Residents are set to speak against the proposed closing of elementary schools in the district during Tuesday night’s School Board meeting at the administration building.
A group of residents hope the district puts the 50 million plan up for referendum. District officials in the past have said they have no plan to do so.
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“We need everyone to get to the board meetings on August 27 and September 10 and shut this thing down before we have no recourse at all,” according to a post on the Save Neshaminy Elementary Schools Facebook page.
More than 100 signs have sprung up throughout the district supporting the referendum. Residents have also gone door-to-door to spread the message. Online opposition to the plan has been shown on social media and through nearly 450 signatures on a website petition.
Click here to see the petition
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The district is currently looking at a plan that will close Samuel Everitt, Oliver Heckman and Lower Southampton elementary schools in favor of a $35 million “super” school at the Tawanka site, which could house 1,200 students. A large addition to Pearl S. Buck Elementary School in Middletown and needed renovations to the remaining buildings would round out the $50 million project. If the plan goes forward, redistricting would be necessary.
District officials said over time the consolidation would save the district, which recently ended a five-year labor dispute with the teachers’ union, cash. Declining enrollment has also been pointed to as a driving force behind consolidation.
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The schools set for closure were based on data gathered and a consultants report prepared several years ago by architectural firm McKissick Associates. Both Manning and Kern said the district needs a second professional opinion, aside from the reporter prepared by McKissick Associates.
The school board meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
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