Despite Recovery Facility Talk, School Board Still Accepting Offers For Properties

Despite what you may have heard, the sale of several closed Bristol Township elementary schools is not a done deal.

Members of the school board told more than 100 residents that they have no intention to sell several closed schools so that they can be turned into recovery homes or traumatic brain recovery centers.

Following the meeting, board members told LevittownNow.com that they are still accepting offers for the five closed school properties. Board President Angela Nober confirmed there have been several interested parties that have come forward in recent weeks.

Due to nature of the negotiations for the properties, district officials said they could not comment further on interested parties and any new offers received. However, they did note the township and county did not submit formal letters of interest in the properties.

The school board voted to rescind a previous agreement from September to sell John Fitch, Abraham Lincoln and Lafayette elementary school sites to Renovah Construction Company for $770,000. The board did not vote to rescind the sale of Croydon’s Maple Shade Elementary School property to nonprofit Interfaith Housing Visions for $180,000. Nober did state that they were not moving forward with that agreement as of Monday.

District officials said the move to rescind the sale agreements was not a rejection of the offers, but gives them more time to review other opportunities.

Sales of the schools must be approved by a Bucks County Court of Common Pleas judge during a hearing in Doylestown.

Residents showed up in force for the meeting after news came out late last month that Bensalem-based Progressive Living Units and Systems of Pennsylvania Inc. (PLUS) showed interest in purchasing the shuttered John Fitch, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Lafayette elementary school properties for $1.75 million. The company suggested in a letter that they were interested in constructing “age restricted housing or for uses related to the business of providing behavioral health services, both residential and non-residential, and including, without limitation, services to veterans, persons suffering from traumatic brain injuries and other handicapped persons as defined in the Fair Housing Act.” The company appears to have some ties to a Middletown-based company that states online that they help those dealing with substance abuse.

Since news of the offer was reported by LevittownNow.com and the Bucks County Courier Times, residents have rallied against the plan. Along with their anger, some misinformation has spread and confusion has been abound.

‘The board is not out there to sell the properties to be redeveloped as drug homes,” Nober told angry residents.

School board member Constance More said she was “shocked” by the latest proposal for the schools, citing LevittownNow.com as her source for the information.

“Just like you got to live next to it; we got to live next to it, too,” she said.

A man in the audience said “enough rehab facilities.” Others cited the more than 100-plus recovery homes spread across Bristol Township.

“We’re really concerned,” one resident told the board.

Board members explained the process to the gathered residents and stressed no deals were done.

As offers come in to the school district, staff and board members are looking into the groups behind the proposals, Nober said.

The Bucks County Redevelopment Authority (RDA) worked with the district to market the properties to developers across the nation.

Resident Larry Mascia said the district should have better marketing of the properties if they want to receive better offers.

In total, the district is trying to off-load more than 60 acres in residential sections. The properties are zoned residential and developers would likely either have to demolish or heavily renovate the closed schools. District officials have noted the demolition and abatement of hazardous building materials would likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

School board members Gallus Obert and Jim Baker said the district has offered at least one of the properties to the township or county for open space or recreation and both government bodies have turned them down.

Nober told the public turning the sites into recreation facilities is a great idea and something that would have to be carried out by other forms of local government. Obert explained that school districts do not have the mandate or purview to oversee recreational facilities not related to their schools.

For about two years, the district has talked about the future of the properties and solicited opinions from the public.

The George Washington Elementary School site remains on the market and was never included in any preliminary deals.

The district plans to convert the Clara Barton Elementary School into an administration, transportation and maintenance hub.