Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School - Remediation Failed - School Closed

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Little said at L. Pottsgrove school hearing

Evan Brandt, Mercury staff writer March 17, 2002

LOWER POTTSGROVE -- A public hearing on the official closing of Lower

Pottsgrove Elementary School generated little public comment and none of it

in favor of the move. Superintendent Sharon Nalbone said the

student population and the programs offered " grew beyond the space

available. "

The educational program in place when the school was built in 1931 had far

fewer space requirements than educational mandates of today, she said.

" It wasn't just overwhelming population " that forced the closure of the

building, said Donna Cleaver, the board's secretary.

" There was a segment of the public that want the building closed because

they felt it wasn't safe, despite the fact that there was nothing to prove "

it wasn't safe.

The issue to which Cleaver referred was the months of controversy over the

air quality in the building. Many parents complained about what they saw as

a pattern of illnesses among children and staff which could have been

related to the bacteria and mold spores found in the building.

After more than a half-million dollars were spent to remediate the problems,

the complaints continued, and the teachers' union eventually sued the

district over the issue.

Last June, the board voted to move the students from the building, located

on Pleasantview Road, to be housed in classrooms and modulars at the

three-year-old Pottsgrove Middle School on North Hanover Street in Upper

Pottsgrove.

The board has also decided to begin renovating the vacant Pottstown

Intermediate School on Buchert Road as the new home for Lower Pottsgrove

Elementary School.

More recently, the board voted to begin the process of closing the old

school building permanently. Tuesday's hearing was the beginning of that

process.

Solicitor Subers said the board is prevented from taking any action

concerning the school for three months.

If the few people who spoke out at the hearing are any indication, it won't

be a popular move.

" This has been a hard number for me to swallow all along, " said Jack ,

the board's former president.

" There were a lot of shenanigans that went into this decision and there is

no reason to close that building, " he said. " It was a small group of people

who put the heat on to force the district to spend another $12 million (the

estimated cost of the Intermediate School renovation) and I think the board

should consider very seriously what they're doing. "

Resident Dave Borzick said " if you close down this school, you are going to

have to build another, there is no doubt in my mind. You are putting a

temporary patch on a permanent problem -- again. "

©The Mercury 2002