Neshaminy Moves Forward With Roadmap For Future

The proposed roadmap for the future of the Neshaminy School District continues to move forward.

The school board voted Tuesday night to set a closing hearing for Samuel Everitt Elementary School. The hearing will be held December 15 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Maple Point Middle School and could extend to December 16.

School board members said the meeting will gather public testimony on the proposed closing of the school. The meeting will allow enough time for PTO, administration and teachers to prepare for the closure, which would still have to be approved by the board.

The board also recently approved for a Act 34 spending hearing for the proposed 800-student elementary school that would be constructed at the site of the current Tawanka School in Lower Southampton. That hearing will be held 7 p.m. on December 4 at Neshaminy High School. The hearing is required by state law as the district moves forward with planning and construction process.

Both hearings, which are only for community testimony, do not lock the school board into closing Everitt or constructing a new school. District officials said those two decisions would be voted on later by the board.

There were some concerns from residents about getting their voices heard, but district officials said the hearing packets avaiable from administration provided information on sending testimony via letter during a 90-day period.

Board members Mike Morris and Ron Rudy voted against holding the hearing to close Everitt Tuesday night. Morris led a heated exchange about the plan and hearing between board members.

Officials at the Neshaminy School District now have the prices for a new school and energy upgrades to three others.

Damian Spahr from Reynolds Energy Services briefed the school board’s Ad Hoc Committee Monday night.

The proposed new kindergarten through fourth grade building at the site Tawanka School would cost $34 million while Act 39 Guaranteed Energy Savings Act (GESA) upgrades to Herbert Hoover Elementary School, Albert Schweitzer Elementary School and Carl Sandburg Middle School will come in around $20.9 million.

The board on Tuesday debated voting on whether to approve the GESA work to the three schools before the new year. Spahr said he has contractors lined up and it would be best to vote on the work soon. On Monday, Spahr told district officials he couldn’t get shop drawings, procure materials and signed contracts until the board voted to approve the work, which would take place during the summer.

“With the contractors we have, we are confident we will be able to finish in the summer,” he said. He added that the company is willing to work additional shifts to get the GESA projects done on time.

The GESA upgrades will be voted on at a December 1 meeting.

Phases two and three of the district’s roadmap would see renovations and upgrades done to other Neshaminy schools. Those projects would likely require the district to borrow additional money to fund them.

Board members are expected to receive an updated overview of the GESA projects next Wednesday. Spahr said he will  meet with district officials on Tuesday to make sure the project is up to their expectations.

Also at Monday’s meeting, Director of Facilities Paul Minotti and administrator Don Harm laid potential redistricting that could come with the closing of Everitt. Both men said they would continue to look at redistricting options.