Crestwood authorizes support staff furloughs, extends superintendent contract

WRIGHT TWP. — The Crestwood School Board voted Thursday to “authorize the administration to immediately determine and implement furloughs of support staff personnel.”

The board also voted to amend the contract with Superintendent Robert Mehalick, extending it by two years to Sept. 8, 2024 and setting his salary at $125,000 beginning July 1 of next year, with a 3% annual raise after that.

Mehalick addressed the furloughs at the start of the meeting.

“I want to make it very clear that this recommendation is from me, that it’s a professional recommendation. If it was a personal recommendation I would never ever want to make such a motion,” Mehalick said.

He also stressed it will not involve paraprofessionals or staff members who work directly with students.

“I made it simply because there is a group of employees who no longer have responsibilities because of the closure,” he said, “We no longer have work for them at this time.”

On Nov. 11 the district reported three new cases of COVID-19 in three days, and decided to go to full-remote learning that Thursday and Friday. On Sunday Mehalick posted a notice that the district will remain closed until Dec. 14, though offices were to remain open to assist parents if needed.

Two days later, as COVID-19 cases soared in Luzerne County, Mehalick posted a new notice saying the district would “close all schools/facilities effective Wednesday, Nov. 18,” until at least Dec. 14. “The closing is specific to all campuses and will be in effect for all school services, activities and winter athletics. Essential personnel only will be afforded access to the building,” Mehalick wrote.

At Thursday’s meeting he told the board and those watching online that efforts will be made to help those who are furloughed get whatever benefits they are entitled to, and pointed out the motion included a promise to continue district-paid health care benefits through Dec. 31 for those currently getting those benefits, “with the understanding that the district reserves the right to revisit health care payments should the furloughs extend past Dec. 31.”

Mehalick also said those who are furloughed would be brought back to work as soon as the schools can safely re-open.

Support Staff Union President Karen Parker joined the online conversation to read a statement stressing the importance of the staff and questioning the timing, asking that the board delay the move until after the holidays.

The district implemented a new policy asking the public to email comments in advance of the meeting, and posted a preliminary draft of the agenda. That draft made no mention of health coverage or of excluding paraprofessionals and those who work with students from the furloughs.

The omission likely prompted many of the emails read criticizing the furloughs, but most of them referred to paraprofessionals, prompting Mehalick to remind several times that they did not face losing their jobs.

One person questioned why Mehalick would get a raise when employees are being furloughed. Business Manager Peter Bard said it was not a raise, but a 2-year extension that included raises beginning next summer.

The motion to approve furloughs passed 6-3. The vote to extend Mehalick’s contract was 7-2.

The board also got an update on the district-wide feasibility study being conducted by Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates from Larry Levato, who outlined different enrollment projections, most of which show fairly stable enrollment for the next few years, and some which show lower grades increasing while high school enrollment may drop a bit several years out.

Levato went over reviews of the schools, noting the elementary schools are tight on space, and that all schools have issues with meeting current codes, though they met them when things like stair railings and ramps were installed. He said the firm will develop options to address updating to meet codes, replacing some older systems and potentially increasing class space.

In other business, the board:

• Approved payment of $13,730 to to Stubbs Landscaping, LLC, for baseball/softball field upgrades.

• Approved the purchase of 50 Promethean smart boards and stands from Clinton Learning Solutions at a cost of $103,940.