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  • Resident sues over public pool deal | Inquirer Greater Abington

    Hi, Greater Abington. 👋

    A Cheltenham resident has filed a lawsuit against the township alleging a $4.5 million project for a new public pool complex illegally circumvented the standard bidding process. In other news, some families in the township are nervous about the school year fast approaching as the district looks to move past its football scandal.

    Plus, a new local police chief also led one of the area’s most famous criminal investigations, and more news of the week.

    — Laura Smythe (greaterabington@inquirer.com)

    P.S. We want your feedback! Tell us what you think of this newsletter by taking our survey or replying to this email.

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Cheltenham resident files lawsuit alleging township’s $4.5M pool deal breaks bidding rules

    Cheltenham Township last month made a deal with a private developer to pay up to $4.5 million for three public pools and a new 5,000-square-foot building by Ashmead Road and Front Street. But a resident filed a recent lawsuit alleging the agreement violates public bidding rules.

    The lawsuit also scrutinizes township commissioners’ arrangement to lease the land to the developer for $10 per year.

    In response to public questioning, township officials wrote in an FAQ posted last week that Cheltenham had “received estimates from multiple pool consultants indicating that constructing a comparable standalone replacement pool would cost approximately $6-8 million.”

    The Inquirer’s Jess Rohan digs into concerns about the project and where it goes from here as the lawsuit moves through Montgomery County courts.

    Cheltenham parents and students are nervous ahead of the school year

    The first Cheltenham school board meeting following charges surrounding two high school locker room assaults in 2025 was an emotional one. Officials sought to address families’ concerns last week by laying out next steps, such as new leadership and an independent review of policies.

    Despite officials’ attempts to ease frustrations, many are expressing a lack of confidence in the board’s response and whether it will be effective.

    As a result, some Cheltenham families are anxious as the new school year approaches — as does the Aug. 27 preliminary hearing for three football coaches and two players charged as adults in the scandal.

    💡 Community news

    • Cheltenham’s new police chief, Richard Schaffer, will be sworn in tomorrow night. He is a longtime crisis negotiator who previously headed the township’s gun violence task force and led the 2005 criminal investigation into Bill Cosby.
    • A 59-year-old Philadelphia man was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in state prison by a Montgomery County judge last week after fatally shooting his wife on their way home from a family party in Rockledge in February, The Inquirer’s Vinny Vella reports.
    • The first phase of SEPTA’s bus network overhaul begins on Sunday, including Route 72, a new crosstown bus running along Cheltenham Avenue.
    • Overnight paving in Cheltenham Township will close a lane on Church Road between Township Line Road and Route 73 from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. through Friday. Milling will close a lane during the same hours on Ashbourne Road, Montgomery Avenue, and Central Avenue between Washington Lane and Route 73.

    đŸ« Schools briefing

    • Nearly 850 people responded to the recent community survey on the design for Abington’s forthcoming middle school, which faces a final step in the permitting process with the board of commissioners on Aug. 27. 
    • New cameras were installed in Cheltenham High School’s parking lot, athletic fields, and administration building, and building access procedures were updated, administrators said during the district’s first facilities committee meeting of the new school year. Both moves come in response to recommendations following an assessment conducted last school year.
    • The recently uncovered Cheltenham High School locker room assaults and student-on-student incidents at Cheltenham Elementary are linked in a longstanding, problematic culture district-wide, Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski writes. They’re also part of a larger pattern in youth and high school athletics at other schools, he argues.

    đŸœïž On our plate

    • The Pita Pocket Eatery in Cheltenham Township at 582 Cottman Ave. has permanently closed, ending its more than 14-year run.

    🎳 Things to do

    đŸ–Œïž KidFest 2026: Discover future Picassos at the annual exhibition, where young artists will show off their creative works. ⏰ Thursday, Aug. 20, 6-8 p.m. đŸ’” Free 📍 Abington Art Center

    đŸȘ„ The Cajun Sensation: Will you be tricked by New Orleans magician Michael Dardant? To find out, check out one of his Glenside shows, complete with hand mastery, improv comedy, and Cajun charm. These shows are meant for ages 16 and up. ⏰ Friday, Aug. 21 and Saturday, Aug. 22, 8 p.m. đŸ’” $35-$45 📍 House of Magic PA, Glenside

    đŸ§© Casual Puzzle Party: Put the pieces together with like-minded community members seeking a low-key way to kick off the weekend. ⏰ Saturday, Aug. 22, 10-11 a.m. đŸ’” Free 📍 Abington Free Library

    📚 Philadelphia Book Crawl: Capricorn Books in Jenkintown is participating in the region-wide event, including offering specials. ⏰ Saturday, Aug. 22, times vary đŸ’” Pay as you go 📍 Locations vary

    đŸ¶ Paint Your Pet: Bring your own food and drinks to this guided session. Email instructors a picture of your furry friend ahead of time, and they’ll sketch an outline for you. ⏰ Tuesday, Aug. 25, 6:30-9:30 p.m. đŸ’” $60 📍 Painting With a Twist, Jenkintown

    🏡 On the market

    A 20th-century Tudor with a patterned brick exterior

    The exterior of 7941 Park Ave. in Elkins Park, PA

    Step into this six-bedroom, four-bathroom Elkins Park home through an original wooden door from its 1902 build. Details throughout the house include French doors, wainscoting, custom built-in bookshelves, stained glass, and window seats. There is a chef’s kitchen equipped with double sinks, ovens, and dishwashers; an island; and both a pantry and butler’s pantry. Outside offers a front porch, rear deck, stone-edged garden beds, walking pathways, and mature trees.

    See more photos of the property here.

    Price: $739,900 | Size: 4,746 SF | Acreage: 0.23

    📈 Greater Abington market report

    Abington

    • Median listing price: $492,000 (down $7,900 from June) 📉
    • Median sold price: $525,000 (up $102,500 from June) 📈
    • Median days on the market: 36 (up seven days from June) 📈

    Jenkintown

    • Median listing price: $372,000 (same as June)
    • Median sold price: $480,000 (up $10,000 from June) 📈
    • Median days on the market: 57 (up 24 days from June) 📈

    Cheltenham

    • Median listing price: $475,000 (up $26,500 from June) 📈
    • Median sold price: $455,000 (down $15,000 from June) 📉
    • Median days on the market: 36 (up nine days from June) 📈

    This Greater Abington market report is published on a monthly basis. Above is data for July from realtor.com.

    đŸ—žïž What other Greater Abington residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • What you need to know about SEPTA’s bus route changes

    What you need to know about SEPTA’s bus route changes

    The first phase of SEPTA’s bus network overhaul begins Aug. 23, and Brandon Miller is mobilizing hundreds of employees for a final push to meet face-to-face with riders in the days leading up to the changes and during the first week after they take effect.

    “It’s a blitz,” said Miller, manager of planning programs at SEPTA, describing discussions at “pop-ups” as an effective way to help people navigate the new network.

    “This is the evolution of the ‘Bus Revolution,’” Miller said.

    Unlike some transit agencies, SEPTA has not done a comprehensive redesign of its bus network in its 58-year history. The agency has publicly pushed to do so since 2021, but change was delayed by opposition, political wrangling, and, later, a two-year fiscal crisis.

    Originally the “Bus Revolution” was supposed to happen all at once, but SEPTA ultimately decided to phase in changes to routes.

    The process has been quieter this time around.

    Dan Nemiroff, SEPTA’s director of city service planning, , said people are more open to the need for changes, especially after SEPTA had to shut down bus routes last year because of a budget deficit. A court ordered those cuts reversed, and the agency later received an infusion of cash from PennDot.

    “I think there’s more willingness to accept the fact that 
 we need to make the bus network a little bit more efficient,” Nemiroff said. “We need to make the system more attractive for people.”

    In the first wave, 30 routes will be affected in some way.

    Some routes with low ridership or that duplicate nearby service will be eliminated. Others will be extended or run more frequently, and two new routes will be added.

    What routes will change?

    New and expanded routes: Route 72, a new crosstown bus running along Cheltenham Avenue, and the new Route 76 bus from Columbus Commons to Rising Sun and Olney. Route 45 will be extended to provide service to the Navy Yard, and Route 79 will be extended from South Philadelphia into University City.

    Eliminated routes: 35, 47M, 62, 78, 80, 89, and 106.

    I have specific questions. How can I ask SEPTA?

    There will be a Zoom session on Aug. 19 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Register here to attend.

    Miller said the talk is informally called “back-to-school,” with more discussion of the changes’ effects on students than in previous meetings.

    SEPTA has a webpage dedicated to Phase One changes, as well as an overview of the New Bus Network.

    Riders can call SEPTA customer service at 215-580-7800 or email specific questions to planning@septa.org.

    I want to talk to someone in person.

    Beginning Monday, street teams will conduct “pop-up” visits at key transit hubs at various times between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.

    Next week, visits will include South Broad Street and Snyder Avenue, Cedarbrook Plaza, Hunting Park Station for changes to Route 53, Spring Garden Station, and Willow Grove Mall.

    Staff are also attending community events.

    When will changes happen?

    The majority of changes will take effect Sunday, Aug. 23, followed by the Route 105 extension and elimination of Route 106 on Monday, Aug. 24.

    What areas are most impacted?

    How can I find alternative routes?

    SEPTA’s website provides alternative routes. Look up your route here.

    What other changes are planned?

    Phase 2 changes are planned to begin in February.

    Phase 3 changes are planned to begin in June 2027.

    Phase 4 changes are planned to begin in Fall 2027. Many details are still being worked out.

    Why redesign the bus network?

    SEPTA launched its bus redesign efforts in earnest after ridership declined 13% from 2013 to 2019, a drop attributed to slow speeds, reliability problems, and competition from ridesharing companies. And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Bus ridership rebounded faster than it did on other transit services, but SEPTA’s thinking is that simplifying the network will make it easier to use, with more frequent service on fewer or shorter routes.

    Will bus stops be changed?

    Stops will disappear during the first phase on routes that are eliminated, but there will be no wholesale changes yet.

    Philadelphia had the shortest median distance between bus stops of any large U.S. city as of 2021, at 564 feet. Pittsburgh’s median distance was 623 feet, while Chicago’s was 673 feet.

    Having more stops per mile provides access to more people, but closely spaced stops can also slow buses and make them less reliable.

    Early plans for Philadelphia’s bus network redesign aimed to “rebalance” stops by spacing them farther apart to improve speed. But the idea has been unpopular.

    SEPTA may revisit the issue later.

    More questions about the New Bus Network?

    Email transportation reporter Thomas Fitzgerald at tfitzgerald@inquirer.com.

  • Cheltenham’s new police chief is a longtime crisis negotiator and played a key role in the Bill Cosby case

    Cheltenham’s new police chief is a longtime crisis negotiator and played a key role in the Bill Cosby case

    Cheltenham’s new police chief is a longtime crisis negotiator who led one of the township’s most famous criminal investigations.

    Richard Schaffer will be sworn in as Cheltenham’s new police chief next week to replace John Slavin, who is retiring after 37 years with the department. The salary range for the new chief was listed as $180,000 to $195,000 in the township’s job posting.

    Schaffer has led a variety of community policing efforts in his 26 years at Cheltenham, spending more than two decades as a crisis negotiator and heading the township’s gun violence task force.

    In 2024, he embedded a county mental health worker into the police department to assist in cases with behavioral health concerns.

    Schaffer, who holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from St. Joseph’s University, made the case for community policing in a speech at a school board meeting this week.

    The new chief takes the reins at a tumultuous time for Cheltenham School District, which has faced a range of safety concerns in recent years — most notably two alleged assaults in a high school locker room last year that led to criminal charges for four football coaches and six players.

    “We have not lived up to our shared ideals. We must acknowledge the victims from recent cases, and we must promise to do things better not only for them but for future students,” Schaffer said.

    “I would urge parents and the board to commit to a greater partnership with the police department.”

    Some Cheltenham residents have advocated for removing a physical police presence from schools in recent years.

    Schaffer pledged at the meeting to “push back on some of those who sought to drive the police from the schools.”

    “Police interacting with students, faculty, and staff is a good thing,” Schaffer said. “We want to be proactive by leveraging information and our relationships to get ahead of problems.”

    District spokesperson Kevin Kaufman did not answer questions Friday about the current status of security programs at Cheltenham schools.

    Schaffer also led the 2005 investigation into allegations that Bill Cosby drugged and assaulted Andrea Constand at his Cheltenham home.

    Although the Montgomery County district attorney declined to press charges at the time, the case was reopened in 2015, and Schaffer was eventually called to testify.

    He testified in 2018 that he had believed Constand’s allegations at the time, and still did.

    Cosby’s conviction was overturned in 2021 on procedural grounds.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Cheltenham is starting a new school year just weeks after locker-room assault charges. Parents and kids are nervous.

    Cheltenham is starting a new school year just weeks after locker-room assault charges. Parents and kids are nervous.

    Some Cheltenham families are anxious about the new school year that begins Aug. 31, because it feels like the last year, marked by uncertainty and pain for many, hasn’t ended.

    After a 15-year-old football player was allegedly assaulted twice in the locker room last August and September, the community hung in limbo for months, with no punishments for anyone involved while district and county investigations rolled out.

    Now, Cheltenham is heading into what would have been a fresh start just as a flurry of conclusions finally arrived: criminal charges for four coaches and six players, a grand jury report finding the district mishandled the assaults, and the superintendent’s resignation.

    Five of those charged are set to appear at a preliminary hearing on Aug. 27.

    “We are coming to school in the next three weeks. What is the plan for the morale of all the kids that have been affected?” Francis Brown, the parent of a senior, asked at a school board meeting this week. “Should the seniors expect to come and sit on the lawn for Senior Sunrise and see news cameras in their face?”

    Some families are afraid to say they’re from Cheltenham, residents said at Tuesday’s board meeting, which was the first public forum for the school community since the charges were brought.

    “Half our parents don’t want to wear anything that says Cheltenham on it, because they’re embarrassed,” Shelley Gaither, the president of Cheltenham Elementary’s parent-teacher association, said at the board meeting. “Because they get asked questions, they get looked down upon.”

    And the interim superintendent Chris McGinley, whose selection was announced at the meeting, will lead an administration that many families say has repeatedly failed to address safety concerns across grade levels.

    This year’s staff may include three people referred to the Montgomery County grand jury report as Employee #1, #2, and #3, one of whom texted about dissuading the victim’s mother from visiting the school. Texts also downplayed the assault allegations, according to the grand jury report.

    Cheltenham is trying to move past its football scandal. Here’s what happens next.

    The district has not answered questions about the status of the three employees.

    Officials emailed parents on Aug. 13 that Vice Principal Mark Hoff — to whom the victim’s mother said she first reported the assault allegations — will be staying at the high school, instead of moving to Wyncote Elementary as planned, for continuity during a turbulent time.

    The school board said Tuesday an outside attorney will be reviewing all safety policies and the board will review all sports programs in the district in the coming weeks.

    The district has also enlisted the Bucks County Intermediate Unit to audit the human resources department, and Cheltenham is checking that all staff have current child abuse and criminal history clearances after the grand jury report found five of the coaches weren’t up to date last year.

    But families are still worried what the school climate will be like in September.

    “I asked [my kids] how they felt about going to school, and they’re nervous,” a member of the high school’s parent-teacher association said at the Tuesday meeting. “Not just for safety concerns, but for the environment of the school 
 My oldest said ‘I’m worried the teachers will be upset.’”

    A coalition of parent groups presented a list of joint demands at the meeting that includes a town hall on school safety, first-day assemblies on sexual assault, hazing, and bullying by age group, and a community-wide survey assessing district leadership.

    And the Saturday before schools starts, the Cheltenham African American Alliance plans to hold a “Together We Can Change Their Tomorrow” march at 8 a.m. from the administration building to the high school, president Ikysha Dearry announced Tuesday.

    “We have to take back our power as people,” Dearry said. “We have kids who will be coming through these doors in the next two or three weeks.”

    Staff writer Maddie Hanna contributed to this article.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Cheltenham made a deal with a developer to build a $4.5M pool complex. A lawsuit alleges they’re breaking bidding rules.

    Cheltenham made a deal with a developer to build a $4.5M pool complex. A lawsuit alleges they’re breaking bidding rules.

    Cheltenham Township is buying a pool complex from a private developer for up to $4.5 million, which a resident’s lawsuit alleges violates public bidding rules.

    The township commissioners approved a contract last month to lease 2.7 acres by Ashmead Road and Front Street to Melrose Pool LLC for $10 per year. Cheltenham agreed to pay up to $4.5 million for three public pools and a 5,000-square-foot building that Melrose Pool will build under the lease agreement.

    Matthew Areman, president of the seven-member Cheltenham commissioner board, vowed this week that the township would share additional details in the “coming weeks and months,” but a lawsuit filed July 22 in Montgomery County Court by Cheltenham resident Sam Thacker alleges the agreement is illegal. He claims it bypasses competitive public bidding laws that would normally apply to a town’s public pool, and wants a county judge to void the contract and issue an injunction to halt the project.

    A Montgomery County judge has given Cheltenham and Thacker until Aug. 21 to file their legal arguments, but time is short: Under the lease, the township has to decide on a final pool plan by the end of August.

    What the suit alleges

    Areman said last year the pool parcel is worth several million dollars, according to the commissioner board’s meeting minutes.

    If the township is leasing that land to the developer for just $10 per year, Thacker said, he believes the lease agreement also violates Cheltenham’s township code, which requires the use of “a system for obtaining independent appraisals 
 to assure that the township is obtaining adequate compensation” when skipping bidding on real estate leases. Thacker told The Inquirer he was unable to find a fiscal assessment for the pool project through Right-to-Know requests or a town spokesperson.

    Township officials declined to explain the legal reasoning behind the leaseback agreement with Melrose Pool.

    But in an FAQ posted this week, officials wrote Cheltenham had “received estimates from multiple pool consultants indicating that constructing a comparable standalone replacement pool would cost approximately $6-8 million.”

    Holly Fishel, the policy and research director for the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, who did not comment on Cheltenham specifically, said she had heard of leaseback agreements with townships before but was not sure of the legal mechanisms. In situations where a township is doing construction work on land it owns, “you would need to be doing the bid,” Fishel said.

    But in this case, a private company is doing the work on land it has leased.

    “That can’t be right that you can just evade public bidding requirements by saying something is a lease when it’s clearly a public construction project,” Thacker said.

    Cheltenham is paying up to $4.5 million for three pools

    A preliminary plan for the Melrose plot includes three pools of different sizes, but the July 15 lease notes that the developer is to provide a final plan by this week.

    The township will then have two weeks to approve or deny the final pool plan.

    Upon completion of the work, Cheltenham would pay up to $4.5 million for the new pools, or pay an additional rent up to $382,500 per year until the township comes up with the $4.5 million.

    The two-week timeline for the township to approval a final pool plan is what led Thacker to file his lawsuit.

    “The contract is structured essentially to rush this forward as quickly as possible,” Thacker said. “We have no idea if $4.5 million is a good price.”

    The figure is cheaper than the $6.1 million estimated in 2023 to redo the Conklin Pool, which the Melrose pools would replace in 2027. The township has one other public pool, in Glenside.

    But other residents have questioned whether it is even possible to build three public pools for $4.5 million, given the Conklin pool estimate.

    Private development planned beside pool

    The pool is part of a larger redevelopment of the former Melrose Country Club — at 116 acres, one of the largest properties in Cheltenham — that includes new townhouses and commercial space.

    The lower price tag for the new Melrose pool comes in part from construction efficiencies, Cheltenham wrote this week, since the property will already require site preparation, grading, and utilities for the new buildings.

    The property’s developer, an LLC associated with BG Capital, gave the township the 2.7 acres for free last December to advance public welfare and for an unspecified “advantage” to the developer.

    BG Capital and the LLC’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment, but court filings Tuesday for Melrose Pool LLC argued that the bidding process Thacker cited under the state’s procurement code does not apply “to the landlord/tenant relationship” between Cheltenham and the LLC because the code applies only to state agencies.

    Melrose Country Club project changed

    Some residents, including Carl Freedman, have raised concerns at public meetings about the larger project. An earlier plan included both a pool and a community center, Freedman said, and would have allowed more much-needed commercial space.

    Cheltenham’s recently approved long-term township plan calls for bringing in more business to bolster the struggling tax base.

    Freedman, an architect who sits on the Cheltenham Planning Commission, said the panel no longer supports the project and is sending the township a letter to that effect.

    “The loss of the community center is what is making the retail unmanageable,” Freedman said, because the center would have drawn potential shoppers to the site. “This project has taken a left turn.”

    Chloe Mohr of the Montgomery County Planning Commission, which reviews local development projects and offers recommendations, said the county commission plans to release a new review of the revised plans late next week.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • The hazing at Cheltenham follows a pattern seen at other schools. The district missed its chance to stop it.

    The hazing at Cheltenham follows a pattern seen at other schools. The district missed its chance to stop it.

    The connection was obvious for anyone who cared to see it.

    One parent after another stepped to a lectern at a Cheltenham school board meeting Tuesday night, each of them bemoaning the district’s handling of either the recent hazing scandal within the high school’s football program or a string of student-on-student assaults at Cheltenham Elementary. The alleged hazing led to criminal charges against four coaches and six players and was brutal: teammates holding down a 15-year-old sophomore so they could step on him with football spikes and poke at his buttocks with a broomstick. The alleged assaults at the elementary school, involving children in kindergarten and second grade, involved conduct and comments that were sexual in nature.

    Leah Mulhearn, the board’s president, announced that the district would review its safety policies and that “football will not return until we address this,” only to duck behind the protective shield of the passive voice — “Mistakes were made” — when it came time to assign responsibility for the dual disasters. The anger among the meeting’s attendees was palpable and universal, and it was justified. These are not two crises on distinct, parallel tracks. They are linked, and there is no separating them.

    As Cheltenham’s superintendent resigns, families say safety problems extended beyond football program

    It was impossible, after listening to some of those parents describe the abuse accusations at Cheltenham Elementary, not to think, What kind of school leaders ignore these incidents? The kind likely to ignore a parent who reports a violent attack in the football locker room. The Cheltenham school district has a culture problem, and that problem isn’t new. Does that assertion seem outlandish? It isn’t. In youth and high school athletics, certain patterns, even the worst kind, tend to repeat and perpetuate themselves.

    “It seems some sort of disconnect,” the author Hank Nuwer, who for decades has been tracking hazing-related incidents and deaths, once told me. “You have to look at it from the outsider position and the insider position. The outsider sees it as sadistic. The people on the inside have the disconnect, particularly if they’ve gone through it themselves. ‘This needs to be done because it has been done to me. So we’re doing it to someone else.’”

    Go to 2002, to Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, where two football players were charged with sexual assault after allegedly holding down a 15-year-old teammate and slapping him in the face with their genitals.

    Go to West Chester’s Arrowhead Day Camp in 1966. The Roman Catholic High School football team was there for training camp. In a hazing prank, three players carried sophomore Lamonte Jenkins to a swimming pool sometime after the pool’s 8:30 p.m. closure, threw him in, then scurried back to their bunks. Jenkins drowned.

    Go back to Pittsburgh, in 1962, when Richard Metz, 16, tried out for the Allegheny High School football team and, after the first day of practice, stayed out of the locker room showers to avoid being hazed. The next day, when two players wielded a pair of scissors and threatened to cut his hair, Metz pulled out a .22-caliber pistol that he had ordered in the mail and fired three shots at the players, hitting one of them in the right thigh. Six weeks later, Metz shot himself.

    In 1962, Richard Metz shot a gun at two football players who attempted to haze him at Allegheny High School.Newspapers.com

    A “psychiatrist’s report showed that Richard had an inability to meet a crisis,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Alvin Rosensweet wrote on Oct. 1, 1962, the day after Metz’s death. “He felt he was only defending himself when his teammates goaded him into shooting.”

    A young, troubled man who brings a gun to school 
 and turns it on other students 
 then dies by suicide. It doesn’t sound like something from the distant past. It sounds like the sort of atrocity too common in our time.

    Yes, these episodes are anecdotal. They’re also predictable without proper oversight from the adults who are supposed to be in charge, without awareness and understanding of the conditions that can create them. One would think the omnipresence of smartphones and social media and the possibility that such abhorrent acts would be captured on camera and blasted out to the world would serve as deterrents to hazing. They don’t, and the additional, necessary guardrails didn’t exist at Cheltenham and don’t in too many other locker rooms. Incidents like these seem rare, but there’s no telling how often they actually occur.

    The Cheltenham High hazing incident is another failure of adult leadership. When does this stop?

    “How likely,” Nuwer said, “are students to report this?”

    They’re not likely at all. The victims are often too humiliated to reveal the abuse, and you can be sure that the perpetrators won’t be quick to confess. Somehow those lasting lessons weren’t delivered to enough Cheltenham football coaches and players, and based on the abuse parents described Tuesday night, those responsible for the district’s youngest students need to learn them, too.

    There will be a review of the district from an outside attorney, and the high school football season has already been canceled, just as last season’s was. These are half-measures, and too late at that. Curtailing such cruelty comes down to stopping it before it starts, to cultivating an environment where everyone understands that there will be consequences for those who don’t meet the baseline for basic human decency.

    It takes elected leaders who actually lead. It takes educators and administrators who wield wisdom and compassion and discipline in the proper proportions. It takes parents and students with the willingness to speak up, and it takes parents who have the strength, the humility, and the self-awareness to recognize that their children might be causing the chaos — and who take the steps to stop it. It takes a lot of elements that right now seem in short supply in the Cheltenham school district.

    This column has been updated to reflect the outcome of one accusation of hazing.

  • Cheltenham is trying to move past its football scandal. Here’s what happens next.

    Cheltenham is trying to move past its football scandal. Here’s what happens next.

    As it faced parents and community members during an emotional meeting Tuesday, the Cheltenham school board laid out several steps to address concerns about the scandal over the 2025 locker-room assaults that led to criminal charges against four coaches and six players.

    The board announced new leadership — with plans to appoint veteran educator Chris McGinley as interim superintendent — and an independent review of district policies, with recommendations to follow in 60 days.

    But questions remain about how the board will respond to the district’s alleged mishandling of the situation, including by employees faulted in a grand jury report. Parents on Tuesday, including some who have alleged the district’s safety problems extend beyond the football program, voiced skepticism of the board’s promises.

    The district will pay former Superintendent Brian Scriven, who resigned last week, as part of a separation agreement, according to a spokesperson, but terms have not been disclosed.

    Here is what happens next as the board deals with the aftermath of the criminal charges announced two weeks ago, and the lack of confidence expressed by community members:

    A former superintendent returns

    The board said it plans to tap McGinley, a longtime educator who served as Cheltenham’s superintendent in the early 2000s, to lead the district following Scriven’s resignation.

    McGinley, who more recently worked as an education professor at Temple University, will be appointed by the board at a special meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., district spokesperson Kevin Kaufman said Thursday.

    Chris McGinley, center, and Angela McIver, right, at a meeting of the Philadelphia Board of Education on Jan. 30, 2020.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer

    McGinley, who began his education career as a teacher in Philadelphia, joined Cheltenham in 1999 as an assistant superintendent, where he oversaw efforts to address the district’s racial achievement gap. He then became Cheltenham superintendent, leaving the district in 2006 before becoming superintendent two years later in Lower Merion, which he led through 2014.

    McGinley then served on the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, which oversaw the city’s schools while they were under state control. He was later named to the Philadelphia school board by former Mayor Jim Kenney, leaving the board in 2020.

    McGinley could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

    Scriven had received a new five-year contract in December. Kaufman said in an email Thursday that “the terms and conditions of Dr. Scriven’s separation agreement will be negotiated (in accordance with Dr. Scriven’s contract and applicable law) and approved publicly at a future meeting.”

    An outside lawyer’s review

    The board has enlisted Leigh Dalton, an education attorney based in York, Pa., with the Saxton & Stump firm, to review its policies and procedures and produce recommendations to the board in 60 days.

    Board president Leah Mulhearn said Tuesday that the review would “include consideration of the grand jury’s findings and how to address them.”

    None of those findings were discussed by the board Tuesday. In a scathing report accompanying the recommendation of criminal charges, the grand jury accused the district of “incompetence” while describing the actions of three employees at the high school.

    Taryn Knox (left) speaks to School Board President Leah Mulhearn and Director of Business Joshua Sweigard during the Cheltenham School Board meeting in Elkins Park on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. The school board was meeting for the first time since criminal charges against four football coaches and six players were announced, and since Brian Scriven resigned as superintendent. .Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    The trio — labeled in the report only as Employees #1, #2, and #3 — texted one another after the mother of the 15-year-old victim reported her son’s assault on Sept. 7. One said the student had a “chip on his shoulder” from not making varsity and said he had steered the mother away from coming to the high school in person.

    The employees also indicated they trusted the head coach, Terence Tolbert, and did not believe the mother that Tolbert — who, along with three other coaches, has since been charged with conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child — had instructed the victim not to tell his parents what had happened. The report said the district then included Tolbert in its investigation.

    Asked about the status of the three employees, Kaufman said Thursday that the district “doesn’t comment on specific personnel matters.”

    On Thursday, Cheltenham High School principal Benjamin Hammond informed families that Mark Hoff, who was vice principal at the high school last year but had been reassigned to Wyncote Elementary in July, would be returning to the high school this fall.

    The player’s mother said she initially reported her son’s assault to Hoff on Sept. 7.

    “Due to the heightened environment about student safety and culture, and acknowledging community concerns, the district has decided to continue Mark Hoff’s assignment as vice principal at Cheltenham High School,” Hammond said in a message to families, adding that Hoff would “provide stability this upcoming school year.”

    Kaufman said that Dalton’s hourly rate was $265.

    Dalton was hired by Central Bucks last year to investigate special-education abuse allegations; the district did not publicly release her conclusions.

    “While communications between counsel are privileged, the board does intend to report out on the recommendations that she makes where appropriate,” Kaufman said.

    Football is still canceled

    The board will also be reviewing all athletic programs, “top to bottom,” Mulhearn said. And there is no timetable for when football, which the district already canceled in May, will resume.

    “Football will not return until we address this, no matter how long it takes,” Mulhearn said.

    Safety changes

    Mulhearn said some safety changes were already underway. The district is “ensuring that all staff members have current criminal history and child abuse clearances on file,” she said. The grand jury report had said that at least five of the district’s football coaches last year were not up to date on clearances related to child abuse reporting requirements.

    She also said the district was “communicating and reinforcing coach expectations and plans for improved locker-room supervision.” While there was an office in the football locker room, coaches did not use it last season, leaving players unsupervised, according to the grand jury report.

    Cheltenham has “begun implementing” recommendations from an audit by the Center for Safe Schools, Mulhearn said. She also said the board had retained the Bucks County Intermediate Unit “to audit our human resources function.”

    Some parents of football players recently told The Inquirer they had urged the district not to hire Tolbert, who they said was hired as coach without an interview because he was already a teacher in the district. The district has not responded to questions about Tolbert’s hiring.

    The Cheltenham school board meeting Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Elkins Park.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    The criminal cases

    Three coaches and the two players charged as adults by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office will face a district judge at a preliminary hearing scheduled for Aug. 27. (Ralph Burnley, the fourth coach charged, has not yet been arraigned in the case, and there is no indication he has hired an attorney. He did not respond to a request for comment.)

    The four players charged as juveniles will face separate proceedings in juvenile court that are not open to the public.

    At the preliminary hearing for the other defendants, prosecutors will present evidence to the judge to support the charges through witnesses. Defense attorneys will be given the opportunity to cross-examine those witnesses and make arguments to the judge for their clients’ innocence.

    After the hearing, the judge will determine whether the prosecution has proved the validity of the charges and, if so, will send the cases to county court.

    Staff writer Jess Rohan contributed to this article.

  • Cheltenham school board promises frustrated parents it will ‘move with deliberate speed’ to rebuild trust after locker-room assaults

    Cheltenham school board promises frustrated parents it will ‘move with deliberate speed’ to rebuild trust after locker-room assaults

    The Cheltenham school board said it would review safety procedures and assess the culture in all of its athletic programs as it pledged to rebuild community trust after an explosive grand jury report condemned the district’s response to the assaults of a football player last season in a high school locker room.

    The attacks on the 15-year-old, which took place in August and September 2025, “arose in the context of a culture of intimidation and acceptance of violence,” board president Leah Mulhearn said Tuesday night at the board’s first meeting since criminal charges were announced against four coaches and six players.

    Mulhearn, who also announced that veteran educator Chris McGinley would be tapped as interim superintendent, promised the board would move quickly to fix problems.

    The district already canceled the 2026 football season in May. “Football will not return until we address this, no matter how long it takes,” Mulhearn said.

    Parents, who lined up behind a microphone in the district’s administration building awaiting their turn to speak, expressed skepticism and demanded more from the board after a grand jury report accused the district of endangering students through a failed response to the assaults, one of which was captured on video.

    In emotional comments, some parents said their children had been assaulted in the schools, while others questioned how they could believe the board, when they had warned against hiring a coach who has since been charged with conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child.

    “We entrusted our children to this district,” said Chowan Cowans, who withdrew her son, a rising senior and former Cheltenham football player, because “I don’t feel safe with him being there anymore.”

    Cowans accused the district of a lack of transparency, which “has to mean something when the truth is uncomfortable,” she said.

    PTO president Stephanie Curry (center) waits in line to speak during the Cheltenham School Board meeting in Elkins Park on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. The school board was meeting for the first time since criminal charges against four football coaches and six players were announced, and since Brian Scriven resigned as superintendent. .Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    ‘Mistakes were made’

    The board has been navigating the fallout since Montgomery County prosecutors nearly two weeks ago announced the charges in the locker-room assaults and delivered a stinging assessment of the school district, with a grand jury report accusing it of “incompetence” in its handling of the situation.

    Employees at the high school appeared to minimize the Sept. 3 assault after it was reported to them by the 15-year-old victim’s mother, according to the grand jury report. They also took the head coach, Terence Tolbert, at his word that he had not instructed the player not to tell his parents what happened, and they included the coach in their investigation — which failed to uncover that there were two assaults, the report said.

    It also noted that employees were also confused about their mandatory reporting requirements.

    On Tuesday, Mulhearn said that while the board “may differ with the grand jury with respect to some of its findings about how the district and board responded, the hard truth is that we must acknowledge that mistakes were made.”

    Mulhearn said the board would “move with deliberate speed to address these issues.” She said the board would enlist an outside attorney, Leigh Dalton — who was hired by the Central Bucks School District last year to investigate special-education abuse allegations — to review the district’s policies and procedures and make recommendations within 60 days.

    She did not comment on Superintendent Brian Scriven’s resignation last week. Some parents questioned whether and when the board’s position on Scriven had shifted, after the board praised the superintendent’s leadership in May.

    A district spokesperson did not respond to a question this week about whether Scriven, who received a new five-year contract in December, would receive any payout following his resignation.

    Nor did the board indicate whether it was considering taking action against any employees at the high school. One parent, for instance, asked whether Mark Hoff, the former vice principal at Cheltenham High School, would still become the vice principal at Wyncote Elementary, in light of the grand jury report faulting high school employees.

    Taryn Knox (left) speaks to School Board President Leah Mulhearn and Director of Business Joshua Sweigard during the Cheltenham School Board meeting in Elkins Park on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. The school board was meeting for the first time since criminal charges against four football coaches and six players were announced, and since Brian Scriven resigned as superintendent. .Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    The board, which appointed director of business services Joshua Sweigard acting superintendent on Tuesday, will hold a special meeting next week to appoint McGinley as interim superintendent, Mulhearn said. McGinley previously led both the Cheltenham and Lower Merion districts and more recently served on the Philadelphia School Reform Commission and Philadelphia school board. His most recent position was as the faculty program coordinator of the Educational Leadership and Policy program at Temple University.

    Parents’ pleas

    Parents urged the board to commit to more steps. In a joint statement, the United Parents Group, the Special Education Alliance of Cheltenham, and the Cheltenham African American Alliance called for numerous actions, including a community town hall ahead of the first day of school and an assembly on the first day “to enforce a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment, bullying and hazing.” They also called for safety data to be a part of every school board meeting.

    “We are demanding a fundamental shift in how our school district operates,” Aubria Nance, reading from the groups’ joint statement, told the board.

    Numerous parents from Cheltenham Elementary, who have been pressing the district to address safety concerns they say have affected students and staff, questioned how the board’s response this time would differ.

    “Every time I hear a commitment to our students’ safety, I want to see the proof,” said Erin Fadako, a parent at the school.

    The Inquirer reported last week that some football parents had urged the district not to hire Tolbert, saying he had allowed bullying while previously serving as head coach in Abington, where he left after one season.

    “Everyone from the administration on down that has failed these students, you all have approved them to be hired here,” said Taryn Knox, who was among the football parents who had asked the district not to hire Tolbert.

    After a year of negative news coverage, Knox said, “we’re now about to go into the next school year, and the news is still here.”

    The Cheltenham school board meeting Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Elkins Park.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    As they voiced their frustration, parents pleaded with the board to make real changes.

    “Stop being risk averse and do what you need to do to make it safe for our children,” said Stephanie Curry, president of the high school’s parent teacher organization. “Our kids are the ones that are suffering.”

  • Cheltenham’s got a plan for 2040 | Inquirer Greater Abington

    Hi, Greater Abington. 👋

    I hope you’ve been surviving the summer heat. This week, we dive into Cheltenham Township’s new comprehensive plan, which lays out a vision for what it could look like by 2040. We also continue to follow the ongoing turmoil in the Cheltenham School District, where elementary school parents now say they’ve flagged concerns about alleged sexual and physical incidents since October.

    Plus, a new Yemeni- and Saudi-inspired concept (with a drive-through!) opens in Willow Grove, and other news.

    — Laura Smythe (greaterabington@inquirer.com)

    P.S. Our journalists want to solve the local mysteries that keep you up at night. Submit any questions you might have about the region to Curious Greater Abington, and we’ll see if we can dig up some answers in a future story.

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Cheltenham’s plan for 2040

    Cheltenham Township’s new comprehensive plan lays out challenges and recommendations for homes, businesses, transportation, community services, and historical assets over the next 10 to 15 years.

    Among the dilemmas facing the township is navigating the need for more tax revenue while avoiding too big a boom of new residents. That’s because many of the large estates in Cheltenham belong to non-property-tax-paying institutions.

    The Inquirer’s Jess Rohan has all the details on the 2040 plan, including which neighborhood hubs have been identified for more development and why the township may be drawing inspiration from 1990s-era Ardmore.

    Following Cheltenham superintendent’s resignation, families say safety problems extend beyond high school

    The Cheltenham School District remains embroiled in controversy as families in the township allege safety issues aren’t confined to the high school. Here’s the latest:

    Superintendent Brian Scriven resigned last week after two violent assaults in the high school locker room led to charges against four football coaches and six players. But Cheltenham High School football families repeatedly warned against the former head coach’s hiring because of allegations that he allowed bullying to fester in his prior coaching position at Abington Senior High School.

    Cheltenham Elementary parents now say they’ve been raising concerns to administrators since last October over multiple alleged physical or sexual incidents affecting students. The district has not commented on the status of any other administrators. Its school board meets tonight.

    The Inquirer’s latest reporting on the ongoing tumult examines how the district is struggling to contain the alleged mishandling of these incidents.

    💡 Community news

    đŸ« Schools briefing

    • In the wake of the fallout from the Cheltenham locker room assaults, Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski unpacks the incidents through the lens that they are yet another example of failed adult leadership in youth and high school sports.
    • University of Pennsylvania education professor Jonathan Zimmerman shares a perspective on the prevalence of hazing at institutions across the U.S. over the years.
    • Valencia Peterson, who has more than a decade of experience working in violence prevention through youth sports, pens an op-ed about how the Cheltenham incidents should prompt schools and athletic organizations nationwide to ask, “Could this happen here?”

    đŸœïž On our plate

    • Mazaj, a Yemeni- and Saudi-inspired cafe slinging coffee, pastries, and za’atar-topped flatbreads and pizzas, recently opened in Willow Grove. It plans to debut a drive-through later this month.

    🎳 Things to do

    📚 Silent Book Club: At this dream event for introverts seeking new pals, get comfy with a good book and read alongside your neighbors. ⏰ Friday, Aug. 14, 4-6 p.m. đŸ’” Free 📍 Jenkintown Library

    đŸŽžïž Movie Under the Moon: Take a trip back to good ‘ol 1993 with an outdoor viewing of The Sandlot projected on the big screen. ⏰ Friday, Aug. 14; movie starts at dusk đŸ’” Free 📍 Conway Field, Abington

    đŸŽČ Game Night: Show off your skills or learn to play a variety of board and card games. ⏰ Monday, Aug. 17 at 6:30 p.m. đŸ’” Free 📍 Elkins Park Free Library

    🏡 On the market

    A cozy Colonial with character

    Inside 124 Kingston Road in Cheltenham, PA.

    Tucked away on a tree-lined street in Cheltenham, this stone-and-brick house comes complete with a fireplace, partially finished basement, and details such as exposed beams and a bay window. It has five bedrooms and four bathrooms, including a private first-floor suite with a full bathroom and separate entrance.

    See more photos of the home here.

    Price: $549,000 | Size: 3,667 SF | Acreage: 0.25

    đŸ—žïž What other Greater Abington residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • How could Cheltenham look in 2040? The township calls for more businesses, community spaces, and may adopt a lesson from Ardmore

    How could Cheltenham look in 2040? The township calls for more businesses, community spaces, and may adopt a lesson from Ardmore

    Cheltenham Township’s latest long-range plan, approved last month, provides a glimpse of how the township of 38,000 could look by 2040.

    The Montgomery County Planning Commission, alongside officials and volunteers from the township — one of Philadelphia’s oldest suburbs — spent several years on the plan, said Carl Freedman, a Cheltenham planning volunteer.

    “Communities like Cheltenham have a difficult time, being so developed, that being given an opportunity to direct where new development goes is helpful,” Freedman said.

    The comprehensive plan, which exceeds 200 pages, lays out challenges and recommendations, ranging from streetlights to denser housing, for the township’s homes, businesses, transportation networks, community services, and historical assets over the next 10 to 15 years.

    More business, more tax money

    Many of Cheltenham’s residents still commute to Philadelphia, but more people are working from home after the pandemic, creating opportunities to welcome new restaurants and other businesses, planners wrote.

    Which is sorely needed, because Cheltenham wants more tax money without a ton of new residents.

    One of the challenges for the township, which has very little undeveloped land remaining, is its large proportion of institutional properties — universities, churches, and other nonprofit entities — that do not pay property tax, planners wrote: “Institutions such as non-profits or higher education have taken over many of the large estates in the township. This supports the preservation of these historic and beautiful places but at the same time has real impacts on the tax revenue of the township.”

    Plans to attract business include reviewing rules for home-based enterprises, identifying opportunities to convert some of the parking spaces at large shopping centers into sites for new shops, and piloting a program to bring more food trucks to major commercial streets.

    More main streets, more trees, slower traffic

    The comprehensive plan identifies several neighborhood hubs with potential for more development that Cheltenham could encourage by slowing traffic with road narrowing and other measures, and adding decor to draw foot traffic into town centers.

    Glenside and Elkins Park East top the list for main street revitalization, according to the plan. Wider sidewalks on Glenside Avenue and decorative lighting on Wesley and East Glenside Avenues could be part of the solution, planners wrote.

    Public art and infrastructure marking the entrances to the downtowns could also help to give these neighborhoods a sense of place.

    Tree cover is also key, the planners wrote — both preserving existing foliage and planting new trees in hotter, exposed areas, like the parking lot at the Elkins Park Square mall.

    Denser housing, more pedestrians

    Cheltenham has plenty of multifamily apartments compared with other Montgomery County towns, making up about a third of residences.

    But putting additional dense housing in the right locations could liven up Cheltenham’s downtowns without adding too much traffic, planners wrote, by encouraging public transit use.

    Putting more apartments above existing storefronts would create taller buildings that balance out some of the township’s wider streets, encouraging pedestrian traffic and patronage of local businesses, the comprehensive plan notes.

    Planners pointed to a similar approach Ardmore took in the 1990s as a model: “Through the Downtown Ardmore District’s work and an increase in multifamily residences in the vicinity of the business district, the neighborhood has experienced increased redevelopment and economic vitality without sacrificing its historic character.”

    Cheltenham could build more attractive bus shelters and benches to further encourage mass transit, and add bike parking at SEPTA Regional Rail stations.

    The township is also considering encouraging more accessory dwelling units, allowing residents to add in-law suites and other small homes to their existing property.

    Tookany Creek in Elkins Park, PA pictured on Monday, April 11, 2022.

    Fresh community spaces

    Cheltenham’s municipal buildings are old: In 2022, the average age of township facilities was 117.

    The township’s administrative building is located in the former home of the Breyer’s ice cream family, Freedman said — and it was built during World War I.

    Cheltenham closed two of its libraries several years ago after boilers failed in both buildings, but plans to renovate only one, La Mott Free Library. The document does not mention plans to rehab the second, East Cheltenham Library.

    The township also plans to continue connecting trails along Tookany Creek and making those trails bike-friendly, and to consider preserving more historic buildings, such as Glenside National Bank.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.