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KINGSTON — The Wyoming Valley West School Board unanimously gave Superintendent Irv DeRemer one more year on his contract Wednesday, extending it through June 30, 2020, and DeRemer said he will retire when it is done, after nearly 45 years in education.
“There are a couple more goals I want to accomplish before I leave,” DeRemer said, adding that the extension gives him the same raise he got under the current contract, 2.5%. “I’ve had an outstanding career, and I have nothing from my end but praise for the working relationships in the district.”
Several of those remaining goals came up during the brief monthly meeting. In his report to the board, DeRemer mentioned again the positive behavior programs that have been launched in the middle school and State Street Elementary, and announced that the district will launch the “Real Men Read” program in State Street, offered through the United Way of Wyoming Valley. After the meeting he said he hopes to expand similar efforts in the district’s other schools.
The fate of Chester Street Elementary also came up when a parent asked about the district’s gifted program. The board has been reviewing the current system of putting all gifted students from grades 1 through 5 in Chester Street. Such a dedication of one building for gifted students has been a rarity for years. After the meeting, DeRemer said gifted enrollment has declined from as high as 170 a few years ago to about 50 this year, with as few as six students in some grades.
The district is looking at doing what most districts do: Provide gifted programs to students in their home schools. DeRemer said Chester Street will likely remain open as an elementary school, though the board has been mulling closing buildings, with discussions including moving the administrative offices and selling that building, and possible closure of a different elementary building.
And the district’s older schools still need repairs. The board voted Wednesday to authorize drawing up repair specifications for the middle school roof.
Luzerne County Community College President Thomas Leary pitched another idea to the board: offering LCCCs “early college” program to high school students. He noted LCCC “significantly reduced” the tuition for high school students in the program, and that the college has numerous agreements with other institutions of higher learning to assure that credits will transfer if students opt not to attend LCCC after graduation.
