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WILKES-BARRE —Wilkes-Barre Area art teacher Kerry Ann Flaherty, in her own words at Monday’s School Board meeting: “Please don’t let it end this way. I’m not done yet.”

Flaherty, in the state Department of Education data banks: Teaching for 17 years. Has her master’s degree. Was paid $82,001 in 2014-15. Certified in 1997 to teach art. Though she has seniority over some 400 other employees, the state lists no other certifications, making switching positions problematic.

Keith Eberts, in his own words: “When I started teaching, industrial arts was a dumping ground for students nobody wanted. … Recently they say they’ve been waiting two years to take our class. I transformed it into a genuine engineering class.”

Eberts, in the data banks: Teaching for seven years. Has his master’s degree. Paid $65,109 in 2014-15. Certified in industrial arts/technology education in 2008. He has little seniority and no other certifications listed.

About five minutes after 11 p.m. Monday the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board voted 8-1 to eliminate industrial arts, art, library sciences and family and consumer sciences. About 10 hours later Superintendent Bernard Prevuznak was popping in and out of his office periodically, talking one-on-one with those who may be impacted.

Prevuznak said he was not yet sure which teachers face layoffs because teachers in those programs with seniority and other certifications can “bump” a newer teacher out of some other post. Teachers can also get new certifications by June 10, further complicating what district officials call the “checker-boarding” of moving staff around.

Prevuznak said he wasn’t sure exactly how many employees were in the programs being cut, but some spoke up at Monday’s marathon meeting. State data lists all the names of teachers in those programs, but the latest information is from 2014-15, so some changes may have occurred.

That said, some more of those in the programs:

Art teacher Ann Gubitose spoke of the impact art has on creative students who struggle with traditional classes. According to the state, she has 13 years in the district, earned her master’s degree and was paid $71,055 in 2014-15. Though that puts her near the middle of the pack in seniority, art is her only certification listed, first earned in 2000.

Art teacher Larissa Goldstein quoted the late Stanford Art Professor Eliot Eisner: “Students must not only know the facts, but understand them and be able to think in imaginative, complex and critical ways.”

Goldstein has 10 years in the district, a bachelor’s degree, and was paid $62,634 last year. The limited seniority coupled with no certification other than art — obtained in 2005 — narrow her chances of staying in a district without an art program.

Family and consumer science teacher Janna Michael read comments from students about her class: “If I don’t have this class, I’ll fail.” Another comment evoked laughs, even though the underlying message was substantial: “This is the class that taught me I don’t want to have children.”

Michael has eight years in the district, a bachelor’s degree, and was paid $49,034. Unlike others, she has two certifications besides family and consumer science: One for math in grade six through nine, and one for elementary education in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Citing statistics that show students in schools with libraries score better in standardized reading tests, Alissa Lukasavage told the board that, even so, her students “read not to be tested, but just for the sake of reading.”

Lukasavage has only two years in the district but also has a master’s degree. She was paid $52,741 last year. The lack of seniority — she ranked in the bottom 30 in the 2014-15 data — is problematic, but she does have certifications in family and consumer sciences, communications and English.

Jonah Aben recounted how many students he helps in the library had never been in a library before their first visit. This is his ninth year in the district, he has a master’s degree and he was paid $65,109 last year. He has no certifications beyond library science.

All told, the 2014-15 state data lists 37 teachers in the four programs to be suspended. Of those, 27 are female. Salaries ranged from $47,798 to $82,001, and the total paid to all of them was just short of $2.4 million, excluding benefits. All but three had less than 20 years in education.

Signs left by audience members express the sentiments of many after the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board voted to suspend four programs, threatening jobs of at least 30 teachers.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_W-B-Area-signs-RGB.jpg.optimal.jpgSigns left by audience members express the sentiments of many after the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board voted to suspend four programs, threatening jobs of at least 30 teachers.

By Mark Guydish

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Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish