Stop being your own worst enemy

From the BCCT this morning, there are two items. First is the "Financial Suicide" editorial and then a guest opinion from Greta O'Keefe. Greta has appeared in several entries on this blog previously. Many of you are going to see her name and turn the page muttering, "Yeah, well, she was FOR the NEW SCHOOL!" Wait. Give her a minute and read anyway.

This was one of the tactics that the Stop the School people used very well: Make the most simplistic argument (Stop the School) and say noting else. It worked and they won.

Now, when it's time for their plan, there is none. The "old" school board had a plan, thought out their activities, and proceeded accordingly.

Now, the "new" board is cutting textbooks (Men on the moon? Really?), cutting the technology budget, downsizing the special education services, not replacing teachers and principals, AND, they gave the money back. We have literally nothing to show for years of work and $4.5 million dollars in costs.

This is going to give you a double whammy. First, you will get a tax break this year, but that's only because the costs of the bond for the new school are gone. Did you notice that your taxes have NOT returned to the levels that they were at pre-bond? That's because the costs have gone up and more needs to be paid for.

His Highness, William I, has already decreed that taxes WILL go up next year by some 45 mils. So the tax "cut" of about 20 mils for this year is temporary. Next year, it will be back and DOUBLED. Don't forget. The students will all be crammed into a single K-12 building that is NOT designed to hold those age groups.

So your taxes will rise and your home's value will drop because of the lack of a modern school system.

Is this what you wanted when you voted to Stop the School? Higher taxes and lower property values? It's certainly what you got. The school board is now controlled by the same people who "run" our town. No vision, no future, and no changes. Just the sound of self centered power hungry individuals chattering endlessly with no goal, running the progressive-minded people we desperately need away with their foolishness.

Budget slashing in Morrisville
Financial suicide?
The Morrisville school board is flirting with lawsuits and sanctions as it cuts programs and people.

Is the Morrisville school board trying to commit financial suicide? Some folks think so.

They believe that the new majority on the board, elected on a promise to torpedo a new $30 million K-12 school, wants to sink the district financially as well, and force the state to take over the district. Board decisions have done little but feed that suspicion.

Consider that the board chose not to take advantage of the exception to raise taxes above the state limit, leaving members no choice but to cut proposed spending increases in next year’s budget. While doing so is music to taxpayers’ ears, some spending increases essentially are mandatory, which is why the state offers exceptions to the tax limit.

For example, districts have no choice but to provide costly special education programs. With more special-ed students enrolled next year, Morrisville’s special-ed bill naturally will spike. Still, the board chose to slash the spending increase needed to keep pace.

Board members also reduced spending increases for alternative schools and will consider staff cuts, including not replacing a principal leaving one of the district’s two elementary schools.

The cutbacks would reduce the average tax bill by about $300.

This would be a commendable accomplishment in most districts and also startling. But the Morrisville board is flirting with state sanctions and possibly a lawsuit, the only recourse special-ed parents would have if the district does not provide programs to which their children are entitled. Board members need to calculate the cost of possible litigation and sanctions before formalizing decisions that could come back to haunt.

Indeed, dozens of residents attending last week’s board meeting voiced concern that the spending cuts would hurt the district and ultimately their children.

“How are we going to survive?” asked one concerned parent at last week’s meeting. That question among others went unanswered as the board’s dictatorial chairman, William Hellmann, and supporting cast members sat mute in the face of criticism. Hellman, likewise, did not return our reporter’s phone calls the next day.

Said minority board member Joseph Kemp, “Not to respond to these parents, these concerned citizens, is really disrespectful.”

It is that and much, much more.

In conclusion, we turn to today’s Guest Opinion writer, Greta O’Keefe, a former school board member, who urges Morrisville citizens and officials “to rise up and demand better of yourself. Have some dignity and stop being your own worst enemy.”

GUEST OPINION
Morrisville citizens: Stop being your own worst enemy
By GRETA O’KEEFE

Morrisville was settled in 1624, and it’s been settling ever since...

I have owned a home here for six years, and haven’t seen much change, other than more cigarette shops exist than when I moved in, and another exciting plan for revitalization was destroyed. How embarrassing!

Morrisville, it is time for you to wake up and see that the town won’t fix itself, and fighting against everything isn’t the answer. You have successfully stopped a money-saving new school, considered opening a burlesque theatre on our main street, and now you voted against a riverfront complex that would have produced jobs and tax revenue.

If you think shooting this in the foot doesn’t discourage future investors, think again. Morrisville is on a slippery slope and the school district will continue to increasingly suck the money out of our wallets, no matter who runs it (into the ground), until someone brings an actual tax base into this community.

I see many parallels between myself and the people of Morrisville, even the town itself. I grew up in a poor neighborhood and often believed I didn’t have a future. I come from a family where college wasn’t “for people like us,” that you work your life away just to survive.

As a young adult, I believed it, and cleaned houses, waitressed and nannied, but always hoped there was more potential for a better life. I finally realized the best way to meet that potential was to go to college. But how would I pay for it? I took out loan after loan putting myself through school, something that many thought I could never do, including myself at times.

Sound familiar? Morrisville is struggling to revitalize without much council support, and in case you still think it’s possible, Pennsbury won’t touch our school district for all the money in the state. Almost half of our town is now rental property, our high school test scores are an embarrassment, our council doesn’t put enough money into improving our town, and all anyone does is complain about what things might cost IF we actually did something about any of it. Many residents, for some reason, accept this and are insulted when anyone says it could be better.

The point is, I was willing to invest in myself and my own future and it changed my life. Yes, I am still paying off loans, but when they are paid, I will have already reaped the reward, with the best yet to come, not to mention the pride I gained throughout the process of improving myself.

See the parallel?

Morrisville, you need to rise up and demand better of yourself. Have some dignity and stop being your own worst enemy. You need to stop distributing blame for your tax bill and start working toward a solution. I am disgusted that 82 percent of our town’s voters elected the current school board.

Morrisville, why do you continue to vote for people who keep you down? You listened to the fear tactics of the very people that hold you back by kicking out the people that were trying to lift you up. You need to stop blaming the young folks in town for your problems and start inviting new people to come in and build.

Turn off your TVs, improve your property, and get involved. Go to school board meetings and make the members improve our district! Go to council meetings and demand improvement to our blighted main street! Make the board and council work for you! Better yet, run for office against them. Stand up for your town and stand up for yourself. You have definitely settled for far too long...
Greta O’Keefe, Morrisville, is a former member of the Morrisville school board member.