Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE — The Wilkes-Barre Area School Board got an earful Monday about new rules requiring all students to go through metal detectors at the high schools, then voted to spend $4.25 million on about 78 acres of land for a new consolidated high school.
While several people again questioned the plan to merge grades 9 through 12 at Meyers and Coughlin high schools into a new school in Plains Township, most of those who spoke during the public comment section raised concern about school security the wake of the high school shootings in Parkland, Fla.
Teacher Amy Basham urged the board to allow students to use clear backpacks or mesh packs to carry books, noting since the ban was put in effect there has been an increase in the number of students failing to complete homework. The ban began in 2000 in response to discovering several students with guns hidden in backpacks.
Basham also demanded that fencing around the perimeter of Meyers be removed so students on the first floor could exit through windows and run away if a shooter entered the building. The fences were installed several feet from the building to keep people from getting too close when engineers determined there is a risk of falling material from the roof parapet or the building facade.
Whites treated differently?
Several Meyers students came to the podium in the Meyers High School auditorium to complain about a new policy begun last week that requires all high school students to pass through metal detectors. Previously, the district did random checks with the detectors.
Nicholas Wiley said the lines were so long students were late for first period classes, and said some detectors seemed to fail to go off when he had metal on his clothes. Superintendent Brian Costello said the detector sensitivity is adjusted so smaller, non-threatening amounts of metal such as belt buckles or zippers won’t trigger them.
But freshman Patrick Frankiewicz said he and others were waved through even when the detectors did go off, while Michael Horvath said he had seen whole groups waved through, suggesting white students were subject to less scrutiny than minority students.
Costello said after the meeting that he knew of no such incidents, and that the policy requires every student to go through the detectors. He also said Meyers was the only of three high schools where problems developed, and that the district set up a second detector at a different entrance to speed things up. He also said the district will bring in more people if necessary to make sure students aren’t late for class.
Plains plan critiqued
Several students also criticized the decision to build the new school in Plains Township because they would not be able to walk to after-school activities, as they can now. Adults also criticized the move as they have in the past, arguing that closing two schools in Wilkes-Barre will prompt people to move away.
“You are representatives of this community,” Gabby Richards said “You were elected to hear what they say and not just let it go in one ear and out the other. Clearly you are not listening.” She cited the agenda item approving purchase of the Plains Township property, which the board later approved 7-1 with John Quinn absent and Melissa Etzle Patla voting no.
The board also approved a motion to get an updated appraisal of the land, by Real Estate Appraisal and Marketing Associates, at a cost of $3,500. District Solicitor Ray Wendolowski said the new appraisal was necessary to meet state rules, but that it would not change the negotiated price for the property.