Wissahickon district votes to close Ambler school

The Wissahickon school board voted Monday to close an elementary school despite fierce opposition from parents, local officials, a state legislator, and a federal civil rights investigation.

By any measure, Mattison Avenue Elementary in Ambler is an outlier. It serves only grades K-3, an antiquated model that complicates the district's operations. Students have to transfer to another elementary school in fourth grade and to middle school in sixth grade. The outdated building serves only 176 students, and has a single room doubling as gym and cafeteria.

Half of the students are economically disadvantaged, and 22 percent are Hispanic and 18 percent are African American - a stark contrast to their more wealthy and mostly white counterparts in Blue Bell and Whitpain.

Parents like the small-town feel and say the extra transition makes their children more adaptable. They don't see any problem with the school, the only one in the borough, and said district officials were flip-flopping on reasons to close the school.

In October, the board listed its priorities: maximizing academic achievement, eliminating the achievement gap, and boosting efficiency and accountability.

But even those who voted for closure conceded that there was no conclusive evidence that closing the school would close an achievement gap - if one even exists.

On the PSSA, the state standards test, Mattison Avenue usually scores lower than the four other elementary schools in the district. But supporters say the school performs well compared with schools with similar demographics.

Board member Barbara Ullery said she favored closure until she heard from parents, who used the administration's own data to rebut the achievement gap.

"When I got finished looking at both sets of data, I wasn't convinced we should close because of an achievement gap," said Ullery. "So I weighed finances and community," and ultimately voted against closure.

Board member Barbara Moyer agreed: "There doesn't seem to be agreement on whether an achievement gap exists, in what grades, or to what magnitude." Nevertheless, she voted for closure, she said, to save money and promote consistency.

Board President Young K. Park said repeatedly that money would not be a factor in the decision. But several board members cited "obvious" financial benefit when voting to close.

Closing Mattison Avenue would save less than 1 percent of the operating budget for Wissahickon, one of the richest districts in Montgomery County. But it would also eliminate about $3.4 million in needed upgrades and allow the site to be sold (appraised at $1.9 million).

Shady Grove, the elementary school in Whitpain that takes Mattison Avenue's fourth and fifth graders, has room to absorb all the displaced students. The realignment will allow more efficient use of space amid declining enrollment, district officials say.

Starting students at Shady Grove from the beginning might also help alleviate some tensions between the school communities.

Madison Avenue students "are treated like crap" once they get to Shady Grove, said Christine DeLaurentis, one of a group of parents who has fought the closure. "Our kids are seen as the other side of the tracks."

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating allegations that the closure of Mattison Avenue would disproportionately affect Hispanic students and that the district does not provide adequate communication to Spanish-speaking parents.

At Monday night's meeting, attendance was capped at 100, though there was space for more chairs. At one point, Park directed the translator to ask whether any Spanish-speakers wished to comment. A woman in the audience shouted, "All of the Spanish speakers are in the hallway."

During several hours of public testimony since June, not one person spoke in favor of closure. The Borough of Ambler, Montgomery County, and State Rep. Todd Stephens spoke against the measure.

The board voted 6-3 to close the school, effective in June.

Now that the Ambler parents have sharpened their political teeth, they're lining up challengers for the next school board election.

"And if you have businesses, we'll boycott them, too," one mother shouted from the back of the room.