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KINGSTON — The Wyoming Valley West School Board again named Joseph Mazur as president, voting at Wednesday night’s reorganization meeting to give him a fourth term in the role.

David Usavage was chosen as vice president, also for the fourth time.

James Fender credited both men with their handling of the district’s situation after mold was detected during September in Valley West’s Middle School.

“Within three hours, we were in executive session, and we decided that we wanted everyone out of the building,” he said. “These two men exhibited excellent leadership.”

At that point, Fender said, the board found itself with middle school students who didn’t have a school building to attend. He again credited both men with working to implement a half-day schedule at the district’s high school, which, Fender said, provided consistent education for both middle school and high school students.

Initially it was believed the mold problem would keep students out of the building for three months or more; but they returned to their home building on Chester Street before the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Middle School building has been given a clean bill of health by environmental consultant Joseph A. Cocciardi and Associates. The district’s Schuyler Avenue and Chester Street elementary school buildings, as well as the high school, also have been tested, with results reflecting an “unremarkable” amount of mold, Mazur said.

District Superintendent Irvin Deremer said the district was committed in the future to consistently testing all of its buildings. “We plan to do complete inspections of our buildings during the summers,” he said. “And to have our maintenance staff be aware of anything that can be identified visually.”

The board named Fender, Thomas Pieczynski and Gary Richards as representatives to the West Side Career and Technology Center’s Joint Operating Committee, with Usavage as an alternate.

Pieczynski, who took charge of the gavel as the board’s temporary president during the election of officers, took the opportunity to thank his fellow school board members. “These are fine people,” he said. “They are ready to help. We see them often at the school and especially at the administration building.”

The next meeting of the Wyoming Valley West School Board is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 18.

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By Geri Gibbons

[email protected]

Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons.