The ad hoc committee that is handling consolidation proposals in the Neshaminy School District voted 3-0 Monday night to recommend not closing Levittown’s Walter Miller Elementary School come June and reevaluate moving fifth-graders to the middle schools starting in September.
If the school board votes to adopt the committee’s recommendation Monday, that does not mean closing the school or moving the fifth-graders to the middle schools is off the table for good; it just gives the district more time to evaluate all its options.
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The school board members who serve on the ad hoc committee are Steve Pirritano, Anthony Sposato and Ron Rudy.
The votes followed over an hour of questions from the community and a roughly 30 minute presentation on whether closing the school and moving the fifth-graders could be completed by proposed deadlines.
Superintendent Robert Copeland told the board his administration could move forward with the two proposed plans on deadline, but he would “rather not rush” because that would “open the opportunity for missteps.”
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Follow his comments, parents asked tough questions of the school board on both hot topics. Parents asked questions about transportation, student distribution, cost savings, the reasoning behind the closing recommendation and fifth-grade move. Many parents received answers from school board members.
As the public question and answer session went on, it became clear by committee member comments that the recommendations would be made.
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“Here’s what I’m asking you to do – keep an open mind,” Copeland said when discussing the topic of moving fifth-graders from elementary schools to the district’s three middle schools.
Copeland said he spoke with other educators with experience in a fifth- through eighth-grade environment to get their words of wisdom about the layout. On Monday, district met with Upper Merion officials to see how that district handled fifth- through eight-grade schooling.
Officials said the district will likely come to proposing school closures again in the future.
