PD News

Pittston area

November 19, 2009

Teacher hiring delayed

Economics enters into board’s discussion of an adding a special education instructor.

IAN CAMPBELL Times Leader Correspondent

YATESVILLE – The Pittston Area School Board on Tuesday tabled a proposal to add a special education teacher on the grounds that the addition would be better addressed in the 2010-11 budget.

The district was meeting its obligations to provide individual education plans with the current staff levels, the board was told. Additional staff could address the lack of assistance in the K-3 areas, but the district was legally in compliance with state mandates with current staffing levels.

The district director of special education Margaret Boyt outlined the services utilized by the 392 students with individualized education plans, or IEPs. Boyt said “selective inclusion” was working as a district policy.

What would have been useful would have been the opportunity to have more co-teaching services in the lower grades, where a second teacher in a classroom could spot developing learning problems and address them early, she said. The district did not have enough personnel to do that, Boyt told the board.

Board member Anthony Guariglia said that in his work in another school district, he had seen the advantage of a co-teaching environment, and he supported the idea of adding a position in order to achieve that environment.

But board member Robert Linskey said the district will already be tapping its reserves in the 2009-10 budget, is likely to face a 20 percent increase in pension costs and has had to cover a number of unexpected costs in other programs.

Board members Terry Best, Kent Bratlee, Ross Latona and Michael McAndrew supported Linskey’s suggestion to table the hiring.

This was the second time the position was presented to the board, and the second time it has been tabled.

In other business, the board voted to hire MetLife to handle the funds in the district’s early-retirement program, after being advised that one of the major finance groups in the current plan was pulling out of the business, effective Dec. 18.

Legally, the district had to have a replacement for the Wells Fargo program, plan administrator James McAndrew of DeHey McAndrew said.

MetLife had started work on the required steps, and should be able to have the program up and running by the December deadline, the board was told.

The move was approved unanimously.

The district was meeting its obligations to provide individual education plans with the current staff levels, the board was told.

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