Letters to the Editor for October 15

Here are today’s Letters to the Editors…

Submitted by Levittown resident and school board candidate Robert Sanna:

Ever since the decision was made to close Samuel Everitt Elementary School, I have been very outspoken that closing a neighborhood school was the wrong idea for Neshaminy. Borrowing up to 33 million dollars for a new school that not one child in Levittown will ever see (and the taxpayers in Levittown will have to help pay for), and extending our debt for up to another 20+ years makes little financial sense.   Ignoring reliable, reputable research as the current School Board has done in order to help them justify moving our ten year olds into a middle school setting prematurely sets out district back educationally.   Taxpayers across the district spoke out overwhelmingly against these decisions.   In the primary elections in May, three of the four incumbents were voted out.

Another issue that I have spoken about, and on which our current school board refuses to acknowledge, is the impact of these decisions on property value. I have brought this matter to their attention countless times while other candidates have remained silent on the issue.   I have argued for many families – including my own – who moved to Neshaminy not only for the school district but because of the neighborhood school.  Many parents like myself want our children to be able to walk or ride their bike to school, meet members of the community and develop a sense of community pride.  As homeowners we recognize that community schools are an important part the overall value of our home.  At several board meetings, we as taxpayers have all heard the statement that “no one moves to Neshaminy  for Brick and Mortar”.  However, in a recent article published by www.philly.com, families  indeed select neighborhoods based on community schools:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/philadelphia-real-estate/In-Chester-Bucks-and-Montco-bragging-about-school-district-pays.html

The study was done by Trulia (2014-2015), one of the most respected companies in the real estate industry.  They researched all of the homes listed for sale between the period of June 2014 and June 2015 in 100 of the largest metro -areas across the nation to determine the top ten areas in which “schools are a big selling point”.   In order to obtain their data, they researched how often the word “school” as well as words such as “award winning, rated, great”, etc. appeared in listings of homes in these areas.  Of all 100 areas across the country researched for this criterion of “schools are a big selling point”, Bucks-Montgomery-Chester County was tied for 3^rd.  What does this mean for property value in Neshaminy?  Well, as cited in the article, “…for the top three housing markets where schools are mentioned most, being able to highlight the home’s proximity to schools added about 7% to the listing price in Montgomery-Bucks-Chester County, PA,” Trulia reported.

In other words, this means in Bucks-Montgomery-Chester County as well as the other areas that ranked among the first few places in this study, the words “school, award winning, rated, great”, etc appear in listings of homes more than in any other metro-area in the country because the people who live in these areas place a high value on being able to say that their house is close proximity to a “school”.  The importance of neighborhood, community schools is clear.  It is evident that the closing of Samuel Everitt Elementary School will impact area home values.

http://www.trulia.com/blog/trends/near-good-schools/

With the November General Election coming fast, voters need to differentiate between the candidates.  During the primaries, Robert Tull and Marty Sullivan, handpicked candidates of the Middletown Republican Party, ran on a platform parallel to that of myself and three other party victors from that election.  However, both rebuffed an invitation to be party to an injunction to stop the present board  majority’s agenda.  I believe Tull and Sullivan’s presence on this injunction would have strengthened the argument on the basis of overwhelming community rejection of the present board majority’s plans.  They made the choice to trump sense with politics, and rejected support.

We need to keep politicians off the school board so personal agendas will not prevent us from doing the right thing for our children and taxpayers. On November 3rd please vote for Karen Lowry, Staci O’Brien,  Bob Feather and Robert Sanna.

Submit Your Letter to the Editor

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