Textbook case: Activists fight Montco school plan

In an age of viral marketing, Methacton School District officials are learning a lesson about how a PR campaign can become toxic in a hurry.

In February, a news release heralding a unanimous board vote to consider closing an elementary school was written up and circulated by a school director.

But it was written before the meeting took place, as inquisitive parents and activists would later learn from a right-to-know request that unearthed other embarrassing documents. One mapped out a public-relations strategy, warning that an "emotional environment" required "some visible response."

The opposition already has forced the board to slow down a consolidation plan, postponing a scheduled spring vote on closing Audubon Elementary School until December.

The Methacton controversy has been a textbook example of how districts are increasingly flummoxed in managing tough decisions in an age when community members can quickly rally opposition through email campaigns and social media.

In the Rose Tree Media School District, where the firing of a popular principal ended with the principal's getting a $300,000 settlement, and Waldron Mercy Academy, a private Catholic school that dismissed a well-regarded lesbian teacher, angry parents and residents stormed board meetings and used online petitions, Facebook groups, and other social media to rally support.

In the Cheltenham School District, a coalition of parents and other residents persuaded the board to give the boot to a superintendent who fired a well-liked principal and clashed with teachers.

The uproar over the proposed closing has roiled the nearly 5,000-student Methaction district, which had been trying to move past a string of controversies. They included the 2013 resignation of a superintendent over an affair with a top staffer, a former board president's settlement of an assault suit, and this year's abrupt withdrawal of a GOP school board candidate over alleged racist and anti-Semitic posts to social media.

Superintendent David Zerbe said last week the school-closing dispute was "frustrating. There's no one in this community that wants to see a school closure, and I live in the community." Zerbe said falling enrollment and underused classrooms were driving the issue.

"It's not just about Audubon," said Ashley Wilkerson, a physician with two children at the school, who has spearheaded the opposition. "It's about our children getting a good education and not wasting tax dollars."

Activists hope the delay will give them time to kill the plan or alter it radically, arguing that closing a school could affect class sizes and special education.

A history of distrust has added fuel to the fire. Opponents say some of their skepticism is driven by the district's projection a decade ago that enrollment would increase. That led to the building of the $30 million Skyview Upper Elementary School. Instead, yearly head counts began to drop around the time Skyview opened.

District officials released a study from the Pennsylvania Economy League during the winter predicting that enrollment would continue to drop.

A proposal targeted two schools for potential closure - Audubon and Arrowhead - while Zerbe made it known that he would recommend Audubon, in part because its property seems more attractive to a potential buyer.

But many began to question the study almost immediately. "It's inevitable that if that class size enters the mid-20s," said Sherry Palodor, a parent who opposes the move, "all the great things about Methacton - the high scores - are going to go down."

It turned out that at least privately one school board, Brenda Hackett, shared those doubts, which she expressed in an email to Zerbe.

The email was part of a trove of internal documents obtained by Wilkerson through right-to-know requests.

The foes insist the documents show a carefully crafted campaign to reach a predetermined result - the closure of Audubon - with minimal public outcry.

Zerbe said some community members overreacted to what was simply smart and proper preparation by district officials.

"No forgone conclusions or decisions have been made," he said. "The documents suggest that there is concern, not only from the superintendent but from the board and the public, that we do this in a proper manner."

A committee made up of school and community members is studying options and reviewing the Economy League study.

Hackett is one of many now promising a thorough review. "We always are emotional about this," she said. "It's about our children."

But another email obtained in the right-to-know request - to Hackett from board member Kim Woodring - suggested that bridging the gulf will not be easy. "I guess," Woodring wrote back in February, "we might be entering the angry mob phase."

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@kathyboccella