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WRIGHT TWP. — The Crestwood School Board has appointed Robert Derwin to fill the seat made vacant by the resignation of Randy Swank.
Derwin ran for a seat on the board in the November election but lost by about 400 votes, coming in sixth in a race for five positions. Derwin will complete Swank’s term and serve until the first Monday of December, 2025.
The board also approved a settlement agreement with vape company Juul, for $12,600. The district joined many others in a class action suit against multiple vape manufacturers, and this is the second company to settle. Solicitor Jack Dean said the earlier settlement was for about $46,000.
In sports, the board appointed several coaches: Paul Ashton and James Geiger as varsity wrestling assistants at $1,812 each (split salary), Kim Petrosky as softball varsity assistant/Junior Varsity at $3,913, Jeff Stec as boys volleyball varsity assistant/JV at $3,882, and Clint Kakalecik for girls wrestling varsity assistant at $1,440 (retroactive to Nov. 17). The girls wrestling coach position is new and the salary was set through a Memorandum Of Understanding with the teacher union.
The board also:
• Accepted a proposal from BerkOne for Act 80 Comparison Services at an estimated cost of $1,000 plus shipping. The purchase was budgeted, and there is no increase in cost from the previous year. The work involves printing and mailing state-required forms to property owners to assure they live in the district for tax purposes.
• Appointed Matthew Coulter as part-time para-educator at $17.51 per hour following a 60 workday probationary period at 10% less.
• Appointed Damien Blanchard to oversee custodian staff district-wide through June, 2024 at a stipend of $15,000. Blanchard is the district director of technology. Asked about the amount of the stipend being higher than other administrators have received for taking on extra duties, Superintendent Natasha Milazzo said the arrangement will require Blanchard to work the second shift, warranting the extra pay.
• Accepted the resignation of full-time Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS) secretary Maryellen Delvecchio.
• Approved a trip by the cheerleaders to Disney in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 8-13 for the National High School Cheerleading Championship. District expenses are limited to transportation to and from the airport.
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish