Trustee explains why vote was difficult

A retired high school teacher who moved to close Tamassee-Salem explained that her motion was one of the two hardest things in her life.  Rosemary Bailes equated her part in the school closing to her decision, as a mother, to end life support for her severely injured son.  Bailes received a second from Denise McCormick who called the motion heartfelt, yet there were expressions from the audience that Tamassee-Salem was not dying.  The area’s trustee, Jerry Lee, sought to buy time.  He tried for an amendment to give the combination middle and high school an extra year to allow it to run through the 2016-17 year.  But Lee’s attempt failed to get a second, and the trustees then cast their 5-0 vote.