Superintendent Outlines Old Hatboro-Horsham School Sale

HATBORO / HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —With resident opposition mounting, Hatboro-Horsham Schools Superintendent Scott Eveslage is explaining why the district is considering selling the old Limekiln-Simmons property.

At the Hatboro-Horsham School Board work session last Monday night, Eveslage gave a summary of the district’s involvement in selling the Limekiln-Simmons property.

The issue is gaining interest. A petition drive was recently launched opposing the sale.

The school board meets on Monday night when the school sale could become a topic once again during public comment.

The 10-acre property was given to the district by Dorothea Simmons in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression.

Eveslage stated that some issues regarding the school sale are involved in ongoing litigation.

He clarified the district’s sale stance and detailed the sale’s lengthy challenge by John and Peggy Ambler.

Eveslage said litigation has gone through the Montgomery County Court, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court denial to hear the case, and a return to county court and a second appeal in Commonwealth Court.

It is again before the state Supreme Court, the superintendent added.

Costs for the district associated with the legal fight have exceeded $185,000, Eveslage stated.

He said the district has a right to sell the property.

Residents are opposing the sale, saying the property betrays the intent of Dorothea Simmons’ gift that the school should be used for educational purposes.

Unless the Supreme Court rules against the district, Eveslage said the district intends to honor the agreement of sale and act in the best interest of its taxpayers by selling the property for $593,000.

Eveslage also said the district was not interested in, or capable of, funding any post-secondary educational programs.

He also said it would be "fiscally irresponsible and unfeasible" for the district to consider it.