East Allegheny School District is evaluating the feasibility of closing Green Valley Primary School.
East Allegheny Education Association president Cheryl Ihnat asked school directors at Monday's board meeting about rumors of the school closing.
Director Frederick Miller confirmed the district is discussing closing and selling the school at 3290 Crestview Drive in North Versailles. But he stressed no action has been taken.
Closing Green Valley would shift kindergarteners through third-graders to Logan Middle School, making Logan a K-6 facility. Seventh- and eighth-graders would shift to the high school.
“Nothing's etched in stone,” board president Gerri McCullough said. “It would be a two-way shift.”
The district has approximately 1,600 students. The number of students and faculty at Green Valley was not available from the district Monday evening. Miller said those numbers and other factors are being calculated.
“There is a lot of questions that need to be answered,” Miller said. “How does it affect administration, staff? There's a whole bunch of questions that go along with that, and we're working our way through those answers.
“We haven't made the decision to close Green Valley. We're contemplating if it can be done. We're going to review what the savings are, what costs are cut, how you consolidate staff, everything that's involved with the two schools. Preliminary information suggests it can be done.”
Resident Carley Sciulli said she is concerned about 5-year-olds sharing a bus with 13-year-olds should Green Valley close, and she said she wants more security at Logan.
“We're working on all those details,” Miller said.
He said the district has some cost-saving estimates, but “they're not in any form to be released.”
“This is not something you do lightly,” Miller said. “It's a major change in the district. If you do this, you can't go back after the fact. You're going to make sure you got all your facts and look at it very hard. It takes time to review. It's mostly financial reasons because if we don't need a third building, we shouldn't have it. It's another expense to the district.”
Ihnat said she hopes the district will be transparent regarding Green Valley and accept public input.
“I think that it needs to be really thought out (and) planned,” Ihnat said. “I think the community needs to decide if that's what they want, because ultimately it is their school district. I believe the community has a right to voice their opinions as to the way the school district is run. You don't just make a decision out of the blue to close a building. You should have a lot of thought go into that decision.”
Michael DiVittorio is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-664-9161 ext. 1965, or mdivittorio@tribweb.com.
