PLAINS TWP. — Elise Mosca — who appeared on “The Bachelor” while on leave as a teacher in 2013-14 — has resigned from her Wilkes-Barre Area School District job.
The school board approved her resignation at Tuesday’s meeting. Her resignation is the result of a resolution to a workers’ compensation case with an insurer, and she had not been working for the district because of the workers’ compensation claim, district Solicitor Raymond Wendolowski said.
Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance that provides wages and health benefits to employees injured on the job. Officials at the meeting did not know when Mosca stopped working for the district. She could not be reached fore comment.
Mosca, 33, was a teacher at Kistler Elementary School in 2018-19, state records show. Her annual salary was $62,163 in 2017-18.
The school board approved two unpaid leaves of absence for Mosca during the 2013-14 academic year, and she has appeared on two reality dating shows on ABC — “The Bachelor” and “Bachelor in Paradise” — in 2014.
In August 2014, the school board rejected a request to grant Mosca another leave from her job, and she returned to teaching third grade at Kistler Elementary School.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the school board approve a few change orders and contract amendments for the new high school under construction in Plains Twp. The changes are all covered by the project’s $121 million budget, which includes $6.4 million for contingencies.
A new contract will provide an up to $27,000 to WKL Architecture for design services associated with the expansion of the pool from six lanes to eight lanes. The board agreed to a contract with Geo-Science Engineering & Testing to spend up to $33,000 for a radon mitigation system.
The change orders add $26,816 to the building contract with Quandel, $4,572 to the sitework contract with Stell Enterprises Inc. and $27,164 to the electrical contract with Everon Electrical Contractors Inc.
Board member Melissa Etzle Patla, a critic of the project, voted against the project change orders and contracts. The district is building a new high school on a former mining site in Plains Twp. to merge its three highs schools — GAR, Meyers and Coughlin — when the 2021-22 school year starts.
Michael Krzywicki of Apollo Group Inc., the district’s building project manager, gave a report on the project at the meeting. He noted the district collected soil samples on the north side of the site between Maffett Street and parking lots.
Lab results showed no detectable amount of hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen often found in coal ash, and two samples tested slightly above the non-residential standard for arsenic. The state Department of Environmental Protection authorized placing an additional 6 inches of topsoil in that area, on top of the 6 inches originally planned there, Krzywicki said.
Critics want to keep three district high schools and dispute assertions from school and state officials that the new high school will be on an environmentally safe reclamation site.
Also at the meeting, the board recognized the accomplishments of high school athletes in the fall. The district consolidated sports at its three high schools this fall, competing as the Wolfpack for the first time.
Board member John Quinn said he regretted voting against the motion to consolidate sports.
“I was wrong, and this was the right move,” Quinn said.
The board also recognized James Geiger and Dr. James Susek, who were attending their last scheduled meeting as board members. Their terms expire at the end of the month.
Susek, who had served for 12 years on the board, emotionally recalled the accomplishments of his three children, who graduated from Coughlin.
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