporters of the concept of keeping “neighborhood schools” — which could include saving Meyers High School — plan to present some options at the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board regular meeting Monday night, Wilkes-Barre City Councilman George Brown said Friday.

Brown said he is also coordinating a meeting in the back room of Rodano’s on Public Square Tuesday evening to get groups that have been working the issue separately “on the same page,” though space restrictions mean the meeting has to be limited to invitees.

“There are several things we have been evaluating, as far as funding neighborhood schools,” Brown said, stressing the objective is to retain smaller high schools and not necessarily to save Meyers. Structural engineers have said is too costly for the district to renovate the building thanks to deterioration inside the walls caused by water infiltration.

“We are going to actually make an announcement at the school board meeting Monday night,” Brown said. “A representative from our group will explain it.”

Brown has spoken out passionately several times at school board meetings since the board voted on a plan that would close Meyers and raze Coughlin High School. A new high school would be built at the Coughlin site, and Kistler Elementary would be expanded to accommodate seventh and eighth grade students currently at Meyers.

The total cost is estimated at about $100 million.

Brown declined to give details of his group’s proposal.

School Board Solicitor Ray Wendolowski had offered one suggestion in the past: A private-public partnership in which a private developer would build a new school that the district would lease, or alternately pay off, over the years.

But Wendolowski said his research determined no such partnership has been done in Pennsylvania, which would make navigating the uncharted waters tricky. He voiced particular concern about getting state reimbursements — given for new construction by a district — for such an arrangement.

Wendolowski repeated that concern Friday night when asked if he had heard of any such deal in the works. He said he has not been contacted about such an option, and that he would have to see the details before giving an opinion on the legal viability.

While Brown wouldn’t discuss details of the proposal to be presented to the School Board Monday, and wouldn’t say whether it involved private investors, he did say it is “fully functional and addresses all of the needs. The people that will be involved in this are people with the experience and the funding.”

Brown also said the plan would provide enough money to keep the three schools viable. District officials have said projections show the district can’t afford to run three high schools, a concern Wendolowski repeated Friday.

Lisa Barth, who spawned creation of a group now known as “circle of support” after she called for those who want to keep Meyer’s open to circle the building one recent Saturday, said she has been invited to Brown’s meeting Tuesday.

“We have a lot of these different groups, Citizens for a Better Wilkes-Barre, the circle of support, and (Attorney Kim) Borland’s group. We’re hoping to get everyone on the same page and come up with a strategy.”

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By Mark Guydish

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Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish