Hazleton Area School District- Poor Performance Continues For Years

In today's Standard Speaker veteran reporter Mia Light writes a story that Hazleton Area School District students failed to meet standardized testing benchmarks according to results released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

The Pennsylvania System of School Assessments test is administered every spring to every Pennsylvania student in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 in reading and math; students in grades 5, 8 and 11 are assessed in writing; and students in grades 4, 8 and 11 are assessed in science.

The test scores, from the 2010-11 school year, are part of the data used to determine whether schools have achieved Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Other data used to determine AYP includes percentage of student population that takes the test, school attendance rates and graduation rates.

In the Hazleton Area School District, where data from the 10 individual schools are combined to determine whether the district as a whole achieved AYP, the results were split 50/50 - results met the mark in five district schools and failed to make the grade in five others.

Hazleton Area schools that made the AYP grade include Freeland Elementary/Middle School, McAdoo-Kelayres Elementary School, West Hazleton Elementary/Middle School and, by default, Arthur Street Elementary School and its annex.

The state Department of Education classifies Arthur Street and the annex as a "feeder school," which means it contains only students below third grade and does not get tested for AYP. Because Arthur Street and the annex feed into schools that are held accountable for third grade PSSA results, the Arthur Street school and annex receive AYP results based on overall district results. Because the district's third grade met the thresholds in math and reading overall, Arthur Street and the annex are identified as having met AYP.

The five district schools where the AYP requirements were not met include Drums Elementary/Middle School, Hazleton Elementary/Middle School, Heights-Terrace Elementary/Middle School, Valley Elementary/Middle School and the high school.

At Drums, AYP was achieved in attendance and test participation but not in academic performance. Students there did achieve AYP in math and reading overall, but students in the special education sub-group failed to meet the mark in mathematics, which cast an AYP failure on the school's final grade.

According to the Department of Education, this is the first time the Drums school did not meet all AYP measures. In the first year of not meeting AYP, a school is placed in "Warning" status, meaning it fell short but has another year to achieve the standards before any consequences are imposed.

In July the Times Leader ran a story about teachers' ratings in area school districts.  As part of the federal stimulus reporting the teachers ratings were released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education according to school district.  The federal stimulus program poured billions into education and required measures be taken to reform the decline in student test scores witnessed nationwide.

The following charts, produced by Gary Visgatis and Mark Guydish of the Times Leader, show that teachers in the Hazleton Area School district received a 100% approval rating but student acheivement was not one of the measures used to evaluate teachers.

On July 16, 2011 the Standard Speaker published an article written by Mia Light about An investigation is under way into why test scores at several Hazleton Area School District buildings in the 2008-09 school year were "statistically atypical" and highlighted in a state report that questioned whether they were earned fairly.  Subsequently HASD personnel suggested that a reporting error may have skewed that data although a full report has never been filed or reported to the public.

Hazleton Area School District was ranked 402nd out of 498 Pennsylvania school districts in 2011 by the Pittsburgh Business Times. The ranking was based on five years of student academic performance on the PSSAs for math, reading, writing and three years of science.  The HASD was rated 368 out of 500 in 2007 by the same publication and went down to 401 out of 498 in 2010.

Hazleton Area School District board members and administrators need to stop the intense bickering, partisan degradations, and outright bullying of each other and get back to educating our children.

At the same time 94% of all Pennsylvania school districts made the grade on performance standards according to Mary Niederberger and Eleanor Chute of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  These facts should be an eye opener for the public.

Marolo Works For The Entire Board

Hazleton Area superintendent edict draws fire
By SAM GALSKI (Staff Writer)
Published: March 16, 2010

You can read the Superintendent's position in the article. Basically he demands that all questions by school directors requiring his answer must go through the School Board President. Mr. Marolo doesn't understand that each member of the school board is charged with the same responsibilities. A school board president has no more fiduciary duty, duty of loyalty, or duty of care than any other member. Sam will lose this one in court. Its a shame the taxpayers may have to foot the bill.

The Wizard Of KOZ

In a recent column by Sam Galski for the Times Tribune Dr. Robert Childs wanted to revisit a vote on some KOZ (Keystone Opportunity Zones) extensions granted by the Hazleton Area School Board. For those not so familiar with the battle you can review the board's past actions here.

The point Dr. Childs missed in his argument over the vote is exactly the vote. Six directors approved the KOZ extensions although Childs and Steve Hahn voted against them. Carmella Yenkevich was not present for the vote last October. Does Dr. Childs want all the votes of the Hazleton Area School Board revisited? It happened last October and it is done.

But the bickering between members of the Hazleton Area School Board, which by the way should stop immediately, is not the purpose of this post. In Harrisburg there is more "stinkin thinkin" that we, as taxpayers, should tolerate from overpaid legislators. This report from the Legislative and Budget Finance Committee fails to support the need or the purpose of KOZ designation.

Deficiencies in program data prevent a comprehensive assessment of the KOZ Program’s effectiveness. The findings in this report are based largely on data from CY2006, as 2007 and 2008 data did not become available until the very end of our fieldwork. We also found significant problems with the reliability of the 2006 data we reviewed, including certain data that appeared to be duplicative and/or a mix of actual and esti-mated/projected figures. These and other data problems are detailed in the report.


Using 2006 DCED records, we found about 75% of KOZ participants reported no job creation activity. While to some extent the lack of job creation can be attributed to definitional reasons (e.g., what constitutes a “participant”), we found other examples of KOZ participants, including financial and investment services firms, where KOZ tax benefits are being re-ceived, but where no jobs have ever been created and no capital investments have ever been made.


DCED needs better guidelines and procedures to ensure that a KOZ participant is a qualified business. By law, KOZ businesses are to be “engaged in the active conduct of a trade or business.” This phrase has never been defined, and apparently no business has ever been deemed “not qualified.” As a result, KOZ partic-ipants include “businesses” such as real estate investment trusts, venture capital funds, and hedge funds that have FEIN numbers, but no employees.


The total cost of the KOZ Program is not known and currently cannot be reliably estimated. The major cost component of the KOZ Program is the amount of state and local tax exemptions, credits, and deductions that are granted to KOZ businesses, residents, and property own-ers. Neither DCED nor any other state or local agency currently knows what these tax abate-ments amount to, although a similar program in New York has estimated annual costs in excess of $650 million.


Most (70%) KOZ acreage has not yet been developed. Of the 46,853 acres included in the KOZ Program, only 13,944 (30%) has been de-veloped. Poor infrastructure, costly remediation, and inadequate marketing are some of the rea-sons for the lack of development.


DCED does not adequately track and monitor “relocation” and “residency” aspects of the program. Deficiencies were found in the DCED’s efforts to ensure that existing PA businesses that relocate to a KOZ meet statutory re-quirements and verify that PA residents living and receiving tax breaks in a KOZ comply with the statutory 184-day residency requirement.


Before taking any actions to further expand or extend the KOZ Program, the General Assembly should require that new participants make specific commitments to create jobs and/or make capital investments and that new KOZ zones be truly deteriorated rather than merely “underutilized.”


July 9, 2009

The Legislature was so consumed with the budget process that this report probably fell through the cracks. It is time to revisit KOZ and correct its severe deficiencies or end it altogether.

The total cost of the KOZ Program is not known and currently cannot be reliably estimated.  If they can't define the total cost that problem should send up a big red flag.

That is the argument Childs should have put forth, not digging up old wounds. Childs characterized this report as downplaying KOZ. This report is more than a downplay.

HASD- Are You Paying Attention To What Has Happened In Luzerne County?

This story concerns a recent controversy over the hiring of a high level admininstrator by the Hazleton Area School Board. The name of the person hired is not important for the relevant point of the article.

Minority board member Sean Shamany lambasted school board President Brian Earley and majority directors Elaine Curry, Robert Childs, Carmella Yenkevich and Steve Hahn for continuously preaching the importance of following hiring policies but opting to suspend the policy at their convenience.

(Shamany) took issue with an appointment-related recommendation to "temporarily suspend the district's hiring policy" so the board could elevate the former Heights-Terrace Elementary/Middle School principal from acting to permanent deputy superintendent..


The recommendation for suspending the policy passed 5-4, with Childs, Curry, Hahn, Yenkevich and Earley voting "yes" and Shamany voting "no" with board members Tony Bonomo, Paulette Platukis and Jack Shema.

In voting to suspend policy it appears to be no different than violating your policy.  The policy is the policy and that is why it was enacted.  It appears the policy was in their way so they voted to push it aside.

It was policy in Luzerne County to seek bids when purchasing. Over time that policy was suspended. From recent events it appears the FBI made them revisit that policy through a slew of indictments.

Tom Gabos- Is There A Conflict Of Interest or An Ethical Concern

Standard Speaker Photo ERic Conover 12/19/2008
Hazleton City Councilman Thomas Gabos wears so many hats it is hard to distinguish which role is the predominant one. There is a saying that you can only answer to one master. From the look of events it seems that Mr. Gabos uses the hats for one master, himself.

Mr. Gabos announced the Funfest opening of his arcade business on July 22, 2009.

The arcade will be full of old-school video games and pinball machines that Tom Gabos, a Hazleton city councilman and president of the Hazleton Historical Society, has been collecting for the last 20 years.

Gabos said he and his partner, Gale Zelenack, have been working on the space formerly held by Service Electric Cablevision and more recently by a dance studio.

"We tore out six layers of flooring, to expose the wooden floor, which we refinished," Gabos said. "We replaced all of the electrical (system), and the bathrooms have all new pipes."

Gabos said he selected the site for the arcade carefully.

"My belief is that this is the better side of Broad Street, because it has a lot of businesses on it, and the college (Lackawanna) at the end," Gabos said.

Gabos said he doesn't have any idea about operating hours just yet.

Back in March, 2009 Gabos reported prostitutes in downtown Hazleton.

Councilman Thomas Gabos last week said he received complaints from downtown business owners at two locations concerning female prostitutes working in the neighborhoods.

Gabos declined to identify the business owners who lodged the complaints. One owns a business on Wyoming Street and the other on Broad Street, he said.

In a separate incident, Gabos said he and other members of the Greater Hazleton Historical Society board of directors were recently meeting in the museum at 55 N. Wyoming St. The group walked outside to inspect an area at the rear of the building and discovered a man and woman engaged in a sexual act in the shadows.

Barely three months later he decides to locate one of his businesses there. There is a story about crying wolf but that is for another day.

Gabos was hired as a substitute maintenance person on April 23, 2009.

Back in December, 2008 he was named President of the Castle Auditorium Community Arts Center and featured in a picture published in the Hazleton Standard Speaker.

The board has also received a nonprofit (sic 5)401(c)(3) designation and has a new president, Tom Gabos. Understanding organizations that must mean that HASB Directors Elaine Curry and Steve Hahn voted to elect Tom Gabos as President.

In May, 2009 he attends a conference with Hazleton Area School Board Members Elaine Curry and Steve Hahn as a speaker. The conference was co-sponsored by PennDOT, Preservation Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Federal Highway Administration and other state and regional partners.

Friday, May 22nd, 2009
Advocating for Your Neighborhood Schools: Preservation Strategies
8:30a.m.-12:00p.m.
Historic schools in neighborhoods are the heart of many communities. Yet, Pennsylvania continues to lose these schools at an alarming rate replaced by larger consolidated schools located far from the places where people live. Using the successfully rehabilitated Hazleton “Castle on the Hill” as a case study, this session will provide strategies for working with schools boards and parents to retain and rehabilitate these important schools.

Mindy Crawford, Preservation Pennsylvania (Moderator)
Vern McKissick and Gina Douty, McKissick Associates
Tom Gabos, Elaine Curry and Steve Hahn, Community Advocates

Gabos is known for his efforts to restore the former Hazleton Area High School also known as the "Castle." He sits on the Castle Auditorium Board of Directors where Hazleton Area School Board Members Elaine Curry, Steve Hahn, and Carmella Yenkevich are members as well.

Councilman Gabos is featured in this WBRE16 video about the Castle Auditorium project. In the video it mentions that the Hazleton Area School District spent $30 million to renovate the school known as the Hazleton Elementary Middle School. Any claim that Tom Gabos made to "save the Castle" seems suspect since the Hazleton Area School District taxpayers and Pennsylvania taxpayers seem to be the ones who "saved" it.

Recent action by the majority of the Hazleton Area School Board lead to the hiring of Hazleton City Councilman/Electrician/Arcade Owner Thomas Gabos as a maintenance person at the Hazleton Elementary/Middle School.

The rumor surrounding this hire is that Mr. Gabos demanded he displace a long time maintenance person when he received this position since the Hazleton Elementary/Middle School is the former Castle. There may be a greivance filed over the action with the school board.

Is it possible for three school board directors to separate their close association with Tom Gabos in this hiring matter? Did Tom Gabos use his position on City Council to persuade those involved in his hiring?

Now he is known as Hazleton City Councilman/Electrician/Arcade Owner/Hazleton Area School District Employee/Tom Gabos.

Tonight Mr. Gabos is going to do something unique as a councilman. He is actually going to introduce his first piece of legisaltion in the almost four years on Hazleton City Council. According to Mia Light, government correspondent, of the Standard Speaker Gabos will introduce an ordinance before Council that authorizes the use of state constables to augment law enforcement in the city.

Gabos said he sees no reason for the proposal to fail.

"I feel confident (the ordinance) will pass. Why would anyone object to it?" Gabos said. You can read about the duties of constables in Pennsylvania in the content of Mia's article.

Now let's answer Mr. Gabos's question. One should never ask a question you don't know the answer to.

First, only four(4) constabiles in our area are certified(asThomas Roccograndi, a certified Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) constable training instructor at Lackawanna College Police Academy states in the article)and bonded. Where the figure of 15 came from is anyone's guess. That statistic means the other constables would not qualify to carry out their duties in a way that protects the City of Hazleton from liability.

Following election, the constable is required to attend and pass an 80-hour training academy to receive certification through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency under Act 44, and to successfully complete 40 hours of yearly updates on law and firearms training to maintain their certification.

Next, is Mr. Gabo's position that these constables are sitting around with nothing to do and waiting for Hazleton to hire them? The constables in the Hazleton area are performing duties at the present time so there is a question whether they would have extra time to assist the City.

There is the issue of pay. Look at what charges the Berks County court system incurred with the use of constables. At least two of them were reprimanded for double billing.

Three constables in Berks County made more than $250,000 last year, placing them among the highest-paid elected officials in the nation.

Three other constables in Berks made $120,000 or more last year. And 11 state constables in Berks made more than the $75,000 paid to district court judges, their bosses.

Here is what one constable said about using constables to make arrests.

Highly paid constables make most of their money by serving parking-ticket warrants, the constables and Xavios said.

Jack Esher, a constable in Delaware County and president of the State Constables Association, a professional organization, don’t make dig money on lots of arrests.

Arrests take too much time for what they pay. In an arrest, a constable must take the suspect to district court and have him arraigned, fingerprinted and taken before a judge.

"If you’re arresting people, you can’t be doing something else at the same time," he said.

As far as this idea being a good financial move for Hazleton obviously Gabos didn't do his homework.

If the person is not home, he said, he will leave a paper on the suspect’s door informing him that a warrant has been issued and what to do.


That’s good news financially for the county: It will make more money than if a ticket had been paid on time.

And it’s good news for the constable: The county will pay him a fee, even if his delivery of the warrant results in no collection.

Xavios said district courts are a cash cow for the county, bringing in $3.7 million last year alone, after costs and fees are paid.

This idea sounds more like a fleece of the citizens of Hazleton than a help.

Rendell's Political Speech Coming To Hazleton

Evening Sun Photo by Meghan Gauriloff

It was reported by Sam Galski last week in the Standard Speaker that Fast Eddy Rendell was turned away on two occassions by the Hazleton Area School District when his office tried to arrange Rendell to speak at a Hazleton Area School.

Superintendent Sam Marolo and school board President Brian Earley insisted that the governor's visit is politically motivated and violates district policy pertaining to political activities on school property. Sounds like a reasonable assumption to me.

The word on the street is that eight out of nine Hazleton Area School Board members have signed a letter asking Rendell to come to Hazleton to speak.

You be the judge. Here is what PRN/USNewswire is reporting on Rendell's visits across the state.

Pennsylvania's next state budget must adequately invest in education in order to avoid local property tax increases, Governor Edward G. Rendell said today during a visit to the Fort Cherry School District in Washington County.

The Governor cautioned that a budget plan offered and approved by Senate Republicans would force school districts to hike property taxes and cut programs.

"I am not willing to accept their budget -- which is already $1.5 billion out of balance, as the economy has continued to slip -- because it is counter-productive to turning around our economy," Governor Rendell said. "In addition, a failure at the state level to fund essential programs and services simply shifts the tax burden to the local level."

He visited Adams and Cumberland County school districts with this message according to HEATHER FAULHEFER at the Evening Sun.

At the press briefing at Bermudian Springs High School, the governor defended his proposal to raise the state's personal income tax from 3.07 to 3.57 percent for three years, saying that the increase would, in part, provide funding for education and prevent local taxes from increasing.

Rendell has proposed an increase in education funding by $418 million, while the Republican-supported Senate Bill 850 would keep basic education funding the same as last year, providing $5.3 billion in basic education funding.

Rendell argued that Senate Bill 850 would hurt school districts like Bermudian Springs, which would receive $1 million less in the budget put forth by the Senate than in his budget.

Bermudian Springs School District Superintendent Paul Healey noted that the loss could not be absorbed by cutting pens and pencils - programs and people would be affected, he said.

"We need a state budget that does not pass the burden onto school boards to raise additional taxes," he said. "We need a state budget that recognizes that our most important resources are our children, and they do not deserve to be a pawn in a budget battle."

Local Republican legislators argue that, when combined with federal stimulus money, Senate Bill 850 does provide increases to school districts, just not as large an increase as the governor's proposal.

State Reps. Will Tallman, R-Reading Township, and Dan Moul, R-Conewago Township, attended Rendell's briefing and later said the governor was using scare tactics to gain approval of his tax increase.

Rendell is singling out the Republicans, not just the Senate as an institution that passed Senate Bill 850. If that isn't partisan and political nothing is.

Superintendent Paul Healey is another buffoon. Uhh Paul what difference does it make whether the state hikes taxes or the school district? Sounds like you want to make sure your school directors don't take the blame, let's blame state lawmakers. Why would you want to do that? Because your directors already raised taxes in June by 5.4%. What did you say Paul? That was the fourth consecutive hike in taxes. Mr. Healey what is your salary? $120,120.00. Ain't that a hoot. How many people in this state make $120,000 per year?

Brad Bumsted over at PittsburghLive calls Rendell's propaganda tour for what it is.

Rendell's propaganda campaign lays the groundwork for an income tax boost by pointing out all of the "devastating" consequences of spending less.

Let's Educate The Hazleton Area School Board

If any member of the Hazleton Area School Board had to apply for their job they would not get hired. They lack the proper credentials to run a school district, let alone one the size of Hazleton Area at $105 million. Let's discuss their ridiculous dress code. What you see above is called cotton spandex leggins. It is meant to be a "layered" piece as in worn with other clothing like this.



Girls are being called out on wearing this clothing. So let me get this straight. A girl wants to be modest about the dress she wears so she puts on leggins underneath. It earns her a trip to the office. Some of you older members remember tights. Tell me the fundamental difference.

Not only is the student sent to the office, the student must remain in the office NOT GETTING EDUCATED until, if or when, a new set of clothes arrives. In the Hazleton Area School District this situation only happens in some of the buildings. West Hazleton ignores the codes, Freeland ignores the code, and the High School ignores the code. If the child is lucky enough to end up in those institutions the child WILL GET EDUCATED.

The policy is not applied "uniform", pun intended, across all buildings in the district. Board Members, are you worried about looks or is educating the student more important? Do all of you wear collared shirts ALL the time? Quit your social experiment on inflicting ridiculous rules and get down to the duties and responsibilities of your elected office. If you want a uniform look go to uniforms. If not, abandon the policy. After graduation the children are going to express themselves in the manner they believe fits their personality. You are not going to prevent that from happening.

Two Hazleton Area Hispanic Leaders Removed From Hazleton Area School District Ballot

Luzerne County President Judge Chester B. Muroski in separate court orders removed two Hazleton Area Hispanic leaders(self-proclaimed) from the ballot for a seat on the Hazleton Area School Board.

Elaine Curry, outgoing school director,(it is more than rumored) immediately cried "Racism" after a work session over this development. According to some individuals in attendance, she was visibly annoyed and was described as acting like a child with her comments and actions.

According to writers for the Standard Speaker, Ms. Curry contends the community and local elected officials should’ve embraced Hazleton Area’s first Hispanic candidates — rather than engage in “utterly disgraceful” politics.

“It is so obvious to everyone that this dirty-tricks mentality was orchestrated by a combination of current board members and those willing to do anything to get a seat on the board,” she said Thursday night. “It’s utterly disgraceful. As far as I know, this was the first time there were two Hispanics running for school board. Instead of helping them to contribute, we find technicalities to get them knocked off the ballot.”

Contrast her politcial and childish rhetoric with the gentleman like attitudes of the potential candidates who were stricken from the ballot.

After the hearing, Lopez said the hearing came down to a missed deadline.

“I am disappointed, but I understand that the judge had to rule it that way,” Lopez said. “He couldn’t have any leeway in the time aspect. That’s a rule. We didn’t fulfill a rule.”

Arroyo said the success of a writing campaign hinges on how well the community is acquainted with the electronic voting machines.

He said the court ruling fuels his desire to run for public office.

“It makes me stronger than I was before in my decision to keep running for the school board or maybe another public office in the future,” Arroyo said.

Let's examine Ms. Curry's position. Many people from all over this state have been removed from the ballot for the exact same reason. However, if you use her pandering philosophy it appears Hispanics should be held to a different standard than the rest of the country. Her statements hurt their cause and damage relations between the Hispanic community and the area at large. She proclaims and protests so loudly that the color of skin is the motivation behind the effort to remove Arroyo and Lopez from the ballot she ignores logical reason. No, Elaine, untimely filing is the motivation, plain and simple.

"Instead of helping them to contribute." Elaine, did you have the election fixed, opps sorry a crystal ball, that you propone they would win? Pragmatists know that even if they made it to the ballot there was no guarantee of a win.

The public should applaud Arroyo and Lopez for recognizing the rules and abiding by them. Likewise the public needs to decry Elaine Curry's attempt to evade the laws of the land and the Constitution of the United States and sully the reputation of school directors, the potential candidates, as well as the President Judge of Luzerne County. Elaine, were you calling Judge Muroski a racist when you made that statement due to his ruling?

In examining the record on this issue it leads to more questions.

School Director Carmella Yenkevich said she noticed that both names were not among the list of contenders who met the deadline for filing financial documents.

Yenkevich, however, said she wasn’t about to make an issue of it.

After the school board adjourned from a public meeting Thursday, Yenkevich and Curry called on Business Manager Anthony Ryba to disclose who inquired about the status of financial disclosure filings with the district.

Ryba said that school directors Sean Shamany and Tony Bonomo “called to see who submitted forms.”

“Then (Harkins’) attorney comes,” Curry snapped back.

Elaine, why didn't you make sure the candidates you were backing knew the rules? In races throughout Luzerne County newcomers have entered the world of politics. Many were guided by experienced office holders and political leaders on the process. In your haste to encourage their run did you forget to be a good mentor and do follow ups to avoid embarassment? Did you show them the cross filing process???

Ignacio Beato had his financial statement in on time for a position on the ballot for Hazleton City Council. What did he know that the other two were not privy to?

Not only were Arroyo and Lopez removed fromthe ballot, six of ten county candidates have been removed from the ballot. Were is your protest, Elaine? Is it because the color of skin does matter?

Elaine, let's educate you. Facts are stubborn things: and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.- John Adams 1770

Politics is the life blood of democracy. To call politics "dirty" is to call democracy "dirty."- Nelson Rockefeller 1962

When people lose respect for one bad law, it is but a short step before they include the good laws with the bad and shortly in rebellion against all law.- Oscar Underwood 1928

Free government has no greater menace than disrespect for authority and continual violation of law. It is the duty of a citizen not only to observe the law but to let it be known that he is opposed to its violation.- Calvin Coolidge July 27, 1920

Hazleton Area School Board- You Are On Notice

Director Elaine Curry officially has dropped out of the race for a seat on the Hazleton Area School Board, joining nine-year member Sean Shamany as incumbents who will not be seeking re-election.

As for who is running here is the current slate. Amilcar Arroyo, Peter J. Beltrami, Rocco G. Fallabel, Rocco Formica, Clarence H. John, Agapito Lopez, Bob Mehalick and Lawrence W. Sampson.

Unfortunately for the taxpayers of the school district directors Steve Hahn and Carmella Yenkevich are seeking re-election.

Let's put those seeking office and those in office on notice. This election will be about qualifications, not Who's Who of School Boards.

There are only three qualified candidates seeking election, Rocco Formica, Rocco Fallabel, and Clarence John. Why??- Their ceritifications, qualifications, and their professional careers.

Carmella Yenkevich and Steve Hahn, do you have college educations??? What courses have you taken that qualify you to be in charge of a $105 million corporation? Would you go to these people if you needed an operation? Heck no, so why would you turn them to be in charge of a $105 million dollar business? Yes Hazleton Area is in the business of educating students.

For too long the majority Members of the Hazleton Area School Board had a free pass(over many elections). There is too much micro management of the day to day operations by the board in fields where not one has a qualification. The main purpose of any school board is to provide the physical facilities to accomplish education of the students. The rest of the shenanigans that occur at school board meetings are just that. And everyone one of them should hang their heads in shame. How can they expect their students to follow the rules when they won't behave themselves? The bitter battles mar the educational process. What is going on is a struggle for power, not a struggle for the students.

Look at the fiasco that recently happened over the hiring of Frank Antonelli. A board member injected his own personal feelings into the process and chased away a candidate that was super qualified for the position. It was rumored this board member had his resignation letter written if Mr. Antonelli was hired. It's a shame. The district lost the wrong person.

The board pays an awful lot of money to adminstrators, people who chose the career of education, but puts up the biggest barriers for them to effectively do their job.

Let the adminstrators do the hiring. Let the adminstrators along with the teaching staff set the curriculum. Let professionals practice their profession. What a novel concept? Running a district like a business. Brilliant!

Mark Twain once wrote- In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards. Can you imagine that we are still seeing what he saw during his life.

When was the last time the majority of the Hazleton Area School Board survived an election? It had to be at least twenty some years ago. This year will be no different.

Hazleton Area School District In Our Sights

The Hazleton Area School Board announced the appointment of a volunteer Human Resources Team.

"School directors adopted a resolution that establishes the volunteer team and appoints a three-member panel. Its members include Thomas Butchko, Penn State Hazleton Human Resources director; Angela Lex, human resources director at Temple-Inland; and Don Mattey, a retired human resources director at Eastman Kodak."

Here's a good reason to get them started. The Board had discussions on this position as far back as June. On January 8,2009 Acting Superintendent Sam Marolo announced the Board would be hiring a person from three candidates interviewed for the position.

“There were four interviews scheduled and three (people) attended,” he said at Thursday’s committee meetings. “We narrowed it down to one and I recommend we hire the person at the end of the month.”

The board established a $25,000 base salary and will pay the grant writer $1,000 for each completed application and another $1,000 for each grant secured, Committee Chair Elaine Curry said.

Events can be like the weather, changing on a moments notice. At the January 29th meeting the Board had to scrap their plans for hiring a grant writer because the candidate recommended for the position didn’t meet criteria listed in a job posting.

Business Manager Anthony Ryba said the recommendation fell through because the district did not finalize an agreement with the candidate, but Marolo said late Thursday that the person did not have a bachelor’s degree, as listed in an advertisement.

“This person was an excellent candidate,” Marolo said late Thursday. “But you can’t advertise for a bachelor’s and give it to someone who doesn’t have that.”

Oooopps!

"The interview committee included Marolo, Early Intervention/Special Education Director Carl Manfredi, Director of 7-12 Curriculum Deb Carr, Rose Cunfer of the Child Accounting Office, literacy coach Dorothy Woods, Security Director Vincent Zola and Title I/ESL supervisor Cathy Fanelli-Andrews."

Maybe the new team can have better success at screening people.

What I don't understand from this school board is the constant labeling of a majority and minority. School Directors run on both tickets to eliminate the typical politics witnessed in the electoral process of Republicans and Democrats. That is the reason they are allowed to cross file. Yet, as soon as they are elected they pick a majority.

Some folks just don't get it. We don't want a majority or a minority. We want 9 people who were elected to do a job to work together and get the job done. We don't get a second opinion to find out what is wrong with us. We want to know what they are going to do about it.

Quit the bickering, snide remarks, name calling, taunting, hostility, abrupt responses, lack of openess, pettiness, backstabbing, cutting commentary, resentment,and any other monicker that applies. School boards are responsible for setting the platform so the professionals they hire can accomplish their goal. It is not to determine the type or style of education administered to the student. With all due respect no one resume of any school director contains enough references to actually run a school district. If any school director were to apply to a corporation hiring directors I doubt any would qualify for the job. It is one thing to know how to cook a hamburger. It is quite another to be known as a chef.

The presidential election set the tone for the mood of the country. School boards should be leading by example. How can a school board expect its students to have respect and exhibit the correct behaviors when its example is a board that expresses open hostility?

Mark Twain is quoted in Following the Equator; Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar with the following:

In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards. Prove him wrong.

Project Labor Agreement

In an article that appeared in the Standard Speaker today "Elaine(Maddon)Curry said she wants to end the ongoing debate about construction labor agreements as much as anyone on the Hazleton Area School Board." There were numerous full page ads place in the SubStandard Speaker over the last couple of weeks urging passage of the PLA.

So I ask Elaine exactly what is a Project Labor Agreement? The Pennylvania Association of Builders and Contractors offers the following definition. A project labor agreement (PLA) is a signed commitment between the owner of the project (business or government)and area construction unions. These agreements generally require that a percentage of the workforce be hired from the specified labor union halls thereby prohibiting non-union employers (and employers whose employees are members of unions not signatory to the PLA) from utilizing its own employees on the project.

WOULD A PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT BE CONSIDERED DISCRIMINATION?

Yes, Project Labor Agreements, which significantly limit (and in some instances prohibit) the majority of the construction workforce which has chosen not to belong to labor unions from working on a construction project (sometimes a government funded taxpayer project), is clearly a blatant form of discrimination.

What amazes me about this proposal centers on the cost of healthcare? How can a government entity seek out the cheapest options in purchasing healthcare but neglect their fiduciary duty on construction projects? This proposal would force a ratio of eight union members to one non-union member.

There are ways for a government entity to determine the qualifications of employees hired by a contractor. Let's look at plumbing for example. A person desiring to become a master plumber must work for a certain period under the supervision of a master plumber before seeking the position of journeyman plumber. A journeyman plumber must work for a period before becoming a master plumber.

Pennsylvania does not license plumbers however counties and municipalities have the authority to do so. Here are two examples in Pennsylvania; one from the Allegheny County Health Department and the other from South Whitehall Township.

Elaine is quoted in the article as saying “Anyone with questions or research to do — do it,” “I want this off the table and when we vote it’s off the table.” That sounds quite authoritarian to me. The board is comprised of nine members. If any member decided to bring it back to the table the chairman cannot prevent it. Just a tidbit on Robert's Rules of Order. It is called a motion to rescind and it must pass by two thirds of the members present.

Qualifications, not unionization, determine the fitness for employment of any individual. There's your research.