Limekiln-Simmons School Property Sale Opposed

HATBORO / HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —Residents are expressing opposition to the Hatboro-Horsham School District's impending sale of the Limekiln-Simmons property.

At its meeting earlier this month, the school board heard from six people who protested that the sale is "a betrayal" of Dorothea Simmons’ gift to the district. They want the school district to reconsider the sale and seek other educational opportunities at the location.

The 10.5-acre Limekiln Pike property was donated to the school district by Simmons in 1933 and had been used as a school and for other district uses. A sale agreement was signed in 2016 for $593,140.

The sale was delayed after John and Peggy Ambler filed suit in Montgomery County Court to block it.

The court backed the school district, but then the Amblers appealed. In December, the Commonwealth Court once again affirmed the school district's right to sell the property.

The Amblers appeared before the school board during the public comment portion of the meeting to once again ask the district to void the sale agreement.

They stated that the district should keep the property and use it as a food-and-sustainability school, rather than sell it to a developer and have houses built there.

In other school board news:

• The school board agreed to rescind the purchase of a scissors lift from Action Lift Inc. that was approved at a meeting in February over a technical error in the proposal. The board approved the purchase of a scissors lift from United Rentals for $42,750.
• The board agreed to pay $9,800 for abatement of asbestos in one classroom at Keith Valley Middle School over spring break. The move will allow the district to learn what it could be facing when the time comes for a complete abatement of the building before it is demolished.
• The board approved a contract for trash and recycling disposal with Waste Management for an estimated annual cost of $68,406. The amount could vary based on the number of pickups during the year.
• Schools Superintendent Scott Eveslage acknowledged Crooked Billet Elementary School Principal Kelli Sendel as the recipient of a Service to the Public Award that was presented by the Greater Hatboro Chamber of Commerce at the Borough Ball on March 9.