Turn District Over to Charter School, Resident Says

A Langhorne resident has proposed an out-of-the-box idea for the Neshaminy School District.

At Tuesday night’s school board meeting, Neshaminy School District taxpayer Charles Alfonso proposed turning all of the district’s schools over to MaST Charter School. Alfonso said the district's students are not getting a proper education and many have trouble because of “undereducation.” The Langhorne resident and frequent school board attendee offered his “heartfelt apology to Neshaminy graduates who struggled through college due to their education.” He cited the MaST Charter School’s praised teaching methods and modern technology which have helped make the school one of the top charter programs in the state. In his message to the board during public comment, Alfonso firmly said that he believes 80 percent of the district’s teaching …

•  6 Comments
• Photos (1)

Neshaminy Students Compete in FBLA Competition

Students from the Neshaminy School District will next compete on the state level.

Provided by the Neshaminy School District: On January 7, Neshaminy High School's FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) Club competed in the Region 12 FBLA Competition at Bucks County Community College. Neshaminy High School's FBLA Club is proud to announce the names of 37 students who won or placed in various business and computer application events. This competition was attended by numerous Bucks County high schools. On April 15, 16 and 17, Neshaminy will attend the FBLA State Competition at the Hershey Lodge, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Business, Computer and Information Technology Department will be attending with 17 of the regional winners. We wish them success as they compete at the state level. State winners will have the …

• Photos (1)

Neshaminy Students Take Part in King Day of Service

The students of Neshaminy's Maple Point Middle School put together over 1825 meals and 847 breakfast bags for the elderly and the shut-ins of the area.

Dr. Martin Luther King Day was not just a day off for students at Maple Point Middle School. The students and staff from the Middletown school and Our Lady of Grace took part in the Day of Service by cooking and preparing 1825 meals and 847 breakfast bags for those in need, according to the school district. The meals were cooked and packaged at the Aid for Friends kitchen in Philadelphia. Meals prepared by the 250 students and staff were sent to elderly residents and shut-ins throughout the area, the district said. The Maple Point Student Council help collect funds and food for the project. This was the 11th year the school has prepared food for the Day of Service. Other recent news about Volunteers:

• Photos (1)

Neshaminy Residents Discuss Potential School Closures

A member of Neshaminy's Citizens Advisory Committee presented information to the school board and public about possibly school closures.

Members of the Neshaminy community and school board  Pete Spera, a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee, presented what the committee looked at in terms of enrollment trends and what the group's final recommendation to the school board was Tuesday night. When presented with two options for school closures and consolidations, the committee went with a third, or hybrid, option of the two. The ultimately recommended closing three elementary schools (Lower Southampton, Oliver Heckman and Samuel Everitt), building a new elementary school at the current Tawanka site on Brownsville Road and adding a larger addition to Pearl Buck Elementary School. This addition, Spera said, would give Neshaminy flexibility when it comes to redistricting as …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Police & Fire

Police, District Say High School Threat 'Not Credible’

Rumors began to fill social media platforms Thursday and police were brought in to investigate gun threats at Neshaminy High School.

Middletown police have additional resources devoted to Neshaminy High School after rumors a student involved in a fight planned to bring a gun to school on Friday spread rampant Thursday. The district said an investigation by law enforcement and administrators found the threat to be "not credible." "Unfortunately the rumor has continued, fueled mostly by unrelated events, the Sandy Hook Tragedy and the pending 'End of the World' on 12/21/12. It moved to social media sites Thursday afternoon and just took off," the district statement read. The school worked with police throughout Thursday afternoon and evening to gather details on the threat. In a phone message to parents, the district thanked students, parents and staff for reporting the …

• Photos (1)

Neshaminy Teachers to Vote on School Board's 'Final Offer'

The NFT leadership will bring the Neshaminy School Board's "final offer" before the rank and file teachers for a vote.

During what the Neshaminy School Board called "perhaps the most productive negotiation session ever," the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers informed them that the board's "final offer" will be brought before the rank and file teachers for a vote. According to school board President Ritchie Webb, this final offer is based on the Council Rock School District contract. If the union members approve this offer, the school board will release the details of its proposal to the public for review and comment and will then vote on the proposal at a public meeting. However, if the offer is not approved by NFT membership, the board will withdraw the proposal. "The fate of these negotiations now rests solely with the NFT. The decision to end this …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

'Disagreement' Slows Talks Between District and NFT

Wednesday night's negotiation session did not produce much results, according to statements from both the school board and union.

Wednesday night’s meeting between representatives from the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers and the school board yielded little results. “Disagreement on several issues has significantly slowed the momentum of the talks,” the NFT said in a statement. The board, headed by Richie Webb, said in a statement that the two sides “discussed and reviewed the current 69 NFT issues in their most current revised format given to the Board at 10 p.m. last night (Tuesday) via email from the NFT President.” “Despite the substantial economic concessions offered by the teachers, the Board refuses to seriously consider a number of important issues that are critical to the educational quality of Neshaminy schools,” according to a NFT statement. “While the NFT…

• Photos (1)

Neshaminy Contract Talks Continue

Representatives from the Neshaminy School Board and Neshaminy Federation of Teachers continued teacher contract negotiations Thursday night.

Negotiation teams for the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers and Neshaminy School Board continued teacher contract talks Thursday night. In their 62nd negotiation session, both sides met face-to-face for about an hour during which they discussed the 69 open items, including equal say and past practice, that the NFT presented to the board November 26.  In a statement, school board President Ritchie Webb said that board provided the union a detailed written response to all 69 items. Both parties will meet again Dec. 12.

• Photos (1)

NHS Interact Club Hosts District-Wide Toiletry Drive

The high school service club is collecting items for families forced out of their homes following Hurricane Sandy.

Neshaminy High School's Interact Club has extended its annual toiletry drive until Nov. 16 in order to help families that were forced out of their homes following Hurricane Sandy. "Every year the Interact Club at Neshaminy High School runs a Toiletry Drive for Needlework Guild of America. We were just about to wrap up our drive when Hurricane Sandy hit so we decided to extend the campaign and broaden it to include other schools in the district," club advisor Suzi Drake told Patch. The high school, all three middle schools in the district, Joseph Federbar, Oliver Heckman and Herbert Hoover elementary schools as well as the district's Facilities Department are now involved in the drive, she said.  The club is collecting items that are used …

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)