FARRELL SCHOOLS Board director takes seat

The board's newest member took her oath of office Monday.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- Newly appointed school director Sadie Reid-Benham abstained on a vote before the Farrell Area School Board to forgive property taxes on a former dump site in Wheatland.
It's not because she opposes a plan to create a passive recreation area there. It's just that she isn't familiar with the proposal at this point, she said after Monday's meeting.
Benham, appointed by Mercer County Common Pleas Court on Feb. 28 to fill a two-year vacancy on the board, took her oath of office at the start of Monday's meeting and abstained on a number of votes, primarily those involving district finances.
The reason: She explained later that she wants to be able to be informed on issues before she votes on them.
One issue she plans to jump into right away is an effort by a group of Wheatland residents to have the borough secede from the Farrell district and join the West Middlesex School District.
Farrell needs to look at its programs and be sure they are so great that Wheatland won't want to leave, Benham said.
"It's going to take some energy, but I'm willing to do it," the 71-year-old Benham said.
She wasn't the only school official to comment on that issue.
Wheatland students have made numerous contributions to the school district over the years and the district isn't willing to give them up, said Superintendent Richard Rubano.
"We consider the school district our family. We will fight to keep our family intact," he said.
Motion approved: The board did approve a motion to join Wheatland and Mercer County in petitioning common pleas court to forgive the back taxes due on the former industrial waste site commonly referred to as the "Taylor dump" off Church Street in Wheatland.
The motion passed 6-0 with Benham abstaining and Jerome Flint and Michael Wright absent.
The school district would give up about $15,000 in real estate taxes under the plan, but Rubano said it's money the district would never be able to collect anyway. The borough and the county would be giving up about $4,000 each.
The site has been cleaned up under the direction of the state Department of Environmental Protection, and Mayor Thomas Stanton of Wheatland has proposed having the borough take ownership of the land after the back taxes have been forgiven. He has suggested that school students be involved in designing and building a nature walk on the 42-acre site. In other business, the board congratulated teacher and band director James Scanga for winning the Citation of Excellence Award to be presented by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association at a state conference in April.