Central Bucks Superintendent: "We're Not Closing A School"

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Central Bucks School District on Thursday put to rest months of speculation and uncertainty over the fate of Linden Elementary School.

During a demographics update presented before a large turnout of residents gathered inside the auditorium at Central Bucks High School West, Superintendent Dr. Abram Lucabaugh announced that the administration would be recommending to the school board that all 23 of the district's schools remain open, including Linden.

"We're not closing a school," said Lucabaugh.

The announcement brought immediate cheers and applause from the audience, made up mostly of Linden parents, supporters and employees who had come out to the meeting ready to fight for their school.

"I'm not going to lie. I thought that might happen," said Lucabaugh of the applause.

A second roar of applause erupted when Lucabaugh revealed that the administration's second recommendation would be to bring full-day kindergarten to the district beginning with the 2025-26 school year.

Superintendent Dr. Abram Lucabaugh addresses the auditorium full of residents.

In addition, the superintendent said the administration would be recommending a significant grade level realignment that will move the district to a K-5 elementary, 6 to 8 middle school and 9 to 12 high school grade level configuration. That change would also be effective with the 2025-26 school year.

Moving the ninth grade to the high school will afford those students more opportunities and puts them on a level playing field with their peers across the region, the state and the nation, said the superintendent.

"Ninth grade students would have access to high school level courses. Students in the ninth grade that want to take AP, they can do that," said Lucabaugh. "They will have access to high level science courses .... and an incredible number of course offerings. In addition, they will have access to our arts, our music, theater and sports. Access, opportunity and choice becomes very real."

The same would be true for middle level students, said Lucabaugh. "The access to arts, electives, to extra curricular activities, to music, to drama, band and chorus and athletics. It helps them to better transition," he said.

The grade realignment will open up space at the elementary level to bring in a full-day kindergarten program, Lucabaugh told the gathering. The district currently offers only a half day program - a morning or an afternoon session.

"We are thrilled and excited by this," said Lucabaugh. "This really signifies one of the biggest changes systemically in our district in the last 25 years. The last time we had a systemic change like this was the move to block scheduling at our high schools.

"This is a lot. And this is a big lift," he said. "But if there is anyone who can do it it is our staff and our faculty with the support of the district. I am very excited at what this will mean to our students in terms of their access and opportunity and choices they will have."

The grade realignment was recommended by Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates (CRA), a demographics firm hired by the school district to analyze enrollment trends, efficiencies and the utilization of space across the district and to provide recommendations.

CRA also recommended the closure of Linden Elementary School, which sparked a response from the Linden community. "Save Linden" signs sprouted on front lawns throughout the community and residents attended meetings at Doylestown Borough Hall to ratchet up the pressure.

Immediately following the fall recommendations by CRA, Lucabaugh said the administrative team, the cabinet and the district's finance and facilities departments came together to take a deeper dive into the CRA study and recommendations.

During that deeper dive, the administrators took into account "Portrait of a Graduate," which represents the key competencies and characteristics each student should have upon graduation. Lucabaugh refers to that as the district's "North Star," the guiding influence of district decision-making.

"The question that guided our work was, 'What's going to best position our district to be successful,'" said Lucabaugh.