Midway Manor’s beloved snack shed will remain untouched, Allentown School Board members said Thursday as they approved the purchase of 10 classrooms worth of modular space to expand the Sonia Sotomayor Dual Language Immersion Academy in the neighborhood.
The district’s plan to construct a 9,856-square-foot modular building to accommodate the next phase of Sonia Sotomayor’s buildout had run into community opposition due to reports that it would require the demolition of an adjacent maintenance building which houses a community concession stand that funds soccer programs and park events.
However, consulting engineers told the school board Thursday that revised project sketches now include a 23-foot gap between the modular building and the snack shed.
Numerous Midway Manor residents pleaded with the board during public comment to find a way to expand the school without impacting the park, calling its soccer field and the concession stand that funds its programming “the heart of our community” while also expressing support for Sonia Sotomayor’s students.
Alice Romberger, vice president of the Midway Manor Community Association, noted the plethora of community events held at the park, including Trunk and Treat and Easter egg hunts. The concession stand helps support a soccer program that currently enrolls 100 children ages 5 to 17 and helps keep participation fees low, she said.
Calling the potential replacement of the snack shed with a portable trailer “unacceptable,” Romberger said any drastic change to park operations “perhaps will destroy the Midway Manor community.”
Midway Manor residents had also expressed their concerns at Tuesday’s Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Planning Committee meeting and at a community association meeting earlier in the month. That sparked media coverage which frustrated Allentown School Board President Andrene Brown-Nowell, who said Thursday she felt “the press was weaponized against us” prior to any actual decision being made.
“I don’t want to say I’m upset,” Brown-Nowell said. “I want to say I’m very concerned with the way this was handled.”
Brown-Nowell urged residents to work together to meet the needs of students, saying she is open to attending community association meetings and gathering input from neighbors as Sonia Sotomayor’s expansion proceeds.
A pair of bilingual second graders were among the speakers who encouraged the board to remain steadfast in its commitment to the dual language academy.
“I can talk and help others in two languages,” Miracle Santo said, noting that the school has helped her grow, become strong and believe in herself.
“I hope Sotomayor can grow so more students can learn like me,” she said.
Representatives from several community organizations also used public comment to endorse the school, including the Casa Guadalupe Center. Fiscal officer Bajen Nije read a letter from the center that called Sotomayor a “historic step forward” and said it is the first time that bilingualism and biculturalism has been intentionally nurtured as assets for all students.
Nije urged school board members to “continue investing in a program that is transforming lives.”
The school currently serves 146 students in preK-2 and will add up to grade 5 by the 2028-29 school year. Long-term plans include the addition of middle school grades to achieve a preK-8 academy.
Allentown Superintendent Carol Birks reminded the meeting audience that the school district owns the park property, asking the solicitor to explain the district’s development rights.
The main reason to avoid a delay is the timing of the school year, not any potential project cost increases, Birks said, as the district wants to move students into the new modular classrooms by August as it adds another grade to the current site.
“As a matter of law, the issue is relatively simple,” district Solicitor Jeff Sultanik said, noting that the district has the “full right and title” to do what it wants with the property.
Board member Evette D’Amore expressed conflicted feelings. She serves as a volunteer coordinator for the Midway Manor sports program.
“As a community, we need to work together to figure this out,” D’Amore said. She said the current operation of Midway Manor and its park resulted from a “handshake agreement” in the 1950s that was designed to create the feeling of a New England village centered around green space.
D’Amore called that a “simpler time but an honorable time.” Sultanik said “handshake agreements” have no force of law.
Despite saying during the committee meeting discussion that she did not feel she could vote for the resolution authorizing the modular purchase, D’Amore ultimately endorsed the resolution. It passed 8-0, with board member Denzel Morris absent.
The approved contract authorizes the board to spend up to $1.6 million to purchase classroom space from Boxx Modulars.
The Allentown Planning Commission is scheduled to discuss the Midway Manor project at its March 10 meeting.