HARRISVILLE — As the calendar draws closer to Labor Day and the start of school, there are no preparations for the start of classes at Har-Mer Elementary School.

The Slippery Rock Area School Board voted in May to close the elementary school and send its 99 students and projected 11 incoming kindergartners to Moraine and Slippery Rock elementary schools.

Now the fate of the school building and the commemorative bell that has stood in front of the building have to be decided.

The bell sits atop a stone pillar with the inscription: “1961- Dedicated to the merger of the Harrisville Independent and Mercer Township School Districts for the better education of our children.”

Harrisville Mayor Jere Donovan thinks he has a good home for the bell.

“It's our intent that we take this bell,” said Donovan. “We have a little history section on the second floor of the borough building and we can put it there.

“Our other concern is the playground equipment,” Donovan said. “It would be a shame if that playground equipment was moved from the school. The school is right in the middle of town. A lot of people use it.”

As far as the school building itself, Donovan said, “We'd like them to give it to us.”

Any disposition of the school, bell or playground equipment would be highly premature, said Superintendent Kathy Nogay.

“We just received approval of the closure from the Pennsylvania Department of Education on Monday (Aug. 5),” said Nogay.

“There's been no decision or discussion yet,” she said.

Nogay said that until a decision is made on disposition, the school district would continue to maintain the building and the playground equipment.

“These are not decisions that I can make. It is up to the school board. They'll take it up when they feel it is appropriate,” Nogay said.

David Hutner of Slippery Rock, a school board member, said the first priority is the former Har-Mer students who will be returning to school the day after Labor Day.

“Certainly the building is part of the transition,” said Hutner. “We're very cognizant of what our responsibilities are to the building and our community.”

As to Donovan's wish that the building be turned over to the borough, Hutner said, “To my knowledge there hasn't been a request made. All options will be explored.”

But it won't be a decision that will be made soon, he added.

The school board meets on Aug. 12 and 26, but Hutner said, “I doubt it will be on the agenda.”

He added, however, that the board has decided to return donated paving bricks to the donors.

“We agreed the paving bricks donated to the school in memory of loved ones will be turned back to those who donated them,”Hutner said.

Fellow board member Polly Shaw of Portersville said it would be impossible to put a time frame on when any decisions might be made.

The closure — the result of a declining enrollment — had been discussed for years as a cost-cutting measure.

The closing put an end to a school in Harrisville dating back to the establishment of a high school or academy in 1865, according to Emma Holtz of Harrisville, a longtime secretary and business manager of the Slippery Rock School District.

“That building was built by the two local boards before it had become a merged district,” said Holtz. “And the bell should stay here (Harrisville.)”