The reconfigured Upper Perkiomen School Board voted Monday night to end the construction of a new middle school in Upper Hanover Township.

            Newly elected Board President Kerry A. Drake, and new members James Glackin, Melanie Cunningham, and Stephen Cunningham voted with board member Raeann Hofkin for an amended motion to terminate the project to build a new school for sixth, seventh and eighth graders on Montgomery Avenue.

            Vice President Mike Elliott, Dr. John Farris, Judith Maginnis and Joan Smith voted against the motion during the four-hour re-organizational meeting at Upper Perkiomen High School.

            A motion to pause all the work to secure funding for the project passed with a similar vote.

            "This was a very difficult decision for me to vote on," Drake said after the meeting. "It was very difficult for everyone who voted for it. This vote puts achievement over construction."

A previous motion by Farris to table the original motion to pause the project failed by a similar vote.

            School officials broke ground on the school, on a parcel near the Green Lane Reservoir, in October. Approximately $7.8 million has been spent on the project, according to Superintendent Alexis McGloin.