Evesham Superintendent walks out of planning board meeting on Evans Elementary closure
What started as a mediation agreement meant to end a lawsuit between Evesham Township and its school district over the planned closure of Evans Elementary School ended with the district superintendent and several Board of Education members walking out of a planning board meeting in protest.
Evesham Township School District Superintendent John Scavelli Jr. and several BOE members were gone by the end of a nearly two-and-a-half-hour-long special meeting of the township’s planning board on June 21 where the planning board ultimately passed a resolution finding the ETSD’s plan to close Evans Elementary School was “inconsistent” with development and demographic trends that exist within the township.
BOE solicitor William Donio described the original purpose of the gathering as a “courtesy” on behalf of the BOE where Scavelli would present before the planning board regarding the Evans closure as part of a larger, recently approved mediation agreement meant to end the lawsuit filed by the planning board and township against the BOE in early May.
While the mediation agreement does not settle the debate over whether the BOE followed proper procedures in its decision to close Evans, it is meant to end the lawsuit and help all parties avoid having to expend further legal fees, which are funded for each party by the taxpayers of Evesham.
Per the agreement, the meeting began with Donio and Scavelli sitting before the planning board to represent the BOE while Scavelli gave a full presentation regarding the Evans closure that was similar to those he’s previously presented at several BOE and community meetings over the past sixth months.
Scavelli once again outlined declining district enrollment over the past 10 years, down from a peak of 5,436 students in the 2002–2003 school year to 4,440 students in the 2015–2016 school year, with future projections showing a further decline to 4,287 students by the 2020–2021 school year.
He said by closing Evans, the district would still be under the building capacity for all schools, save $1.4 million, keep all current instructional programs and keep average class sizes at less than 20 students.
Scavelli said the district does not plan to sell the school, but instead might rent it to other private schools or entities.
Following Scavelli’s presentation, township planner Leah Furey Bruder gave a counter presentation, in which she cited reports from a different demographer hired by the planning board that called into question the accuracy of the demography studies used by the BOE in its decision to close Evans.
Furey Bruder said the planning board’s demography study shows 4,459 students in the district by the 2020–2021 school year using housing numbers currently approved by the planning board, and 4,593 students using current housing numbers the planning board could approve in the future.
She said the planning board should recommend the BOE table its decision to close Evans until the BOE could review the studies she had presented.
Once the presentations had concluded, the planning board moved on to asking clarifying questions, starting with Mayor Randy Brown.
That’s when the trouble seemed to begin.
Brown opened his remarks by stating he wished to direct his questions to the members of the BOE in the audience, as Scavelli and Donio were not Marlton residents, but Donio immediately voiced his objection on the grounds that BOE members would be putting themselves in peril in regard to the School Ethics Act and board policy if they were to attempt to answer any questions, as they were not the authorized spokepersons for the district at the meeting.
Further, Donio said he anticipated planning board members might direct their questions to individual board members, which he said was prohibited by the language of the mediation agreement, which outlined all questions would be answered by “the BOE representative, with the assistance of counsel if need.”
“What I’m not going to have happen is have what was specifically discussed somehow circumvented by some type of public spectacle,” Donio said.
Brown argued that as a public meeting, all members of the BOE had the ability to speak freely if they so chose, and he continued with his line of questioning.
He went on to cite a district policy from June 2002 that said the board would “not commit itself to closing of any school facility” without having first considered appropriate information regarding pupil enrollments and having received a letter of approval from the board of education before making a final determination of whether to close a school.
Brown directly questioned if any member of the BOE had received that policy prior to the BOE’s vote to close Evans in March, but Donio once again interrupted with his objections and said in all measures the policy was complied with.
Brown disagreed.
“It is my opinion that the board had no legal right to go ahead and vote on a school closing because they violated their own school policy of 2002,” Brown said. “Their own policy of 2002 said the board must receive a letter from the Department of Education before making a final determination to close a school. They did not receive that letter because it is still an application.”
Brown continued to ask questions of individual BOE members with no response, at which point Scavelli and several members of the BOE walked out of the meeting in protest.
“Why have an agreement if you’re just going to violate it? This is now shameful. This is shameful,” Donio said.
Planning board solicitor Stuart Platt said he had never seen an instance where one public entity walked out of a meeting with another public entity, all in front of members of the public.
Platt recommended a short recess, but Scavelli and the board members who left the meeting did not return once the meeting had reconvened.
Donio remained in front of the planning board, but he declined to answer many of the board’s questions as the district is still undergoing other litigation regarding the Evans closure before the state commissioner of education.
Several members of the public also expressed frustration over the Evans closure at the meeting, citing a negative impact on their families, unknown costs if the district needed to reopen the school and the overall economic health of the town.
However, the planning chair noted the planning board does not have final authority over the decision to close Evans, and it can only make recommendations and findings as to whether the school board’s actions are consistent with the township’s master plan.
At this time, no kindergarten classes are scheduled to be held at Evans for the 2016–2017 school year, and the rest of the school is planned to close for the 2017–2018 school year.
