CARBONDALE - The school board is willing to wait to address the Carbondale Area Education Association's contract, but not much longer.
A negotiating committee was disbanded when the board decided to seek guidance from the state ethics commission to determine what level of involvement school directors with relatives in the union could have during negotiations. At a meeting Wednesday, the board agreed to wait another two weeks for a ruling or hold an executive session so all board members could review the latest proposal from the union.
After review, it would be up to the board to call for a vote at the following public meeting.
At the meeting, solicitor John Lawler read a letter from the ethics commission that stated a response should be received within 21 days. Wednesday marked day 21.
After the meeting, business manager David Cerra said that the letter instructed the board to assume that the commission was attending to "another pressing matter" and would respond as soon as possible.
"Here we go again, another few days," board member John Jordan said. "It's the same thing we did with hiring a superintendent."
Frustrated by the delays, he asked that the latest proposal be shared with the whole board.
Board member Joseph Totsky added that by reviewing the proposal, the board wouldn't be negotiating but would have the ability to vote to accept or reject.
In other business, the board rescinded a motion to publish the names of delinquent taxpayers in the newspaper.
The 6-3 vote came after a presentation before the meeting from Ron Koldjeski, the deputy director of the county Tax Claim Bureau. Mr. Koldjeski told the board that the names would eventually be published in several newspapers by the county as they were processed.
Mr. Totsky, Marcella Kaczmarcik and Tracey Andrews voted against the motion.
In other business, the board approved $51,607.10 in payments for the high school renovation project. Board President Gary Smedley also thanked board member Joseph Petak, who donated the use of seven trailers during the project, saving the district about $20,000.
The board also approved Mr. Totsky, Mrs. Kaczmarcik, Mrs. Andrews, Thomas Cerra, Superintendent Joseph Gorham and three other administrators to attend the 2013 Lackawanna and Luzerne County Indicators Report and Regional Forum on May 23 at $50 per person.
Mr. Gorham said the event would provide regional demographic data, which he said will "help us connect to our community."
The board also approved changing the next regular meeting to 8 p.m. on May 29 at the Career Technology Center in Scranton.
Contact the writer: rbrown@timesshamrock.com, @rbrownTT on Twitter