Pottsville Area's Tide Task Force is planning to discourage drug use on school grounds with the help of a pooch.
"The Tide Task Force met on the 24th of September and we have decided that this year we're going to employ the services of a search dog for the high school and middle school to ensure there are no illegal drugs on the premises," school board member Charles R. Wagner, a task force representative, said at the school board's regular October meeting Wednesday night.
Superintendent Jeffrey S. Zwiebel said the district will be in touch with city and state police to discuss this, but the date of the dog's visit will not be made public.
"We won't even know about it until the day it happens," said Wagner, who has held a number of administrative posts at the high school, including principal from 1994 to 1996 and 2000 to 2005.
Narcotics dogs have swept the school campus previously. For example, in April 2010, a state police narcotics dog sniffed out a small amount of marijuana during a drug sweep at Pottsville Area High School, according to city police.
The Tide Task Force was formed in fall 2010.
In other matters at the school board's October meeting, the board decided to start advertising for candidates to become the next business manager for the school district.
In September, Pottsville Area Business Manager David J. Delenick announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2012-13 school year after 26 years in the post. Delenick's date of retirement is June 30, 2013.
Michael D. Smink, chairman of the board's personnel committee, presented the board with a copy of the job description at Wednesday's meeting.
The application deadline is Dec. 7, Smink said.
In other matters, the school board appointed the following coaches for the 2012-13 school year with the following salaries: boys' basketball, Dave Mullaney, head coach, $5,450, John Toomey, assistant, $3,400, Tom McGeoy, junior varsity, $2,800, Jake Wartella, freshman, $2,800, Scott Reichert, eighth grade, $4,810, and Mick Kondrack, seventh grade, $2,600; girls' basketball, Rick Wojciechowsky, head coach, $4,550, Mike Sukeena, assistant, $2,800, Scott Mattea, junior varsity head coach, $3,000; wrestling, Patrick Brennan, head coach, $4,800, Ed Harris, assistant, $3,200, Scott Fellows, junior high head coach, $2,400, Cory Stencovage, assistant junior high coach, $2,800; swimming, Ned Hampford, boys' head coach, $4,800, Greg Schuettler, girls' head coach, $3,800, James Lotz, co-assistant, $1,700, Robert Price, co-assistant, $1,700, and Steve Krater, assistant, $2,200; and winter track, Charlie Schuster, head coach, $3,100.
Board members Scott Krater and Linda Grube abstained from the vote because they were related to coaches hired.