Neshaminy Set To Hold Closing Hearings For Langhorne, Lower Southampton Schools

The Neshaminy School Board approved advertising hearings for two elementary schools that could close next year.

The hearings for Oliver Heckman Elementary School in Langhorne and Lower Southampton Elementary School will be held in January. The Heckman hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, January 6, 2016 at 7 p.m. at Maple Point Middle School, and Lower Southampton’s hearing is scheduled for Thursday, January 7, 2016 at 7 p.m. at Maple Point Middle School.

For Oliver Heckman, board member Ron Rudy voted against having the hearing and board member Mike Morris abstained from the vote. The rest of the board voted to hold the Heckman hearing. The vote for Lower Southampton’s hearing was similar, with Morris voting with Rudy against the hearing.

The hearings, which are required by law, will gather testimony from the community on the schools. The testimony will be submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education during a 90 day period before any further action on the schools can be taken. If the board moves forward with the hearings, a vote on closing the schools could come in spring, with both buildings possibly closing by the end of June.

Heckman and Lower Southampton have been listed for possible closure on Neshaimy’s “roadmap to the future” plan for years. The closures would be part of the district’s plan to save money by consolidating schools. Last year, Samueal Everitt Elementary School was closed and rented to the Bucks County Intermediate Unit.

District officials said the closure of Heckman will force redistricting of students. The majority of students would go to the new elementary school being constructed at the Tawanka School site in Lower Southampton and the rest will attend Pearl Buck Elementary School in Levittown.

Board member Stephen Stephen Pirritano said at a committee meeting last week that renovations to Heckman, which sits on 18-acres of land, would cost up to $14 million. Energy upgrades to the Langhorne school, like those performed to other district elementary schools, would cost about $8 million but savings could not be guaranteed.

“Heckman very much cares that you guys are paying attention and giving due diligence that goes into closing our school,” PTO president Amanda Black told the board Tuesday evening. “We are watching, and we’re paying attention.”