Community Feedback on District Boundaries

Although the official, district-invited public meeting won’t be held until Monday, April 30, Perkiomen Valley residents have been buzzing about the possible plans to ease overpopulation.

The district invited parents to take part in a survey to guide the subcommittee as they created options to ease the overcrowding. Before the subcommittee work began in earnest, two early proposals had emerged. One option, which had been recommended by the facilities committee, would re-evaluate the district-wide boundaries and possibly impact all four elementary schools’ populations.

Another early proposal – which has drawn criticism from some district parents – is to shift 100 students from Skippack Elementary School to .

According to the survey results presentation, “maintaining neighborhoods and subdivisions” was among three “extremely important” factors to respondents.

Other responses included a desire for the district to achieve a long-term solution, rather than a “band-aid.”

Skippack resident Vicki Corbeil wrote about the proposal in an email to Perkiomen Valley Patch:

“It is a quick fix and short sighted. Working parents will have to make difficult child care decisions and increased travel time will be a hardship on the community. I am afraid property values could be negatively affected by not being able to say the elementary school is ‘right up 113 about a mile.’ This move would also divide our development from adjacent developments (Lockewood, Fort Bevon) breaking up the Skippack community. The School Board ultimately makes the decision. We will have to see who votes for what, and when it comes to the 2013 elections I’ll show my support, or not, depending on how each member voted.”

Another theme from the survey responses, according to the presentation, is a reluctance among parents “to be moved due to overcrowding at Skippack.”

The administration is recommending Skippack Elementary classrooms be reconfigured.

See more from the survey and presentation here.

The Town Hall meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, April 30, at .