Wish List or Pipe Dream?

From the BCCT. Check out the implication of what Jack Buckman is saying: Talk all you want, but we do not have to listen.

Part of the reason for that is that there's not enough people talking. The Emperor can ignore everyone who doesn't show up.

Citizens group makes wish list
Morrisville residents are encouraged to attend the Monday’s meeting.
By MANASEE WAGH

The citizens of Morrisville want to see the district shape a master renovation strategy for its school district’s middle/senior high school and two elementary schools.

That’s one conclusion several residents reached after volunteering to help sketch out the future of the town’s 1,037 school children.

Anywhere from 10 to 35 borough residents calling themselves the Citizens Action Plan committee have met three times to discuss what they feel are key issues: finances, facilities and quality of education.

The committee’s goal is to function as a mouthpiece for the borough and formulate recommendations for the school board to consider.

JoAnn Perotti, the facilitator at meetings, said the committee would like to have a good working partnership with the school board. Perotti is the director of strategic planning for Bucks County Intermediate Unit No. 22, which supplies special education resources to Bucks schools.

To that end, at least one school board member and a minimum of one district administrator attend each meeting, bringing their own points of view and expertise to discussions.

The committee has made several suggestions, subject to modification, depending on how practical they turn out to be:

• Do not send students to other districts on a tuition basis. If the board decides to consider this option, let board members also consider the financial costs.
• Do not house all grades in one building.
• Study mechanical systems of all three school buildings.
• Ask the district to provide the committee with school information: floor plans, class size, which rooms are being utilized and a cost analysis of renovating or closing schools.
• Formulate a master plan to renovate the high school building, including a detailed facility study.
• Perform an analysis of both elementary schools to determine which is in better shape. Consider renovating it and selling the other one for needed funds. M. R. Reiter Elementary may be a better candidate for renovation, as it is more centrally located.
• Consider constructing a new elementary school on Reiter’s playground.
• Come up with a preventative maintenance plan to head off future problems.
• Replace school staff that have retired or left, and keep looking for quality administration applications.
• Keep increasing test scores.

School board member John Buckman, who attends the meetings, said structured dialogue among residents, board members and administrators is a step in the right direction.

However, the board may or may not be able to fulfill a community wish list, he warned.

“As a board member you have to look at those things realistically. How much is the board going to follow along with what the committee wants?” he said.

Residents should make their voices heard by actively participating, said resident Damon Miller. He has been attending the meetings, but the inconsistent turnout worries him, especially in light of how vociferously borough residents have made their opinions known in the past.

“I think it’s going well. We’re able to have actual conversations between board members and community members that attend. But not a lot of people show up. It’s important that the community comes together. To not see that happen now is disappointing,” he said.

Morrisville has seen much contention in the past two years relating to the previous board’s decision to take out loans for constructing a $30 million consolidated school building housing every grade. The decision brought deeply divided opinions to the forefront in a town that struggles financially to support students and keep taxes low.

The current board cancelled the construction plan. A few months ago, the board suggested looking into sending children to neighboring districts on a tuition basis, a suggestion met with disapproval by many. Throughout these events, residents have protested that the board fails to take their opinions seriously.

Perotti, who spent the last school year helping the district develop its six-year strategic plan, expressed confidence in the committee’s abilities to affect change.

“From a facilitator’s standpoint it’s been a very positive experience to see the dialogue between all the different groups. That it will be productive is the hope of the committee,” said Perotti.