ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Allentown School District Board of Directors voted Thursday to approve the district’s purchase of 10 classroom units for no more than $1.6 million for an expansion of the Sonia Sotomayor Dual Language Immersion Academy.
The vote was accompanied by significant input from residents of the Midway Manor neighborhood on the city’s East Side who feared the expansion plan would lead to the demolition of the center, or heart, of their community — their snack shed.
Plans to expand the Sonia Sotomayor Dual Language Immersion Academy at 2020 E. Pennsylvania St. were reviewed by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s comprehensive planning committee on Tuesday.
The expansion plans include tearing down an existing two-classroom modular building and putting up a new, 10-classroom unit in its place.
The footprint of the new building would encroach on what LVPC planners described in their review as “an existing maintenance building,” necessitating its demolition, according to plans submitted by the district.
Residents packed the district’s finance Committee of the Whole with speaker after speaker urging officials to preserve the beloved snack shed, described repeatedly as the “heart” of the neighborhood.
“The impact of taking that way would destroy the heart of our community,” said resident Marc Stewart.
“The little building is the heart that allows our neighborhood to support sports,” said Alice Romberger, vice president of the Midway Manor Community Association.
The concession stand serves as a gathering space and fundraising hub for community events, like a soccer program, Easter egg hunt, and trunk-or-treat event at Halloween. Funds raised through events go to various sources, including the association’s sports programs.
In a letter read by her husband, Steve, Missy Couch wrote for the board to “please consider the devastating effects this would have on this community. Rethink plans for Midway Manor.”
Speaker Amy Feidler said she and fellow Midway Manor residents wanted to “be able to maintain an environment that is culturally rich for all families and individuals of all ages.”
Several young students attending the dual language program read statements of support for their school, complete with Spanish and English phrases.
“I want to keep learning at Sotomayor. I want other kids to come to my school, too,” one student said.
Jen Ramos, deputy superintendent chief of schools for the district, said the district currently has 16,226 total students enrolled: 7,891 elementary students; 3,235 middle students; and 5,100 high school students.
Of those students, the majority — 75% — are Hispanic and “represents the largest ethnic group in the district’s diverse population.”
Seventy-five percent of students are characterized as economically disadvantaged and require socio-economic support services.
Additionally, the district’s families speak 44 separate languages, with 23.9% being English language learners.
“Spanish is the predominant language spoken at home,” said Ramos.
In the district, 19.4% percent are enrolled in special education services, with nearly 1 in 5 students receiving specialized educational services.
At Sotomayor, grades preK-2 has 146 total students, 30.4% of whom receive free and reduced lunch. Of that population, 79.5% are Hispanic; .9% are Asian; 5.4% are Black; and two or more races are 14.3%. Additionally, the school has 18.8% digital language learners, and 3.6% are receiving special education services.
Officials said there has been a measurable impact on literacy growth in English and Spanish; the school has fewer “high-risk” students; they’re gaining strong reasoning and conceptual thinking in math. Additionally, the school is seeing 93% attendance and 90% family engagement.
Julie Velazquez, a parent with four children at Sonia Sotomayor Dual Language Immersion Academy, said their great-grandfather came from Puerto Rico. Three generations later, she said, “The legacy of his language and culture has been given new breath through our family’s choice to enroll children at Sotomayor.”
Speakers supporting school expansion and members of Midway Manor alike stressed the importance of working together so everyone’s needs are met.
“We need to come together and recognize this is an incredible opportunity to transform into something greater,” said Velazquez.
Flor Velez, with Puerto Rican Culture Preservation Inc., read a letter supporting Latino education. While acknowledging the difficulty of change, Velez read that “the continued growth of this school is critical for Latino families.”
ASD board member Evette D’Amore said she was not opposed to expanding the school but did not want to see a community taken out in the process. D’Amore said she volunteers as sports coordinator for the association.
“As a community, we need to work together and figure this out,” D’Amore said. She advised respecting the “handshake agreement” through which the association utilizes the land that dates back to the 1950s. The association has been using the land informally for decades and providing updates, as needed, they said.
District Solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik said the district, as the property owner, has the right to determine what it wants to do with respect to the property.
The athletic fields and snack stand are on district-owned land. Typically, interested parties apply to be granted the ability to operate on district property, officials said.
District officials confirmed no agreements are currently in place between the association and the district. Among other things, the agreements address fees, insurance and issues of liability for anything occurring on district land.
According to board President Andrene Brown-Nowell, the snack shack or “maintenance building” was not being touched. She confirmed with builder Barry Isett & Associates that the plans were reconfigured to avoid demolishing the shack.
It’s not often a proposed demolition of a small maintenance building prompts public outcry at a Lehigh Valley Planning Commission meeting.
“Any decisions going forward, we will talk with the community and Midway Manor to make sure whatever we’re doing, they’re involved in the process,” Brown-Nowell said.
A statement released by ASD after the meeting stated, “The new modular unit will be located on the Tacoma Street side of the campus. It was specifically designed as a custom-sized unit to minimize impact on the Midway Manor concession and storage areas.”
The modular classroom units are intended as a timely and flexible solution while the district evaluates and plans a larger, long-term capital project — potentially a new school facility, officials said.
In December, the district hired Barry Isett & Associates to provide professional engineering services at a cost of $101,800.
Officials said the academy must accommodate the addition of a third-grade cohort, which will exceed the capacity of the existing school building at 2020 E. Pennsylvania St. Isett’s feasibility, engineering and site evaluation services will ensure the temporary modular complex is compliant, functional and aligned with future development, officials said, allowing the district to maintain program continuity and meet growing student needs without disruption.
The modular classrooms are expected to provide immediate benefits by accommodating the additional third-grade cohort without overcrowding or disruption to learning. Officials said the climate-controlled classrooms will mirror traditional learning environments, helping students remain engaged in high-quality instruction while long-term plans are developed.
The additional space will also reduce class-size pressures, support program delivery for the academy’s model, and help maintain continuity of services, routines and school culture during a period of growth and transition, officials said.
Regarding the school expansion’s impact on the stand, Jennifer Gomez, the city’s planning director and an LVPC commissioner, said during Tuesday’s meeting that the city is aware of the concerns regarding the concession stand and that those concerns have been relayed to the school district.
The LVPC comprehensive planning committee approved adding an official amendment to the staff review, encouraging the school district to consider community impact, as well as the long-term support from Midway Manor, in the project’s final design.
Members of the comprehensive planning committee pointed out that the LVPC functions as an advisory body only; ultimately, the project’s approval rests with the Allentown Planning Commission.
Officials provided a timeline for the site layout of the 10-classroom units: The land development plan will be reviewed on March 11 by the planning commission, with land development and building permit approvals, new electrical service, site improvements and modular building assembly and connections in summer 2026. By August 2026, the district plans to occupy the new modular classrooms, and by the 2026-27 school year, the district will seek to begin Phase II planning, including the addition of grades 6-8.
According to its website, Midway Manor is located on the east side of Allentown and is bordered by Sherman Street, Columbia Street, Club Avenue and Union Boulevard.