4 Directors Speak Out About Bensalem Middle School Plans
—Four Bensalem Township school directors have sent out a letter to protest plans for what they say will be a "mega middle school."
"We did this because we feel like we're being stonewalled by the district. The superintendent is in favor of a mega middle school. All of the presentations, we feel, are being skewed in that direction," said a letter signed by Democratic school directors Stephanie Ferrandez, Deborah King, Rebecca Mirra, and Karen Winters.
The school district held presentations recently seeking community feedback about the future of the middle school. The four school board members said they wanted to speak out before survey results come out at a meeting Tuesday night and the board votes on the proposals on Nov. 26.
The four school board members said all of the presentations include plans to close an elementary school somewhere in the future.
The board members said, after touring the district's schools, that there are some crowding problems.
They said that moving sixth grade up to middle school will not create enough extra space in five elementary schools if a sixth one is closed and that redistricting will be needed to make room for those children.
"It just doesn't work. So if we can't close an elementary, that changes the financial picture of all of this and that's not being considered we feel," the board members state.
Here is the text of the letter given to Patch:
"We (Stephanie Ferrandez, Deborah King, Rebecca Mirra and Karen Winters) as four of the nine Bensalem School Board Directors feel compelled to speak up now about how the choices before us, and their impact, have been presented by the School District. For years, the District has discussed returning 6th grade to middle school after the 2005 Armstrong closure. We support returning 6th grade to middle school and renovating buildings."
They said that options were presented by the District at an Oct. 1 public meeting, with a promised survey.
"Waiting to review a survey, we were notified on Nov. 5 of the release of a Superintendent Letter and survey by a PR Firm hired by the District," the letter continues. "Please know that the board has not discussed the options."
They said that at Tuesday night's business committee meeting, the public relations firm hired by the district will present survey results, and the board can discuss the topic before it votes on the matter on Nov. 26.
"We were not involved in the preparation nor wording of any of the presentations and surveys - nor to our knowledge were any other members of the board," the letter continues. "We repeatedly asked for studies about the social and emotional impact on kids of putting them in a mega-middle school with 1,500-plus 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. The District has provided none."
District presentations make clear the costs of moving 6th grade to middle school assume savings from a future closing of Rush Elementary and re-districting all K-5 students, they said.
"We are concerned the district presentations contain information skewed in favor of a mega-middle school —giving the impression that the upcoming vote will confirm a decision already made," the letter states.
Having 1,500 kids is a lot of 11-14-year-olds in a three-story building, they added.
The presentations indicated grades will be separated into teams/academies. A separate 9th Grade Academy was promised in BHS alterations and is listed on the website, but it does not exist, the four board members state.
"How can we trust promises? There are advantages to moving 6th grade, whether in a one or two building solution —but some of those listed by the District are quite misleading," the letter says. "For example, there are no plans for a rigorous new curriculum due to a move. The curriculum is on a cycle. There are no plans to add additional counselors or mental health professionals to the District. It's just reallocation."
The four board members state that School Superintendent Samuel Lee's letter omits all reference to the Rush elementary school closing, which was included in the presentation.
"It is true that we are not voting on that now, but it's a bait and switch. The costs presented for moving 6th grade all assume savings from a future vote to close Rush," the letter states. "The District is relying on outdated space studies, which do not consider all of our special education programs. We have toured the buildings and seen instruction in foyers and speech therapists in open common areas! Removing 6th grade will not be enough to make appropriate space allocations when we have to add approximately 80 children to each of the five buildings."
The board members encourage the community to attend the public meetings and send an email to
