Uniontown students to get tournament week off
Students in the Uniontown Area School District will get a four-day autumn recess from classes that will likely come just when they are getting in the swing of things. The recess will be Sept. 16 through 19 and is courtesy of the 84 Lumber Classic of Pennsylvania PGA tournament at Mystic Rock at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa.
Uniontown Area School District Superintendent Charles Machesky said a lot of factors led to his recommendation to close the district schools during the event, including the amount of time students from the mountain would potentially have to spend on buses if classes were held.
Officially, Sept. 16 is an in-service day for teachers and everyone will be off Sept. 17, 18 and 19.
Machesky said since one-third of the students in the district hail from the mountain, where the event is being held, there would be definite traffic problems.
Machesky said some buses have to drop off students at the high school in Uniontown and head back up the mountain. He said if the buses have to deal with traffic heading to the tournament, it could be for a long wait. He said an event at the golf course several years ago with Tiger Woods had bumper-to-bumper traffic on Route 40 all the way to Interstate 68.
“We can’t run schools with one-third of the students missing for three days,” he said. Machesky said the possibility of low test scores also contributed to his decision. Machesky said he recommended that the district shut down during the tournament and the school board agreed.
“I would rather err on the side of getting kids on time,” Machesky said. He added that the last day of school will be the same because President’s Day and Election Day will now be school days.
Nemacolin Woodlands officials have estimated that 75,000 people will attend the event, which is slated for Sept. 15 through 21.
In a related matter, Machesky said he has heard complaints that some of the buses that transport the district’s students will be used during the tournament to transport spectators. Machesky stressed that the school district does not own any buses. He said Spade Bus Lines is contracted with the district to use the buses, and whatever the bus owners wish to do is their business.
“We don’t own any buses,” Machesky said.