Hopewell ES Rep Tells Board New School Should Be Built

At recent school board meetings about the fate of Southern Lehigh's two deteriorating elementary schools—Hopewell and Lower Milford—Hopewell parents and teachers have largely been silent.

Until Monday.

In publicly addressing concerns about the fate of the 43-year-old Upper Saucon Township school, Hopewell parent and PTA president Jennifer Phillip told board members she was there "representing...all Hopewell parents" when she said—in a prepared statement—that moving students to the Joseph P. Liberati Intermediate School "is not a viable option."

She also recommended that a new Hopewell school be built.

Phillip, who also described herself as an educator, said rebuilding Hopewell makes sense because of its central location within Upper Saucon Township, which is home to approximately 15,000 people, or nearly 75 percent of the school district's population.

The area that feeds the school is also expected to experience five percent population growth between now and 2017, she said, citing a recent district demographic study.

Thus, she estimated, the continued use of the Hopewell location could help save the district $150,000 in annual transportation costs.

Using part of the intermediate school to permanently house displaced Hopewell students does not make sense because the school wasn't designed for small children, she said.

The four-year-old intermediate school on Rt. 378 houses the district's fourth and fifth-graders, and would require "considerable renovations" to make it habitable for kindergartners, Phillip said.

After agreeing that it would be too costly to renovate Hopewell, and with a new school expected to cost upwards of $15 million, board members recently requested that Southern Lehigh administrators gather information about the intermediate school option; information that is expected to be presented at a public hearing Oct. 24.

A public hearing is required by the state when a school district is considering closing an elementary school, and in light of the steep cost estimates for repairs to both Lower Milford and Hopewell, board members agreed last month that closure of one of the schools is possible.

However, there is no guarantee that a school closure will occur, and the earliest a decision could be made about a closure is late January, superintendent Leah Christman said in a letter recently posted on the district's website.

"We as Hopewell parents have accepted the fact that our school must be demolished. We have accepted the fact that disruption will occur," Phillip said.

But she argued that "facts" should be factored into the equation from here on out.

"We have put our trust in the school board to make the best decisions based on the facts," Phillips said. "Hopewell parents are asking that the school board look at the options and base their decisions on the facts that are before them."