Wednesday night, the Blairsville-Saltsburg school board held their required public hearing concerning the possible closure of the Saltsburg Middle-High School.
District Superintendent Philip Martell started the hearing with a presentation, saying that the district needed to address declining enrollment along with increasing operational efficiency, providing greater curricular opportunities for students while containing costs, and maintaining focus on helping students become productive, responsible members of society. Martell’s idea includes having Saltsburg students bused to the Blairsville side of the district, and the Saltsburg Middle-High School would become the Southern Indiana STEAM Academy for students in grades 10-12.
One of the concerns brought up many times by those testifying last night was the timing of this effort, as it is happening in the middle of a pandemic. Jessica Clawson from Saltsburg compared the potential shutdown to a hostile takeover, and said that the board should not have this on their plate with so many other issues going on right now.
Also speaking last night was former school board member Michael Bartolini, saying that the board turned a blind eye to the people that they were elected to serve.
Student safety was also an issue, as it was proposed that Saltsburg Middle-High School students would ride the bus to the Blairsville campus. Daniel Harkins said during his testimony that he was concerned with how far away students would be in case the worst happens.
The hearing went on for over six hours. Thursday’s hearing date is being made available for those not available to testify Wednesday night, those who did not want to stay late or those who had technical issues. The hearing will reconvene at 5:30 PM.
The link to view the hearing will be posted to the district website, www.b-ssd.org
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