Letters to the Editor for February 26

Here are today’s Letters to the Editors…

Submitted by Neshaminy School Board member Stephen Pirritano of Lower Southampton:

Change is constant; it is how you grow. In the current economic and social landscape, if you do not grow, you wither and die.

Our schools must adapt to that ever-changing landscape. The challenges are great. Providing quality and innovative educational opportunities while facing the reality of limited revenue, increasing costs and the management of labor agreements is a daunting task. School districts face an environment of ever-fluctuating demands.

Our goal is singular and constant in Neshaminy; to provide the children of Neshaminy the best possible educational opportunities our taxpayers can afford. Doing so insures that we maintain strong communities. It also provides the growth our children need to become young responsible adults, these student will be the next generation of Americans who will provide for themselves, provide for their communities and maintain the American tradition of each generation providing for the next.

That, my fellow residents, is what the Road Map for Neshaminy Facilities Future is all about. This School Board, supported by a majority of members, has found a path to optimize the opportunities within the limitations of today’s financial reality.

Everyone is aware that revenue has not kept up with expenditures. We in Neshaminy are all too aware of this shortfall. This Board found savings through better management, by hiring new administrators and holding them accountable, and by applying cost-saving principles to INCREASE educational opportunities and programs while avoiding an increase in taxes. This was accomplished by applying a basic principle’ seek savings internally before looking to taxpayers for additional revenue. Our view is just this simple: It is irresponsible for any Board member to look to taxpayers before we look within our existing budgets and make sure we operate this district as efficiently as possible.

This Board has been able to keep that pledge. We have also laid out a plan to continue those initiatives into the future. Our plan is specific and detailed to achieve these goals:

1. Align and adjust the District to meet the needs of current and future student populations.
2. Recognize the limitations of building renovations.
3. Upgrade those facilities that will serve the District best for the populations they serve.
4. Evaluate, plan, and implement changes in a way that positively impacts the educational environment both now and in the future.
5. Achieve this with the least impact on our taxpayers.

This Board’s Plan will invest as much as $63 million dollars in our district’s infrastructure over the next three years in eight facilities, 5 in the Middletown/ Levittown- Langhorne area, 2 In Lower South, and 1 new school that will serve Langhorne and northern areas of Lower Southampton.
We will achieve this WITHOUT RAISING your yearly school tax bill. This consolidation of facilities will also return a minimum of $1.9 million dollars a year to the school district in operational savings. In ten years that is approx. $20 million dollars. By doing so we will help protect ourselves from the revenue lost by PSERS increases and help us to maintain investment in programs and curriculum that will benefit all our children.

Some may say it is too good to be true, and it may sound so, but it is not. Our Administration as well as our facility professionals along with consultants have verified and validated it.

By refinancing a portion of our 2006 Bonds used to renovate the High School in combination with our capital projects fund this can be achieved. Today’s low interest rates make this a prime time to accomplish these projects. In my opinion it would be irresponsible for any governing board to not take advantage of this market and borrow for our infrastructure needs.

There is no plan that will garner universal support, and our plan has detractors. There are some on our Board that currently disagree with portions of it but this Board did pass the GESA Phase One renovations unanimously. Those upgrades will address Hoover, Sandburg and Schweitzer this summer, that is $21 million dollars of investment progress.

No Board member wants to close a school. I am sure when Eisenhower Elementary was closed the local community did not want to see it happened but there were reasons it was necessary, the same for when Tawanka and Neshaminy Middle closed, these all happened because circumstances at the time required it, there is no difference now.

I as well as my fellow Board members that support this plan have committed themselves to put the districts overall needs before their own, why? Because it is required for responsible people to make responsible choices when it comes to our children and communities. There is no popular reception to support a school closure but we all took oaths of fidelity when we accepted the responsibility taxpayers bestowed upon us. That implies you will act with fidelity in making your decisions, we cannot ignore shrinking population, shrinking enrollment, reduced revenue and increased liabilities like PSERS.

This is a fact in 2001 we enrolled 10,200 students, today we enroll 8400, next year the enrolled is expected to be below 8300, even with a Full Day Kindergarten program. Any possible debate concerning growth in the future is solely due to moving from a full time 12 grade model to the full time13 grade model we became this year.

The resolution of this plan culminates in countless hours spent reviewing, analyzing and studying the past 7 years worth of information gathered on this issue. Prior Board’s commissioned study after study and employed 2 different firms to gather the information. They also commissioned a Citizens Advisory Committee to render a community opinion.

It is time to proceed and implement the steps that will bring our facilities concerns to a resolution so we can concentrate our full efforts on the education and programs the Neshaminy School District provides for the sake of our children, our taxpayers and the Neshaminy community as a whole.

Submit Your Letter to the Editor

Do you have something you want to say about a town issue? Want to praise your community members for something they did? You can do that by writing a Letter to the Editor.

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