District to Present Bus Update, Options Next Week

The following letter, dated Nov. 11, 2014, was sent to the Lower Merion School District Community:

Dear LMSD Community,

As we reported over the summer, our student enrollment is at its highest levels in more than 30 years and continues to grow. In turn, the District is working to address and carefully plan for the impacts of this growth so that we can preserve the quality of the educational experience for all students. A key part of this effort is finding a long-term, comprehensive plan to address our children’s transportation needs. The administration and board are committed to executing a plan that is educationally and fiscally responsible, and sensitive to community concerns.

The District administration will present multiple options for Board and community consideration on Monday, November 17, at the Regular Business Meeting of the Board of School Directors at 8 PM in the Lower Merion Administration Building Board Room. These options have been developed with several important criteria in mind, including educational impacts, costs, future facilities flexibility and logistical feasibility. There will be continuing meetings about this topic, including a follow-up presentation to be scheduled for November 24. More information about enrollment growth and upcoming meetings on this topic will be posted on our website www.lmsd.org.

The District is exploring several external options that would require the acquisition of new property. We have reached out to various property owners over the past several months to express our interest. We are exploring possible sites in Wynnewood, Bala Cynwyd, Penn Valley and Belmont Hills.

In addition, the District is exploring several options that would make use of District property. These options include: a parking structure at LMSD’s Matsonford Road transportation facility, expanded bus parking at Harriton High School, a parking structure at Lower Merion High School and elimination of student parking at Lower Merion High School. Because none of these options would individually address all of the District’s bus parking needs, a combination of two of these options would be necessary to achieve a comprehensive plan.

We will also discuss options that were considered but are not recommended based on our criteria. Options not recommended include moving our administration to or constructing a bus parking lot on the Welsh Valley Middle School campus. We will also review other sites that have been considered but are not recommended.

It should be noted that throughout the fall, representatives of the Board of School Directors, Lower Merion Township Commissioners and Narberth Borough Council met to discuss how enrollment growth is impacting the District and the need for bus parking options. The meetings yielded a variety of ideas and opportunities, but no comprehensive plan to address all of the District’s bus parking needs. It should be clear to all parties, however, that enrollment growth has been exacerbated by a significant increase in new housing developments in our community and the growth in the student draw rate from multi-family housing units. The number of proposed multi-family units has increased 100% since 2012 and the number of proposed single-family units has increased 280% in the same time. The number of students living in existing multi-family units has increased 36% since January 2013. We are hopeful for collaboration among and between elected officials so that we can better prepare for how these and other developments may impact our schools.

• Tell Patch: Where do you think the district should park the buses?

It is imperative that we find a suitable parking location or locations for 36-39 buses. Our timeline is prompted by the need to move 24 buses off the Lower Merion High School campus by the summer of 2016 in advance of renovation of the District Administration Building during the 2016-17 school year. This would enable the District to make room for additional parking for students, staff and visitors necessitated by increasing enrollment and to comply with Township parking regulations. In addition, the District projects needing approximately 12-15 new buses to transport our growing student population. At the present time the District does not have a parking location for these new buses. A suitable parking option must be identified to provide enough time to obtain appropriate land development approvals and to ensure any necessary site work is complete.

In addition to parking considerations and the need for additional buses, enrollment growth has led to recent classroom expansion projects at two elementary schools and both middle schools and will continue to impact programmatic planning, staffing, scheduling, budgets and other key school functions.

We are seeking public feedback as we develop our transportation plan. We encourage community members to attend our upcoming meetings and share their thoughts to help inform the Board’s deliberations. You may also direct comments and questions to communitycomments@lmsd.org. The administration will not make specific recommendations regarding a comprehensive bus parking plan on November 17, but the Board may authorize studies to be completed for specific locations if there is a need for additional information.

We believe strongly that high-quality transportation service is a critical element of the LMSD experience. We intend to implement a bus parking plan that ensures the level of service our community demands and deserves.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to your input.

Sincerely,

Wagner Marseille, Ed.D
Acting Superintendent of Schools

Melissa R. Gilbert, Ph.D
President, Board of School Directors