Nov 8, 2015 By Harry Funk 2 min read

The future of Mt. Lebanon’s currently closed Teen Center will be addressed at a Nov. 16 meeting.

The center’s board of directors will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of Mellon Middle School, seeking new board members, officers and volunteers.

The program was shut down after a September event at Mellon was hampered by the lack of an adequate number of chaperones.

“We did not make this decision lightly,” Teen Center coordinator Karen Saulsbery said, noting that only two parents offered to volunteer this school year for the program, which for 27 years has scheduled age-appropriate activities for students.

The Teen Center is directed by the Mt. Lebanon Teen Activities Association, which was formed by the municipality, school district and concerned parents to provide activities for middle school-age students in a chaperoned environment.

“It’s declined over the years,” she said about those who are willing to donate their time. “It didn’t just happen this year.”

One factor causing the drop to accelerate is the implementation of Pennsylvania’s Act 152 of 2014, which in part requires clearances and background checks for volunteers who are “responsible for the welfare of a child or having direct contact with children.”

Commissioner Dave Brumfield, in explaining the Teen Center situation at a recent meeting, called the statute a “well-intentioned law. But it has put a big crunch on all volunteer organizations.”

“If you have your clearances, please reach out to either the municipality or school district, and we will put you in touch with the right people,” he said. “It really is an incredibly worthwhile activity. It’s one the municipality has supported for years.”

Saulsbery, who has coordinated the Teen Center for 16 years, expressed plenty of praise for the behavior of students and for the program, itself.

“I’d hate to see it go away, but I don’t know, honestly, if it’s going to survive,” she said. “We need people who are really going to step up.”