Blue Mountain’s school board will convene for a special meeting this week to consider the resignation of one of its members.
The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the District Office along Red Dale Rd. No agenda has been posted for the meeting and no indication has been given to Coal Region Canary on who is stepping aside. We’ve reached out to the entire board for clarification. Becky Miller, Megan Meisner, Rosanne Zelusky, and Krista Strause have all indicated they’re not quitting.
At their last regular meeting in July, members clashed and narrowly – by a 5-4 vote – approved a 5% property tax increase for the 2026-27 budget year. To balance the budget, board members approved taking more than $623,000 from its unassignmed fund balance to cover a shortfall, leaving about $1.3 million in that account for the coming year.
More than 30 people attended that board meeting mostly to express concerns over spending and staffing.
Board members Miller, Meisner, Strause, and Zelusky all voted against passing the budget with the tax hike. Michelle Vesay, Janice Blair, John Campomizzi, Roy Heim, and Timothy Grube voted in favor of it.
Recently, the board also approved a $12 million bond to partially cover planned facilities renovations over the next decade. That will only partially cover the cost of those renovations and tax increases over that time would be needed to cover the rest, if they’re approved by future boards.
The board, at its June meeting, also tabled a motion to approve a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) for Hydro after members expressed confusion about its placement on the agenda and a lack of clear answers from administration.
Blue Mountain is seeking candidates to fill the unexpired term of the resigning board member. That term would expire in 2027 or 2029, depending on who is quitting. Terms expiring in 2027 are Vesay, Grube, Strause, Miller and Campomizzi. Terms expiring in 2029 are Blair, Heim, Meisner and Zelusky.
Notices of interest in the board position or any questions about it can be emailed to Gail Hershberger at the Blue Mountain District office at gehershberger@bmsd.org.
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