Dozens rally in Middletown to keep Heckman school open

Parents and their allies fighting to keep open an elementary school in the Neshaminy School District in the midst of a contentious consolidation plan staged a protest Monday night that they say was aimed primarily at a crucial swing voter on the school board.

Marty Sullivan, elected in November, has two children at Oliver Heckman Elementary School and says he is undecided about its fate, though he promised in the primary to fight the closing.

"We know who our swing vote is, and we're pushing it hard," said Janice Lewis, the parent of a kindergartner and a fourth grader at the 400-student Bucks County school and a parent-teacher organization board member.

She said the closing would leave the north end, including Langhorne, of the district - one of the state's largest, with about 9,000 students - without a grade school. The board is slated to vote in April.

Sullivan said he is torn between his neighbors' desires and cost concerns. He said his position during the general-election campaign was, "I don't want it closed, but we've got to do what's right fiscally for the district."

A coalition of about 75 people, from Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick to the Langhorne Borough police chief and a borough councilwoman, showed up at the Middletown Township offices for the rally.

Steven Mahwinney, the chief, said he had developed a relationship with the school and its students - he directs traffic in the morning, and attends concerts and sporting events there - and wants to be a positive influence in their lives.

"I want them to have a view of police officers other than what they see on the evening news," he said.

"They're going to close my school," he added. "This is the only school I got."

Staci O'Brien, a rally organizer with two children in the school, said she was encouraged to see people other than parents in the audience.

"A lot of people are affected by this," she said. "Everybody is concerned about the well-being of the school."

The district has had a penchant for turmoil in recent years.

Under the original consolidation proposal, three elementary schools - Heckman, Lower Southampton, and Samuel Everitt - were to be closed and the pupils transferred to an 800-plus-student "mega-school" in Lower Southampton Township, with fifth graders shifting to the middle schools.

Amid the initial uproar, Neshaminy closed Everitt last year but gave Heckman and Lower Southampton a one-year reprieve.

Lewis said that if Heckman grade-schoolers are transferred to the new facility, some will have an eight-mile ride to school. "We're talking a 45-minute-to-hour bus ride," she said.

She acknowledged that Heckman needs renovations, but argued that the Langhorne area is the fastest-growing sector of the district. "They'll flat-out tell you they're going to have to put a school back in some point," she said. "So why close it?"

Heckman advocates say the nine-member board, elected from three geographic sectors in the district, is known to be evenly divided.

Sullivan, a 57-year-old accountant, said he is not fazed by being at the epicenter of the storm. "Do I get some pressure? . . . Yeah," he said, adding: "I haven't had any friends turn on me, but I haven't cast a vote yet."

kboccella@phillynews.com

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