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By JENNIFER LEARN; Times Leader Staff Writer
Sunday, September 08, 1996     Page: 3

HAZLETON — Coincidence?
   
Shortly after the Hazleton Area School Board approved Vincent Zola for a
new teaching job, a board member’s sister-in-law got hired as a secretary in
District Justice Joe Zola’s office.
    Vincent and Joe are brothers.
   
Board member Robert Schnee’s sister-in-law Christine Champion got the job
as a secretary two weeks ago. But Joe Zola said there’s nothing political
about it.
   
“This job is very hard to fill. Believe me,” Joe Zola said.
   
He added that the job requires hard work for little pay. The job pays
$12,000 annually. District justice’s secretaries usually deal with people who
aren’t happy to be there, and, in some cases, people who are rude and
argumentative, the district justice said.
   
Also, Champion is a “floater” who will have to fill in at other district
justice offices in Luzerne County when needed.
   
Zola said Champion heard about the job from a friend who worked in another
district justice office. Champion met the qualifications and worked at the
Hazleton Area Public Library for seven years, Zola said.
   
Zola said other applicants turned down the job because the pay was too low.
   
Vince Zola, the school district’s security director, was hired unanimously
on Aug. 7 for a half-day security director/half-day teaching position.
   
Controversy has developed over the move because a retired state trooper and
former Hazleton police chief complained they submitted their applications but
were not interviewed for the teaching position.
   
Zola worked on the city police force with board member Tom Marnell.
   
It will `take a tornado’
   
A group of parents who stood outside A.D. Thomas Elementary School one
morning this week said they’ll miss the school despite its flaws.
   
“The building is warm. It’s two blocks from my home,” Susan Kelly said as
she stood in the drizzle, sipping from a mug of coffee Wednesday morning. “The
neighborhood school is one of the main reasons we moved here.”
   
“These old buildings are stable. They could take a tornado and still
stand,” said Donna Mirarchi, looking at the school that houses three of her
children.
   
The parents say they’ve been told that their children will attend West
Hazleton Junior High School next year. That building will house students from
kindergarten to eighth grade.
   
Christine Sauer said she likes the fact that the buildings are within
walking distance. She does not trust school buses and worries the younger
children will feel lost in a larger school.
   
“I feel there’s going to be a big lack of discipline when they make these
bigger schools,” Kelly said. “They’re trying to create an elementary high
school.”
   
The parents wonder why the district cannot fix up A.D. Thomas at a
reasonable cost. They gesture towards the former Locust Street Elementary
School, which is a few blocks away. Immanuel Christian School bought Locust
Street and refurbished the building over the summer.
   
Some of the parents say they do not plan on voicing their concerns because
they do not think it will do any good.
   
What’s up at Drums school?
   
Butler Township officials are getting involved in complaints about the
condition of Drums Elementary School.
   
Township Supervisor Anthony Klinetop said representatives of the school’s
Parent Teacher Association voiced concerns about the safety and general
condition of the school at the board of supervisors’ work session Wednesday
night.
   
The supervisors asked the township fire chief and code enforcement officer
to check the school. Supervisors are not sure what — or if — they can do
anything, Klinetop said.
   
The township is trying to work with the district to schedule a date to
check the school, Klinetop said.