On Tuesday night, the Blairsville-Saltsburg School Board unanimously approved a new five-year contract with the Blairsville-Saltsburg Education Association.
The new contract is retroactive to August 27th of 2019 to August 26th of 2024. The contract includes a yearly raise of 2.8 percent and a reduction of deductible contributions made by the district. Board President Rick Harper had praise for Holly Hall, who had been working as the chair of the negotiations committee since the start of negotiations three years ago.
In other business, Michael Leasure was unanimously approved as the full-time principal of Blairsville Middle-High School, as the board hired the interim principal for the full position. At the end of the meeting, though, the board had a lengthy discussion about a possible assistant principal at the Saltsburg middle-high school, with some saying that it wasn’t necessary and some saying it is. The board, by a 6-3 vote, compromised to advertise for an assistant principal that can be shared by both Blairsville and Saltsburg Campuses. Hall, Beverly Caranese and Linda Brown each voted against the shared principal idea.
