SALLADASBURG, Pa. — The fate of the Salladasburg Elementary School was decided at the Jersey Shore Area School District school board meeting Monday night.
School board members voted 6-3 to shutter the school. Starting next school year, Salladasburg students will attend Jersey Shore Elementary.
"There's concerns if they're all going to fit in the Jersey Shore Elementary school, it's been proven they will be at 109% capacity, which is too much, and there's been comments about the school, not Salladasburg not being safe because of fire companies not getting there, they can be there in 5 minutes," said Margaret Young, Salladasburg.
More than 200 students currently attend Salladasburg Elementary and about 450 students go to Jersey Shore Elementary. Some parents we spoke to have mixed reactions to the news, and how it will affect students.
"Everybody says kids are resilient but we shouldn't test their resiliency yes I know I'm sure a majority of them will be fine, but the whole thought is you know no child left behind, and there's going to be a lot of children that are gonna have issue with this, with the larger class sizes, less instruction time with their teachers," said Kristen Morse, Salladasburg.
"They did not tell us anything; there's nothing on their agenda as far as what's going to be done with the building, what they're going to do with the building, so we're gonna pay for an empty building just to sit there and not do anything with," said Annette Hall, Salladasburg.
Jersey shore Superintendent Brian Ulmer tells Newswatch 16 the closure had been in talks before he started at the district, and he believes the impact on students will be minimal.
"All of the students will fit comfortably at Jersey Shore Elementary; we're not, you know, sandwiching them in; they're not gonna have used small spaces in those. They're all gonna be in full-size classrooms," said Dr. Brian Ulmer, Jersey Shore Area School District superintendent.
Another reason for the closure Dr. Ulmer says renovating the school would come with a high price tag. He also addressed parents' comments and concerns about transparency.
"I've heard that you know you're not listening, you're not giving us information, I've responded to emails from people, answering questions," said Dr. Ulmer.
Dr. Ulmer says that now that the school is closing, the next step is to determine the fate of the building and the property.