Credit: Austin Pacheco / Unsplash.com
The proposed Fort Washington facility would lower property values, quality of life, residents say
Neighbors expressed severe misgivings about a plan to build a school bus depot near Fort Washington Elementary School during the public comment portion of the Upper Dublin Board of School Directors on Monday, Oct. 28.
The school district is seeking permission to build the more than 10,000-square-foot facility in a Class A residential, a plan residents said will lower property values and endanger public safety.
Anita Brewster, of Fort Washington, pointed out that the neighborhoods around Fort Washington Elementary consist of a mix of single unit houses and row homes, and that a transit depot would be a detriment to both safety and quality of life.
“The whole point of saying that a bus garage belongs somewhere else, specifically in a place that’s zoned commercial or maybe industrial, is to protect property values and keep residents safe,” Brewster said.
Ginny Vitella, of Ambler, called the proposed zoning exemption “grotesque.”
“I believe the school district should stop wasting our money and fighting the community that is most affected,” Vitella said.
The proposed bus depot would include 118 parking spaces for 50 school transportation vehicles, 10 grounds department vehicles and 58 staff. It would be surrounded by an 8-foot-tall fence for safety.
The next zoning meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Nov. 25 at the Upper Dublin Public Library, 520 Virginia Drive, Fort Washington, PA 19034 in the Auditorium.
In other business, the Board of School Directors approved a measure to evaluate School District Superintendent Dr. Laurie Smith based on criteria including implementation of educational technology and support for cultural expression and diversity.
The Board of Directors approved its “Superintendent’s Objective Performance Measures" for the 2024-25 Academic Year at its meeting on Monday, Oct. 28.
The Board will issue an evaluation in June of 2025 for Smith’s performance during the school year based four criteria: Strategic/Cultural Leadership, Systems Leadership, Leadership for Learning and Professional and Community Leadership.
The Board of School Directors assessed Smith as “satisfactory” in June of this year for the 2023-2024 school year, based on criteria approved in January 2024.
In other business, the school district will sponsor its first multicultural celebration on Thursday, May 22, 2025 at Upper Dublin High School. The event is being planned in cooperation with parents and details will be available soon.
