PAGES OF THE PAST

• Despite declining population, the Monessen School District hopes to remain independent. Arnold Hillman, a consultant with the Pennsylvania Association of Small and Rural School Districts, said, “There is no guarantee that costs will go down. You really don’t know until there is an investigation into what you’re talking about.” The discussion of merging Monessen with another district has been going on for years. School board President Donna Fantuzzi said, “We’re several years from considering that right now and we’re going to work hard to prevent that from happening.”