On May 24, the Franklin Regional School District held a public hearing on the future of the empty Heritage and Newlonsburg elementary schools.
It was a public hearing, but the public wasn’t allowed to attend. Residents could submit a 500-word comment to the board secretary, which was placed in the meeting minutes. They were not read aloud. The rest of us who are interested in comments were not involved in this process even in the smallest way.
I refer to this as a public meeting in the dark.
Compare that with our other elected body, Murrysville Council, where residents have attended in person and public hearings have been held by both bodies. People have been allowed to participate and express concerns and have them broadcast on Channel 13. Discussions have been held to assure that concerns are understood by all in attendance. Dialogue is allowed. In my experience, the elected school board members never responded to people’s concerns even in the past when they had open meetings.
Finally, how about the finances? I have written many times about the school board’s failure to initiate long-range planning that includes all the known identified needs of the district. The disposal of Heritage and Newlonsburg schools has been known since the decision was made to expand the Sloan Campus. There is nothing in the budget identifying this need.
It is almost like night and day in Murrysville. Hope you all enjoyed the public-less public hearing on May 24.
Richard Kearns
Murrysville