RTM Plans New School, Residents Should Plan For New Pain

RTM Plans New School, Residents Should Plan For New Pain — This gentle warning has been passed to us that you are about to be again robbed by the Rose Tree Media School District.

Pennsylvanians would save a lot, and we mean a lot, more money if education funding followed students and not systems. If we learned anything from the pandemic it’s that Pennsylvania schools are way fat.

More importantly, though, education would be greatly enhanced and parents would be greatly empowered.

Your little boy is being taught he should be a little girl? Fire the fools and find a new school.

If vouchers are too radical for you, rescinding the prevailing wage law would save 20 percent of the cost of this looming boondoggle. Just sayin.

Anyway here is how the heist is starting:

I want to provide you with an update on the progress towards our new elementary school. We understand how critical selecting the location for our new elementary school is — a decision we do not take lightly. Over the last several months, our Project Oversight Committee (POC) and Core Design Group (CDG) for the new elementary school has been working extremely hard to reach this point. We are very excited and proud to announce the location of our new elementary school in Edgmont Township! 

Prior to this decision, the POC and District administration completed several decision worksheets, narratives, and a full site comparison analysis including anticipated costs, facilitation sessions, and several conversations with the School Board and local city and municipal regulatory agencies. Understanding the locations of new developments and our existing students within each elementary’s school’s boundaries, the team sought to minimize impact and costs when selecting the new site. In addition, key priority drivers for this decision included: 

  • Location, size, and cost of the property 
  • Site attributes including accessibility, entry points, utilities, drainage, soils, environmental integration, etc. 
  • Transportation impacts: time spent on the bus for students, the number of buses needed, staff impacts, etc. 
  • Timeline to develop property
  • Other unique attributes such as a redistricting plan, community goals, housing developments, and logical locations

Over 23 sites were vetted as potential options during the last two years. Sites in Middletown Township and Edgmont Township were shortlisted, but ultimately the property in Edgmont Township was selected and the sale finalized for the new facility. Local, community schools have been a keystone of our District for many years, and the selection of the current site reflects our ongoing commitment for neighborhood schools.

Currently, we are working on finishing the Schematic Design Phase of the project. We invite you to join us next Tuesday, June 29 from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. for a Public Presentation that will outline the work and progress completed so far. This will include a 30-minute presentation and a 30-minute Q&A section. You can attend either in-person at the Penncrest High School Auditorium or virtually via Microsoft Teams. The link to join the meeting virtually will be posted at 6:00 p.m., 30 minutes prior to the start of the meeting, on our Room to Learn Room to Grow website, our District’s website, and social media. 

I encourage you to visit RoomtoLearnRoomtoGrow.org/pre-design-phase for ongoing updates to our progress. We’re very excited to provide our students with room to learn and room to grow!

Regards, 

Dr. Eleanor DiMarino-Linnen

RTM Plans New School, Residents Should Plan For New Pain
RTM Plans New School, Residents Should Plan For New Pain

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