Five have cross-filed and will seek both party’s nominations on May 18.
They are Jamie Sanders of 516 Glenwood Ave., Barbara Reeves of 53 Keyser Circle, Adam Welteroth of 815 Packer St., Cody Derr of 500 Glenwood Ave. and Caleb E. Blank of 1209 Race St.
Seeking the Republican nomination only is Michelle Deaver of 2136 Newberry St.
Seeking the Democratic nomination only are Fatima Royal of 505 Hawthorne Ave., Scott Williams of 685 First Ave. and Voncier DeVore-Gammage of 393 Eldred St.
Sanders, a registered Republican, was motivated to seek the nomination by a desire to serve and to “help communication and positive changes that benefit our community, that benefit our administration and our teachers.”
pcrossley@sungazette.com
Two new coordinator of trauma and mental health services positions were approved by the Williamsport Area School Board to help to deal with what Dr. Richard Poole, the district’s director of student services, termed a significant growth and need among students K-12 in the district.
“There has always been a need with mental health and trauma with our students, especially with COVID, we’ve seen a significant rise with mental health concerns across our schools,” he said.
“Trauma reveals itself in so many ways,” Poole said, adding that many times mental health issues are invisible. He advocated for a more proactive than reactive approach to deal with trauma and mental health issues.
pcrossley@sungazette.com
The Williamsport Area School Board gave their approval to a proposed final budget for 2021-22 with a .53 mill increase in real estate taxes, although Wanda M. Erb, board secretary and business administrator, told the board that before the final budget is approved in June, that number should be lower.
“We will continue to work on this budget between now and June 15,” Erb said. Final budget approval must be by June 30.
Revenues in the proposed budget are expected to be $96,353,427 including using $1,992,067 in fund balance monies in order to balance the budget. Next year’s budget is a 3.24 percent increase over the budget for the current fiscal year.
Federal
⢠The House voted 217-207 in favor of the Paycheck Fairness Act. U.S. Reps. Fred Keller, R-Kreamer, and Glenn Thompson, R-Howard, voted no.
State
⢠The House was out of session.
County
⢠Lycoming County commissioners voted 3-0 to approve a grant and monitoring agreement with Mansfield University for police training. Tony Mussare, Rick Mirabito, and Scott Metzger voted yes.
School Districts
⢠The Williamsport Area School Board approved Lisa Nible, 1404 Walnut St., to fill a vacancy on the board left by the resignation of Nancy Somers last month. The remainder of Somers’ term runs until the end of November. Nible will officially be sworn in by a member of the judiciary prior to the next board meeting, May 4. With Nible’s appointment, the board is still down one member as the resignation of Marc Shefsky, effective April 13 was also approved at the meeting. The board has 30 days to fill Shefsky’s spot and voted to advertise the position and conduc
pcrossley@sungazette.com
Installation of an all-inclusive playground at the Cochran Primary School could begin as early as mid-June, according to the multi-organizational partnership which has raised over $430,000 for the project.
The Kids United Community Playground is the culmination of two years of planning and fundraising by the Williamsport Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, in partnership with the Williamsport Area School District Education Foundation, which serves as the project’s fiscal sponsor.
The playground will comprise about 9,400 square feet and will replace what is already at the school. Plans are to construct the playground closer to the school building in order to provide increased accessibility and lighting as well as to avoid the risk of flooding issues or water damage from Grafius Run.