The Times-Tribune
SCRANTON, Pa. — To get to school each day, hundreds of students will now travel on Captain James L. Robeson Way.
Scranton School Board directors voted unanimously on Wednesday to name the street leading to Isaac Tripp Elementary School after the late Scranton firefighter.
Capt. Robeson was electrocuted in 2008 while fighting a fire. In 2010, when deciding what to name the new school at 1000 N. Everett Ave., board members discussed naming it after Scranton settler Isaac Tripp, civil rights leader Rosa Parks or Capt. Robeson. At the time, directors said they wanted to rename the portion of North Everett Avenue leading to the school after Capt. Robeson. The district owns that portion of the street, school officials have said. No formal action was ever taken on renaming the street, and at last week’s work session, board Vice President Bob Sheridan asked the board to finally make the name change official.
Lackawanna County Commissioner Pat O’Malley, who served on the board when the school was named, spoke at the meeting and said he thought the board had renamed the street in 2010.
“He was there to protect us as a firefighter,” Mr. O’Malley said. “He’s a hero of the community.”
Capt. Robeson’s widow, Linda Robeson, said her husband would be surprised to have a street named after him.
“We’re very honored,” she said.
In other business:
- The Wright Center will staff school-based health centers in the district’s three intermediate schools with a nurse practitioner. The project, funded by a $300,000 grant obtained by the Wright Center, aims to improve students’ health, wellness and academic performance. The board approved the program with a 9-0 vote.
- Kim Mecca, whose job as supervisor of pupil personnel and support services was eliminated in the 2015 budget, took a job as school psychologist. Her salary was not immediately available Wednesday night, but the board saved $40,000 by eliminating the administrative position, directors have said. The board also hired Arthur J. McKenna as a behavioral technician at the Monticello school and Donna Ferko as an itinerant licensed practical nurse.
- Scranton resident Bob Bolus asked board President Cy Douaihy to recuse himself on the vote for superintendent, which is expected for next month. One of the three finalists, Alexis Kirijan, Ed.D., formerly the chief strategy and development officer in the Atlanta Public Schools, is his father’s first cousin’s niece through marriage. Mr. Bolus said his request was not a personal attack, but a question of credibility and integrity.
Mr. Douaihy, who has previously said he does not consider Dr. Kirijan a relative and would not recuse himself, did not respond to Mr. Bolus.
“I won’t dignify his comments, not from him,” Mr. Douaihy said after the meeting.
The board debated the need to hire six day-to-day substitutes for paraprofessional and personal care assistant positions for special education students. The district must provide services that are called for in students’ individualized education programs, known as IEPs, said Gina Colarossi, supervisor of special education.
Director Armand Martinelli questioned whether regular education students are being hurt because of the money spent on special education. The motion passed 8-1, with Director Kyle Donahue voting no because of budgetary concerns.
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