The Neshaminy School District ad hoc committee that recommended closing Walter Miller Elementary School in Levittown and moving the fifth-grade to the middle schools will meet on Monday evening.
At last week’s school board meeting, the many parents who spoke out against the proposed school closing and fifth-grade scuffle were told they could ask questions and get answers at Monday’s meeting.
Advertisements
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the board room at Maple Point Middle School.
According to a meeting agenda, information on proposed redistricting and a transportation analysis will be presented.
The first official hearings on the proposed closing will take place at 7 p.m. on March 17 and 18 inside the Maple Point Middle School auditorium. School board officials said the meetings will be held to gather evidence on the proposed closing. A three-month period of public review of the evidence will then follow. A final state-required Act 34 hearing could take place in June and then the final decision on the fate of the school will then be made by the board.
Advertisements
The proposal to close Miller and move the fifth-graders to the middle school was made last month. The ad hoc committee met for several weeks and poured over enrollment data before recommending closing the school, which sits on the edge of the district and sandwiched between several other elementary schools.
District officials said closing the school would save the district between $680,000 and $800,000 a year. They added the district is not currently looking sell the Miller building if closing plans come through.
Advertisements
Plans to consolidate the nearly 9,000-student district have been talked about for years. Those on both sides of the issue have stated their cases, many very passionately.
A previous effort to consolidate the school district was halted last year. Under those plans, Samuel Everitt in Levittown, Oliver Heckman in Langhorne and Lower Southampton in Feasterville were slatted for possible closure. A new, larger school would be built on the site of the former Tawanka school site in Trevose and additions would be made to Pearl Buck Elementary School in Middletown. One of the main reasons cited for that move to scrap the plan was changing finances.
The board noted there is no final decision to close Miller at this time.
Advertisements
Related:
