Neshaminy School District taxpayers spoke out about the proposed closing of Levittown’s Samuel Everitt Elementary School Monday night.
About a dozen people entered their testimony onto the record at the Act 34 closing hearing. The testimony will be sent to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for review.
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First, Professionals working for the district laid out plans to Everitt as part of a “roadmap” to consolidate Neshaminy and hopefully save money over time. The building has been picked due to its age and declining enrollment. In the next few years, the district will likely also look to close Oliver Heckman Elementary School in Langhorne and Lower Southampton Elementary School.
Most of the residents who spoke out at the hearing asked the board to reconsider their plan to close the neighborhood school that recently celebrated its 60th year serving students in Middletown’s Levittown section.
Robert Sanna of Levittown the board what would happen in a future board repealed the plan. “We have to do this later. We’re rushing this process,” he said.
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Karen Lowry of Lower Southampton said she was opposed to the closing of the school and construction of a new building at the Tawanka Elementary School site in Lower Southampton.
Credit: Neshaminy School District
Timothy Sauritch, an Everitt teacher and Levittown resident, said he is against the plan and he hoped the district would rethink their plan.
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“You are personally attacking these children. Please reconsider closing Everittt … [the kids] should not be the Guinea pigs in your experiment,” a Penndel resident said.
Mark Fiore of Levittown said he objected to the plan to close the school and asked the district why they couldn’t send home letters informing parents of the Act 34 hearing. He also chuckled that the meeting was so important he turned down a buffet at a work Christmas party to come to the meeting. “For us big guys that’s hard,” Fiore jokingly said.
Middletown resident and part-time Neshaminy substitute Steve Rodos was the lone member of the public to speak in favor of the plan. He said the plan makes fiscal sense and would help the district.
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After about an hour and 10 minutes, the meeting concluded.
Due to sparse attendance, the board closed the meeting and will not have hold second night of testimony on Tuesday.
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According to state law, the board will have to allow a 90 day “cooling off” period before voting to officially close Everitt. That vote could come as soon as March 15.
The district earlier this month held an Act 34 hearing on the cost of constructing a new 800-student school at the Tawanka site.
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The district still needs to get a $50 to $55 million bond to pay for the new school and upgrades to the other buildings.
