Thorsland’s comments on May 19 meeting in Salem

Here are comments from a statement released today by Dr. Michael Thorsland, Superintendent of Oconee public schools, on the May 19 meeting that he, along with other district officials, attended in the auditorium at Tamassee-Salem High School:  “Someone asked me specifically if I would make the recommendation to the Board to close TSM&H.  I responded that I would have to give consideration for that during the next budget cycle if funding was still an issue in the county.  Other questions referred to timing, the name of a consolidated school, etc. Of course no specific answers were given to most questions because the Board has not taken any action on closing/consolidation.  Overall, I think the meeting was amicable.  The reference to donating the building to the Town of Salem must have come from a discussion that I had with Kim Alexander (Clerk-Treasurer) on the way out of the meeting. I asked Kim about whether or not the Town would be interested in the building if the Board ever voted to close the school.  That question did not come from the Board, but from me. If I decide to recommend closing, the Board would expect Mr. Hanvey (assistant superintendent of operations) and me to have options for what to do with the building.  I was simply initiating a conversation to determine if donating to the Town would be one of those options.”