vol. 134 - no. 094 ccctc directors resign over misconduct...
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Vol. 134 - No. 094
Sunny. Highs in the mid-60s.
Full report, A2
16 pages
Classi� ed ......................... B5
Comics ............................. A5
Lifestyles ......................... A4
Lottery ............................. A7
Opinion ........................... A6
Public Notices ............... B5
Sports ............................... B1
$1.00
•SusanL.Cassatt,65•MiriamR.Freeman,82•BlairRhodes,87•BrentnRuhlman,29•HollyD.Wray,45
The weekend will bring a unique event to the area as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society — the Psychic & Holistic Expo. A2
Marijuana voteState senators voted for
a second time to send leg-islation to legalize medical marijuana to the House of Representatives, where the GOP majority has held hearings but otherwise given no certain signs of support. A8
GroundedAfter more than 75
years of flying, the end is near for US Airways. B7
Unique event
Tomorrow’s Forecast
Index
ObituariesA7
MORE INSIDE
Page B3
By Jim Grant
BROCKWAY — The Brockway Area School Board reviewed the proposed 2015-16 budget in the amount of $14,560,000 at its regular May meeting.
Board Secretary Laurie Piccirillo presented the budget, which is an increase of $216,000 or 1.5 percent over the current year. This amount would decrease the district’s reserves by more than $600,000 but would not have any increase in taxes. The fi nal budget will be offered for approval at the May 26 meeting.The accounting fi rm of Mauthe, Yutzey, and Gabler were appointed as auditors for the 2014-15 term at a base fee of $17,900.00.
A 3-year service agreement was approved with “One Call Now,” a rapid communication system, at an annual price of $1,750.00.
Bids were opened for a chimney repair project with Keystone Waterproofi ng chosen for the job at $74,888 and for a tennis court resurfacing project where the one bid was rejected by the board.
In personnel moves, the board hired Brittany Brumberg as a special education teacher and Elysha Lyle as an elementary teacher for this fall.
Other appointments included Robin Brinkley and Beth McMeekin as student council advisors, Stepha-nie Benson as art club advisor, Kevin Rush as mentor
Brockway School Boardreviews proposed budget
By Katie Weidenboerner
RIDGWAY — Ridgway Area School District’s pre-liminary budget passed Tuesday despite contention among board members re-garding the inclusion of a $2,750 donation to the Main Street Program as part of the general fund expenses.
The budget included no tax increase as well as no staff cuts and no transfer from the district’s reserves.
Board member Dave Parsons, who voted against approval of the budget en-tirely, said with the decline in student population he didn’t think keeping current staffing levels was the right move for the district.
“I think with the costs we’re looking at in the years ahead that we need to be paring back,” added Par-sons, who also said he took issue with no balance being added to the district’s Long Term Maintenance Fund.
Parsons, along with board members Johna Holtz and Cindy Allegretto, vot-ed against inclusion of the
Main Street Program dona-tion.
Parsons disputed the con-tribution as the district has been in negotiations with its service personnel for the past year and have been unable to see eye-to-eye on wages and medical benefits.
“We raised taxes last year so we did not contribute to the Main Street fund last
year,” Parsons explained. “We’re now saying we have enough money, yet we don’t have a contract with the ser-vice personnel.” Holtz said while the Main Street Program is “an excel-lent program,” it shouldn’t be paid for out of the school district’s budget.
Board members Kathy
Ridgway Area School District directors approve preliminary budget
By Julie Benamati
CLEARFIELD — Two high-ranking ad-ministrators at Clearfield County Career & Technology Center resigned from their posi-tions Monday night after allegations surfaced regarding verbal sexual misconduct between a staff member and students.
Executive Director William Weaver and Assistant Director Cathy Thomas resigned at Monday’s Joint Operating Committee special meeting, which is made up of representatives from the six sending school district boards of directors.
According to Lawrence Township Police, a complaint was filed on May 1 about alleged verbal sexual misconduct by one staff person at CCCTC in the presence of several students. Specific details about the incident are un-known.
Because the case remains under investiga-tion, the name of the person who reported the incident and the name of the staff person have not yet been released.
No additional information will be available unless charges are filed, police said.
Harmony Area High School Superinten-dent Jill Dillon, who is also the superinten-dent-of-record at CCCTC, said Weaver and Thomas resigned for “personal reasons.” She also said she could not comment on the sexual misconduct allegations because it is currently under investigation.
“I can tell you that (the allegations) were reported to me on May 1 and to the other su-perintendents,” Dillon said.
In regards to possible criminal charges against the staff member in question, Dillon said she could not comment.
“That is not up to me, or to the CCCTC,”
CCCTC directors resign over misconductallegations
By Julie Benamati
CURWENSVILLE – Curw-ensville’s Little League Baseball Association got the home run it was looking for when Curwens-ville Borough voted unanimously to sign a 50-year lease with the organization.
The lease deeds trust of not only the land that is actually part of Irvin Park – and where the Little League field has been located for more than 50 years – but also Sherman Fields located above Irvin Park near the indus-trial park area.
The lease comes after the ini-tial 50-year lease ran out – and borough council was heavily crit-icized for not renewing the lease, but instead, granting only a one-year extension until the lease could be renegotiated.
At the time, it was noted that the borough’s garage was built on property designated for rec-reational purposes only, and the shed was in the way of home run balls. Borough employees filed a grievance through its union against the borough, citing fear
of being injured by a fly ball over the outfield fence.
But after heavy negotiation and assistance from Borough Solicitor Ron Repak of Altoona, the borough presented a 50-year lease for $1.
“We came to what we think is a good agreement for the borough and the Little Leaguers,” said Councilman Keith Simcox, who is also a member of the borough’s parks and recreation committee.
Jason “Jake” Hendershot, the Little League association’s presi-dent, said he was glad to finally
Little Leaguers catch 50-year lease for borough fields
Little League baseball players from Curwensville like these ones will be playing for at least another 50 years. Curwensville Borough Council on Monday night approved a 50-year lease to the baseball associa-tion to use the pictured field on Susquehanna Avenue along with Sherman Fields located above Irvin Park. (Photo by Julie Benamati)
Curwensville
WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015
Clearfield
Students are busy in the after-school Apprenticeship Training Program at the Brockway Center for Arts and Technology. Nearly 100 students from area schools are taking advantage of the arts opportunity. See story on Page A3. (Photo submitted)
See Brockway, Page A7
See Ridgway, Page A7
See Lease, Page A7 See Resign, Page A7