Proposal to close a school roils Evesham

Evans Elementary School got a new fifth-grade wing in 2000, a new playground in 2004, and a new roof in 2011.

Soon, it might have a "For Rent" sign on its front lawn.

Evesham Township's school superintendent says closing Evans is a sensible response to the district's declining student population and mounting budgets. Next year's school budget is predicted to rise 5.1 percent over this year's, to $74.1 million.

Superintendent John Scavelli Jr. projects that closing Evans, reassigning its 498 pupils, and cutting 25 staff positions could save $1.4 million annually.

But the prospect of closing has agitated parents, members of the school board, and other officials.

"It's a bad idea," Mayor Randy Brown said last week. Closing Evans would "move kids all over town and affect everybody's families," and set a "dangerous precedent."

The board is scheduled to vote on the closing at its meeting Wednesday. Scavelli's plan also calls for laying off 20 teachers if the board does not approve the consolidation plan.

The Evesham School District operates seven elementary and two middle schools. Evans fronts Route 73 just north of Virtua Marlton Hospital.

Scavelli declined to be interviewed about his plan and did not respond to emailed questions. His administrative assistant referred queries instead to a frequently-asked questions page on the district's website, and to the PowerPoint presentation Scavelli made to the school board March 1.

In that presentation, Scavelli said student enrollment in the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade district had declined by nearly 1,000, from a high in 2004 of 5,436 to 4,440 today. A consultant's study projects that enrollment will dip below 4,000 in five years.

The declining enrollment in Evesham is in line with statewide trends. But for Rob Keltos, whose two daughters attend Evans, those statistics don't lead as inevitably to closing the school as the superintendent's plan suggests.

"His whole budget presentation appeared on its face to be objective, but it was all about closing Evans," said Keltos, who said he wants Scavelli to propose some alternatives.

"Is there Plan B?" he asked. "And shouldn't closing a school be Plan Z - the last thing you do?"

The FAQ page on the district's website suggests otherwise.

"Unfortunately," it reads, "our alternatives moving forward are limited and undesirable.

"Consolidation enables the district to maintain class sizes at the elementary level and all instructional programs across the district, while other options do not."

"If the vote to consolidate the elementary schools fails," it continues, "kindergarten class sizes would increase from 18 to 20, and grades 1-5 would increase from an average of 19 to 24. . . . This would affect all seven elementary schools and 20 teaching positions would be eliminated."

It also lists 10 programs, including "reading recovery," "basic skills," "library-media," and counseling that would be "reduced and/or eliminated completely."

In his presentation to the school board, Scavelli said closure would also result in the elimination of one administrator, 10 professional staff, and 14 support staff, but that most of these would be through attrition, not layoffs.

School board member Sandy Student said that there was no evidence Scavelli had lined up a committed tenant for Evans, and that without one his projected cost savings might not materialize.

Student said he would rather see the district sell its "old, archaic" administration building on South Maple Avenue.

Chris Zarcone, an Evans parent opposed to its closing, said the school's location in a commercial district might explain why it is being targeted.

"The elephant in the room," said Zarcone, "is that Evans sits on a prime parcel that's worth a lot of money. Maybe they don't want to admit that real estate is more important than my kids."

doreilly@phillynews.com 856-779-3841