Cheltenham School District board approves permanent closure of Elkins Park School

The Cheltenham School District Board of School Directors voted to approve the administration's recommendation to permanently close Elkins Park School beginning with the 2025–26 school year during a hybrid special meeting on May 27, 2025. The motion was made by board member Daniel Schultz and seconded by Zachary Epps; the board carried the measure by voice vote after a public hearing on Feb. 26 and a 30-day written comment period that the administration said produced no written comments.

The final administrative plan approved by the board keeps rising fifth-graders in neighborhood elementary schools for 2025–26, relocates the district's EPIC (Empowerment Program in Cheltenham) to a newer wing of the Elkins Park building, and moves rising sixth-graders into modular classrooms for the 2025–26 school year (with sixth grade remaining at the modular site for 2026–27). The modular placement is intended to allow construction of a new sixth-grade wing at Cedar Brook Middle School, scheduled for completion in fall 2027.

"Our final recommendation is for school closure, and this has shifted from our February 26 recommendation slightly," Doctor Savage said while presenting the administration's finalized proposal and implementation details. The presentation included classroom and staffing reassignments, special-education adjustments, extracurricular plans, transportation and food-service arrangements, and a moving timeline.

Why it matters: the decision restructures where grades 5 and 6 will be housed, alters staffing assignments across elementary schools, and advances two capital projects the district said are needed to right-size capacity: a 19-classroom addition at Cedar Brook Middle School and a six-classroom (approximately 8,000 sq. ft.) addition at Glenside Elementary School. District presenters said those…