EAST PIKELAND — Following a “surprise” rejection of the renovations to East Pikeland Elementary last month by the township’s zoning hearing board, the Phoenixville Area School District will appeal the decision.

The school board voted unanimously Thursday to appeal on the renovation and expansion of the school, which the district believes will see an additional 200 to 400 students “over the next few years,” according to the report given by the zoning hearing board.

However, the zoning hearing board believed the project proposed by the district and its architects is a “mismatch between the character of the neighborhood and the character of the proposal.”