Sansone | Law Offices of Joel Sansone
PITTSBURGH – A school committee has filed suit seeking to prevent the closure of its town’s high school and consolidation with a nearby high school, claiming that the latter community’s board of education began the closure and merger processes before seeking proper public input under the law.
Save Our Saltsburg Schools of Saltsburg filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on May 6 versus Blairsville-Saltsburg School District, of Blairsville.
“Defendant District is comprised of two elementary schools and two middle high schools. Defendant District’s middle high schools are Saltsburg Middle High School, serving students residing in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, with offices located at 84 Trojan Lane, Saltsburg, Pennsylvania 15681, and Blairsville Middle High School, serving students residing in Blairsville, Pennsylvania, with offices located at 100 School Lane, Blairsville, Penns
A group that has protested the vote of the Blairsville-Saltsburg school board to close Saltsburg Middle-High School has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court.
The suit filed by Save Our Saltsburg Schools and its attorney, Joel Sansone, names the district as the main defendant. Sansone said the board neglected to consider closing the Blairsville school as an option for reconfiguration and he added that the district needed the two different sets of schools because of the size of the student body and the distance between the two population centers. He felt that when the board took the vote on April 22
After covid-19 outbreaks last week at several Indiana County school districts, the situation has eased a bit this week, but it's not completely gone a.
At Thursday night’s special voting meeting, the Blairsville-Saltsburg School Board held a preliminary vote to determine the fate of the Saltsburg Middle-High School and the road ahead.
The meeting started with a public comment section, which featured testimonials from district parents from both Blairsville and Saltsburg. The board then proposed the motion to either consolidate the district or to keep the schools separate.
Board members Linda Brown, Beverly Caranese and Holly Hall spoke out against the motion. Caranese referenced the meeting date, which was held during Saltsburg’s musical. She said it excluded 120 district members that could’ve spoke out during the public comment period, but couldn’t.
• A contract extension with Twisted Computing Inc. for technical advice at a rate of $ 200 per hour from January 1 to June 30.
• Purchase of 50 Chromebooks for up to $ 19,377.50. This purchase is paid for with both grant and district funds.
• The purchase of 10 SMART boards, at a cost of no more than $ 28,710, payable with grant funding.
The board also approved the purchase of the Remind communications system for no more than $ 6,875, paid by grant funding, as well as professional development consulting services from Ghost Solutions at a rate of $ 400 per day, no more than six days per month, also paid by grant Grant.