Lower Merion School District, or LMSD, is a public school district located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The school district includes residents of both Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth. Established in 1836, LMSD is one of the oldest districts in Pennsylvania. It is the wealthiest school district in the state, and one of the wealthiest school districts in the country.[2]
Belmont Hills Elementary School (originally the Ashland Avenue School)[7][8]
Belmont Hills Elementary closed in 1981,[9] but by 1996 the district considered reopening it or Narberth Elementary, though the district leadership was closer to supporting the reopening of Belmont Hills elementary, as reopening Narberth Elementary meant that LMSD would have had to reacquire the building, which it could not do in a manner the district leadership felt was timely.[10] Belmont Hills Elementary closed in 1981,[11] By 1998 the school district re-established an attendance boundary for Belmont Hills Elementary, which included the northern Narberth, with that section taken from Cynwyd Elementary. This meant that students began to have longer times to travel to school. The organization "Parents Against Gerrymandering," made up of parents from the borough, sued the school district to try to stop the rezoning.[12]
Cynwyd Elementary School
Beginning in 1978, the school's attendance boundary included sections of Narberth borough, after the closure of Narberth Elementary,[13] and prior to the reopening of Belmont Hills Elementary School.[14]
Bala Elementary School's second building opened in 1974, and the school closed in 1978.[20] The second building had an open classroom plan.[21] Various private schools used the building after the closure of Bala Elementary.[20]
Narberth Elementary School closed in 1978.[21] The school district gave the school to the borough government, and an engineering company rented the building.[22] The lease agreement had a stipulation in the event that LMSD needed additional school space.[23] In 1996 the former school was still being used as an office facility. That year the district considered reopening it, but the district leadership was closer to supporting the reopening of Belmont Hills elementary, as reopening Narberth Elementary meant that LMSD would have had to reacquire the building, which it could not do in a manner the district leadership felt was timely.[10] People living in Narberth did not significantly advocate for the reopening of Narberth Elementary.[14]
Wynnwood Road Elementary School closed in 1978.[19]
In February 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed against the school district, alleging that Harriton High School had been secretly using remotely activated webcams built into laptops issued to their students to spy on the students in their homes, thereby infringing on their privacy rights.[24] The webcam picture-snapping function was part of an anti-theft mechanism to help locate laptops that were reported by students as stolen. This function was activated by the school district on numerous occasions without adherence to the established guidelines. The lawsuit was filed by the parents of a student who had been warned by Lindy Matsko, an assistant principal, that he had been engaging in "improper behavior" in his bedroom. The schools admitted to snapping over 66,000 pictures and screenshots, including webcam shots of students in their bedrooms.[25][26] However, no individuals were found guilty of spying.