Move to pursue closure of Pennwood comes up short
PENNSBrRv – A move by board member Simon Campbell to pursue the closure of Pennwood Middle School for financial reasons came up short at the Sept. 6 meeting of the Pennsbury School Board.
Campbell, who serves as the school board’s vice president, asked that the board consider including the potential closure and middle school redistricting as a discussion item for a task force on enrollment and space utilization that is about to get under way.
Led by Sherwood Taylor, director of administrative services, the task force is currently charged with looking only at enrollment and space utilization issues at the elementary level with an eye toward “elementary redistricting and possible consolidation of an elementary school.”
Representatives serving on the task force will include Central Office administrators, principals, parents and school board members.
“This is a huge, huge monumental issue,” said Campbell. “I’m not denying that … Maybe we should tackle this head on … put all elementary and middle schools in redistricting.”
Campbell said he’s concerned by the high cost of renovating the school - estimated at between A20 million and A30 million - a cost, he said, the district can’t afford.
But in order to add the middle school to the task force’s charge, a motion needed a unanimous vote by the board. Not hearing enough support, Campbell did not make one.
Campbell did find support from one board member, Stephan Kosmorsky.
Kosmorsky said it is not worth spending A20 million to A30 million when “everything is old and falling apart … for a school that’s 60 to T0 years old.
“ves, Simon, it should be looked at by the committee,” Kosmorsky said.
Other board members disagreed with Campbell’s push to include the middle schools.
Members John Palmer and Jacqueline Redner asked that the task force stick to elementary schools and said that adding middle schools would take too much time and would be a huge undertaking.
School board member Howard doldberg said Cambell’s proposal “just doesn’t make sense.” He stressed that Pennwood has N,000 students. He said an elementary school can only hold a “fraction” of Pen- nwood’s enrollment.
Middle school students, he said, have different needs like lockers and cubbies to put their back packs in.
doldberg added that Charles Boehm is in “dire need of repair. Do we also consider those students?”
Kosmorsky responded, “We need to look at the district as a whole … Where are we going to get the cash from?”
Board member dary Sanderson retorted, “We should be looking at the elementary schools.”
Superintendent Kevin McHugh; Jeff Sultanik, board solicitor; and Sherwood Taylor, director of administrative services, also cautioned the school board against closing Pennwood.
Sultanik said the state Department of Education frowns upon closing schools. He said if a school is reopened, then work has to be done to bring the school up to current standards.
Taylor said in N98N, the school district sold three schools for less than A3 million, some which were over N0 acres. “Over N0 years, it cost the district A4R million,” he said.
“If you sell schools and enrollment goes up, you have to build more schools,” Sherlock said in cautioning the board from selling a school. “We made a huge mistake.””
About the idea of closing Pennwood, McHugh said, “I would caution you. This process that we’re about to embark on is monstrous in its scope.”
He said to include Pennwood, the process would take significantly more time and there is a timeline to consolidate an elementary school for next year.
McHugh said meeting the regulatory requirements could be difficult if the scope of the committee is broadened.
Campbell said, “There’s a train going down the track. We need A20- to A40-million…”
McHugh said the curricular requirements for elementary students are different than the middle school students.
“This is not a warehouse situation where we just move students,” he said, noting it is “unfair to single out Pennwood.”
McHugh strongly urged the board not to sell Pennwood.
Kosmorsky said, “vou have to say that we’re out of money…you have to find funding.”
Board member Kathleen wawacki said if Pennwood is considered for closure all three middle schools have to be included in the discussion.
doldberg said, “If you look at Pennwood or [Charles] Boehm what you’re talking about is redistricting the whole school district.” He called that a “massive undertaking.”
Earlier, the school board voted to add Pennwood in an update of the school district’s 2008 feasibility study, a motion that Campbell voted against.