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WRIGHT TWP. — Crestwood School District’s school bus contract issue resolved a week before the start of the 2016-17 school term broiled again briefly Thursday night when a mother complained about the lack of enough buses for athletic events and the condition of one of the buses her daughter rode recently.

Annette Weiss, of Mountain Top, complained to the school board a window on a bus couldn’t be raised when it was raining. She added this is the same situation — the quality of the buses — that existed last year.

“With the new contract, we’re paying more … and the situation isn’t any better,” Weiss said.

Weiss was also critical that, under the terms of the pact, only two buses per day are available for the transport of athletic teams.

School directors Randy Swank and Bill Jones, both members of the transportation committee, said they are aware of the problems and that attempts are being made to resolve lingering issues. Swank said there is an availability to use district-owned smaller vehicles and vans, while Jones said the district has the option to charter buses from other companies.

Weiss also mentioned the issue of the high school band being without leadership, but the board moved to fill that vacancy by announcing Theron Roberts has been appointed to the post at a salary of $5,007. Superintendent Joseph Gorham said Roberts has been serving as the band director at Carbondale Area High School and is scheduled to assume his role at Crestwood once his release from Carbondale is official.

Since June, the band has been supervised by parent volunteers.

In addition, the board acted to promote Joann Black to the position of assistant to the business manager at an annual salary of $47,500. Black has long been employed by the district, most recently as confidential secretary to the superintendent.

The board also heard from Margaret “Peg” Foster, principal at the Fairview Elementary School, that a revised comprehensive plan prepared by a committee consisting of teachers, board members and citizen volunteers is scheduled to be implemented in October. The plan, Foster explained, declares “The mission of the Crestwood School District is to support personalized learning that students are college- and career-ready upon graduation.”

The plan is to expand educational programs with an emphasis on technology to develop informed and productive citizens. Another aspect, Foster said, will be to conduct twice-a-year standardized assessments to give the students the tools they need to learn.

On the financial front, the board, following a detailed report by Alan Behnke, of Termco Weatherproofing Technologies, approved a payment of $407,727 for repairs to the roof of the high school. Behnke said the project spanned a four-year period, culminating prior to the current school term. Behnke said the roof has a 20-year life expectancy and is warrantied. “We stand behind what we did,” he said.

Also, a payment of $9,900 was approved to Stell Enterprises for paving work at the Fairview school and a payment of $67,850 was approved to R. J. McCarville Associates for partition doors at Fairview.

The board voted unanimously to increase the daily rate for substitute teachers to $105 per day.

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By Tom Huntington

For Times Leader

Reach the Times Leader newsroom at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter @TLnews.