BLOUNTVILLE — The Sullivan County school board’s scheduled vote on whether to merge Sullivan North and South high schools has been postponed, Director of Schools Jubal Yennie announced Friday afternoon. The vote was scheduled to occur Thursday.

"Many Sullivan County parents, students and teachers have urged us to take more time in these deliberations, and we are honoring their requests," Yennie said. "We will slow down the process, continue to weigh options and gather additional information about projected student enrollment, school building utilizations and the impacts of potential rezonings."

The North-South merger also would result in the closing of Colonial Heights Middle and the middle school portion of Sullivan Gardens K-8, with whichever high school not used for rezoning to be used for a single middle school for the North and South zones.