Neshaminy Approves ‘Preliminary Roadmap,’ Which Includes School Closing Possibility

The Neshaminy School Board approved a controversial plan that would map out the district’s future – and that, officials say, most likely involves closing schools in Middletown and building a new one in Lower Southampton.

The board voted 6-3 to approve the officially lay out what the district’s future may look like. Board Vice President Irene Boyle and members Ron Rudy and Mike Morris voted against it.

The district will now work with professionals to draw up plans, complete building audits and meet with financial and bond advisors to get a plan together by later summer or early fall.

Scott Downie, an architect hired by the district, presented a preliminary outline to district officials before a crowded school board meeting Thursday.

Here’s what the “roadmap” proposes:

• Close Samuel Everitt Elementary School in Levittown by June 2015 and allowed the IU to lease the building.
• Close Langhorne’s Oliver Heckman and Lower Southampton elementary schools by June 2016.
• Build a new 900-student elementary school at the Tawanka site in Lower Southampton. The new school would be ready for students by September 2016. The new building would cost about $30 million.
• Five schools in the district would get Act 39 energy saving upgrades over the summers of 2015 and 2016.
• Reconfigure the middle schools to house grades 5 through 8.

The district would be forced to add space to an elementary school if the 5 to 8 model was not accepted. Downie and district officials said Pearl S. Buck Elementary School in Levittown would likely be the best school for the addition.

“It’s a fairly tight time frame but its a doable schedule,” Downy told the board.

The district as part of the vote approved Reynolds Construction to do a full examination of all the district elementary and middle schools to see what would best be served by an Act 39 overhaul.

Here’s some background on Act 39:

While it can’t Act 39 be used for major renovations, minor architectural work like paint and ceilings could be covered using loans from the energy savings program. Officials have said the Act 39 contract is fixed-price and any extra charges are the responsibility of the overall project contractor, not the taxpayers.  Reynolds officials said the district could add secure vestibules, one handicap-accessible bathroom, cameras and air conditioning to the elementary schools.

The plan, which has several different parts, is expected to save the district between $2 and $3 million a year once its completed in 2016, officials said.

Officials said the schools that could be closed are not locked in and might change. School Board President Scott Congdon said after the meeting the board’s vote does not mean the closure of those schools and construction of a building in Lower Southampton are set in stone.

Rudy said some schools listed for closure are “anchors” for their community. He said closing Everitt and Heckman was “wrong.”

“I think we should take another year and look this over,” he said.

Morris raised the theory that housing values would decline if Everitt, which is in the middle of a residential section, were to close.

Board member Tony Sposato said during board comment that he didn’t necessarily like the idea of closing schools, but the many reviews by the district shows that needs to be done.

Langhorne resident Angie Manning, who opposed closing Heckman when their was a threat last year, asked the board why they didn’t put the school closing question up for referendum.

“You need to stop and think about what this community is asking for,” Manning said.

Several residents spoke in favor of the plan and moving the district forward.

The Neshaminy School District has discussed consolidation for several years prior.