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To: Rose Tree Media School District & Middletown Township Council
From: [Your Name] 

The Rose Tree Media School District (RTMSD) proposes to construct a 850 capacity K-1 Center on a small parcel, in a residential neighborhood on Rose Tree Road, Middletown Township.  The proposal poses serious safety, financial, and community concerns. We urge the District to engage the community in the pursuit of viable solutions that offer more practical alternatives that better serve our students, families, and neighborhoods, without creating unnecessary risks and negative impacts. 

We support full day kindergarten while protecting our children, preserving the beautiful natural landscape of this historical road, and maintaining safety and affordability for all.

Our key concerns include:

1. Safety Risks

The proposed site is too small and sits on a heavily trafficked road with limited access, poor sight lines, and nearby dangerous intersections. The location creates unnecessary risks for young children, families, and drivers. Being by the high school, many are teen drivers. 

2. Educational Disruption

A regional K–1 Center will uproot students after first grade, severing early friendships and forcing families to juggle multiple commutes and schedules.  

3. Excessive and Unjustified Costs

The project’s $84 million construction estimate omits key long-term costs-utilities, staffing, maintenance, transportation, and more. With enrollment projected to peak at only 660 students by 2034, the school is oversized by nearly 50%. Taxpayers are already burdened by a scheduled 3.5% school tax increase which does not take this project into consideration and future increases will occur to cover ongoing cost.   All in addition to the steep 23% hike in county tax in 2025 and a projected 24% increase in 2026.

4. Broken Promises and Mismatched Priorities

Board members campaigned on supporting neighborhood schools, yet this project places a large institutional building in a quiet residential area. The site is not walkable and does not integrate with the community’s character or infrastructure. A 2018 District Capacity Study prepared by Marotta/Main Architects, at the request of the school board, specifically advised against this model, citing the busing of young students and increased transportation as drawbacks.

5. Negative Environmental and Quality of Life Impacts

The project will significantly increase traffic, noise, and air pollution, while paving over green space and displacing wildlife. Valuable open land, including Penncrest fields, will be lost to parking lots and a bus access road. 

6. Lack of Transparency and Public Engagement

Many residents are unaware of the project.  A public records request was denied and an attorney was brought in, using taxpayer dollars to fight taxpayers’ right-to-know. At the April 30 meeting advertised as an opportunity for “questions and discussions”, public input was shut down. Instead of allowing residents to speak, the format was changed; attendees were handed index cards to write questions, effectively silencing community voices. 

Despite what the school district is presenting, this is not a done deal. 

We call on RTMSD to pause this project and genuinely engage with the community to identify better solutions—ones that uphold transparency, fiscal responsibility, safety, and the integrity of our neighborhoods.

FYI: Change.org may prompt to you donate to further the petition. They do not directly support our cause. Instead, please donate HERE