The Blairsville-Saltsburg School District has asked a federal court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Save Our Saltsburg Schools to stop the consolidation of the district’s two middle-high schools.
The suit contends that the school board made its decision despite major opposition from students, alumni, parents, teachers, and business and community members; that it made the decision before January’s public hearing and before gathering any public input or necessary information; and that Saltsburg’s students will be deprived of an equal and adequate education by forcing them to bus to Blairsville. It accuses the school district of “intentionally (failing) to act in good faith and solely for the best interests of its students.”
The district’s motion to dismiss, filed May 19th, argues that the suit’s claims of violating both the federal and state constitutions are unsupported because “there is no…right to an education at any particular school building,” and “there is no right to…attend a building of one’s choosing.”
The Blairsville-Saltsburg board voted to close Saltsburg Middle-High School on April 22nd.
Attorney Joel Sansone is representing Save Our Saltsburg Schools in the suit, which was filed in the Western District of U.S. District Court. The school district is represented by Matthew Hoffman, who is with a law firm in Pittsburgh, and Ned Nakles Jr. and Ryan Cribbs, who are from Latrobe.
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