WB Area sets ribbon cutting for new school

WILKES-BARRE — With the new high school about 98% done, Wilkes-Barre Area School District Superintendent Brian Costello began Thursday’s School Board meeting by announcing dates for the ribbon cutting, student orientations and public opportunities to see the building next month.

During the meeting, the board voted to continue extensive renovations of GAR High School, which will be converted to a middle school, approving replacement of all flooring at a cost of a bit more than $900,000. Costello said the district is applying through the state Department of Education for permission to use federal COVID-19 relief money to pay for the project, arguing rug replacement and new flooring will reduce health risks by installing easily cleaned high-quality vinyl tiling.

Costello said the ribbon cutting is set for Aug. 26 sometime in the morning, with an afternoon tour. Each grade of students will get a chance to see the school in the evening from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m on four consecutive days: 12th grade on Aug. 30, 11th grade Aug. 31, 10th grade Sept. 1 and ninth grade Sept. 2. He said Oct. 1 will be “Wolfpack Community Day,” with various agencies invited to bring representatives to connect with members of the school community.

Re-opening plans

Costello also briefly discussed school re-opening plans, with the first day of school set for Sept. 9. Like superintendents throughout the region he said plans keep changing as guidance from the state and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evolve. The board approved a health and safety plan required to get the federal relief money, and that plan tentatively called for students and parents to decide themselves about mask wearing, but Costello pointed out the CDC just suggested universal masking in high transmission areas.

The district intends to open with full, in-person classes five days a week, Costello said, but students could opt for asynchronous online classes taught by district teachers. Unlike last year, when the district asked students to stay online for a full term once that choice was made, Costello said this year students will be able to switch between online and in-person learning with greater flexibility, thanks primarily to guidance calling for three feet of social distancing instead of the previous six feet.

Change orders

The board approved several change orders related to the high school work:

• Replacing ceiling tiles in the second floor labs by Duggan & Macron, Inc. at a cost of $25,000. Solicitor Ray Wendolowski said non-acoustic tiles were installed resulting in reverberation, and the change order installs acoustic tiles.

• Additional electric work by Everon Electrical Contractors, Inc., at a cost of $15,528.

• Quandel Construction Group, Inc. is getting $1,381 to paint door louvers and other work.

• Stell Enterprises, Inc., contracted to handle surface preparations, is getting $135,936 almost entirely for expansion of the off ramp from the Cross-Valley Expressway mandated by the state Department of Transportation to handle increased traffic heading to the Plains Township high school. But $4,613 will pay for repair of broken rain leaders — underground pipes connecting downspouts to the drainage system. Costello said the leaders were broken by a contractor accidentally and that while the district will pay for the repair, it will be billed back to the contractor.

The board also approved an agreement with Eastern Roofing Systems to do some repairs on the GAR roof at an estimated cost of $4,839.

And it approved an agreement with Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf to transport students from Camp Hill to the Pittsburgh school at the start of each week and back at the end of the week, at a total cost of $8,000 for 10 months. The district is responsible for getting the student to and from Camp Hill. Costello said the contract only involves one student.