After gathering feedback from families and teachers, the Quakertown Community School Board voted unanimously to shift Neidig Elementary School students to Tohickon Valley Elementary School for the 2019-20 school year while Neidig is renovated.

Following a recommendation from project engineer Jamie Lynch of D’Huy Engineering that the work could be done more quickly and save the district close to $1 million if Neidig students were relocated, the Board directed the Administration to inform the public through community meetings. Two were held in July. A survey was also given to parents and school employees. More than 75 percent of the respondents were in favor of the move, primarily for safety concerns.

"After careful analysis and consideration, the moving of Neidig Elementary to the former Tohickon Valley school made sense,” Board President Steaven Klein said. “This move provides a safer environment for our kids while also speeding up the Neidig renovation significantly. “It will also lower the price tag by an estimated $1 million. This isn't without its drawbacks, the main one being transportation. We're working with Levy Bus Company to minimize as best we can the prospect of longer bus rides for our kids. We'll also be as flexible as possible with student pickup times for parents who drive their kids."

Last December, the Board voted 5-4 to close TVES as part of a plan to cut into a structural deficit. The closure meant an annual savings of $1.77 million, plus an $8.4 million cost avoidance. Having the building available to house Neidig’s 400 students in 2019-20 is fortuitous.

Kaylyn Mitchell, chairwoman of the Facilities Committee, hoped to dispel rumors that TVES was unsafe. ”Someone made a comment that Tohickon Valley is not safe,” she said. “That’s not true. It’s in about the same condition as Neidig.”

Board Member Keith Micucci agreed. “If Tohickon Valley was to remain open, my kids would go there this school year and I would have no problems with it. All four of my kids have attend Tohickon Valley. … Let’s not forget the core of a school is not how nice the building is but it’s the people inside the building. So no matter what we do, we’re not going to change the dynamics of the teachers, the staff. We may have to relocate them for a temporary time frame to another classroom environment. But they are the ones that are going to make the impact on the students, not how nice the building is.”

Mitchell also praised Neidig Principal Scott Godshalk, a former principal at TVES. “He’s very familiar with the building, so that makes me feel better, too.”

The primary hesitancy with the move is the Board’s concern with the potential for longer bus rides. Micucci said the Board will ultimately take a closer look at the longer commutes, adding it’s “vitally important” to cut down on the amount of time students spend on buses, especially for younger students.

The Quakertown Community School District will have new leaders in three schools when classes begin on September 4. All were administrators in Quakertown schools before. The new principals are Dr. Orathia Bradley at Pfaff Elementary School, Dr. Jennifer Bubser at Strayer Middle School, and K. Eric Thompson at the Sixth Grade Center.

Bradley, principal at Tohickon Valley Elementary since 2015, replaces Thompson, who had been at Pfaff since 2014. Bubser takes over for Derek Peiffer, who left QCSD to become principal at St. Thomas More Church in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown. She had been Strayer’s assistant principal.

The moves, including the promotion of Kim Finnerty to assistant principal at Strayer, give the district a principal at each school after a year of being short-handed, as Quakertown Elementary principal Anita Serge and high school assistant principal Karen Shanton were not replaced last summer. Peiffer agreed to double up as principal of both Strayer and the SGC, with the aid of Chris Roth, a Teacher On Special Assignment, handling the day to day role of administrator at the SGC.

Last year’s closing of Milford Middle School and the closing of TVES in June, part of a two-year budget strategy to close the structural deficit, enabled the district to bite the bullet for a year on administrative personnel and work with less than what was needed.

“That strategic plan has worked out perfectly from a financial perspective though the restructuring had an emotional toll,” Superintendent Dr. Bill Harner said. “Our community should feel very confident with the wonderful leaders in place at each school to make sure our buildings run properly and help our students succeed.”

Besides Bradley, Bubser and Thompson, the district’s veteran principals are David Finnerty at the high school, Scott Godshalk at Neidig, Adam Schmucker at Trumbauersville, Michael Zackon at Quakertown, and Nicole Zuerblis at Richland.

Please click here for more information.