Abington School District 2025 Referendum

Abington School District 2025 Referendum Project Overview:

On Tuesday, May 20, voters in Abington Township and the Borough of Rockledge approved an historic $285 million bond referendum to fund a new middle school for district residents. Located less than an hour outside of Philadelphia, PA, the district serves more than 8,400 students each year.

Abington Middle School was originally built in 1964, and maintaining it became increasingly challenging, particularly as enrollment continued to grow. ICS was hired in 2023 to assist the district in a comprehensive long-range planning process, including:

• a facility assessment
• a demographics study
• a space adequacy assessment
• an extensive community engagement process, including resident surveys, community meetings, staff workshops, and other steps to develop the right, data-driven facility solution that best positions the district for the future.

Out of multiple facility options presented, a new middle school was selected as the best plan to present to district voters.

The new 345,000-square-foot middle school will serve up to 2,200 students and feature a modern, flexible design that supports a close-knit school community while providing a safe, accessible, healthy, and energy-efficient environment – purposefully built to meet the needs of today’s students and generations to come. Building a new middle school while students continue learning in the existing facility helps minimize disruption to students during the multi-year construction process.

Historically, the state of Pennsylvania had only seen two successful referendums in nearly two decades. This successful project paves the way for the future and will benefit students in the Abington area and the Borough of Rockledge for the next 50 to 60 years. ICS is incredibly proud of this project, and we look forward to seeing the plan come to life. Learn more about the project here.

ICS successfully partnered with Rapp Strategies, a strategic communications firm based in the Twin Cities, to oversee community research and develop/implement the plan to inform and engage community members and key stakeholders throughout this process.