Kate Fratti's Column in the BCCT

Many, many thanks to the email tip about this column in today's BCCT. As you could see from my avalanche of weekend postings, that there is not a lot of time during the week to post and read.

I'm not blind to the fact that there is a lot of ill will on both sides of this issue that needs to be overcome.

Morrisville needs to change fast

Not everyone uses a new year to turn over a new leaf, and that seems especially true in the Morrisville School District, which is really too bad.

If there's any place where a lot of very decent people could drastically improve a situation just by improving their behavior, this is the place.

But as of last week, all sides remain guilty of constant, brutal sniping and undermining in this little school system where voters have reversed plans for a new high school, saying they just can't afford one.

A new dollar-driven majority, emboldened by the voter mandate, has been beating its chest like a bully for a year. And those who'd so hoped for a new school and the borough rejuvenation they believed it would foster, have been noisily licking their wounds as even deeper cutbacks are threatened.

One ousted school board member cried at a meeting Jan. 2, where proposed cuts were outlined.

“They just don't care about our kids,” she sniffled.

After the meeting, a current board member said she believes administrators “retaliated” against the community by padding the preliminary budget for 2008. The board needs to show the professionals who's boss, she said.

Lots of drama and still very little productive talk about teaching kids well at a reasonable cost. Agreeing on what's reasonable will be the challenge.

The stated purpose of the Jan. 2 special meeting was to vote on a resolution to cap the next budget increase at 4.4 percent to “send a message.” It means there would be no special exceptions allowed above that cap even if the money is needed.

The minority view was that budget rigidity could put the district in a bad place in the event of an emergency the district couldn't pay for.

“You'll bankrupt the schools,” accused one naysayer. “I'd rather bankrupt the schools than the town,” answered a defender of the plan.

It's that kind of inflammatory back-and-forth that keeps the district stuck in second gear.

Here's the bottom line: This community didn't support construction of a new school, but that doesn't means it supports gutting the whole system. New-school proponents need to move past their disappointment and decide how best to support and improve the existing schools. That won't get done by castigating the opposition or weeping.

The majority, drunk with power, should stop “sending messages” and take practical steps to ensure kids have updated, safe, properly staffed buildings stocked with the necessary school supplies and equipment.

Administrators can foster cooperation by playing fair. Not one mentioned to the board last month that there was a deadline for a resolution to cap the budget. That necessitated the hastily called special meeting, where board members indicated they felt hoodwinked.

School board President Bill Hellman, an accountant who led the call for the cap, told me while he thinks the superintendent and business and operations manager “seem like very nice people,” their business acumen “worries” him.

Others worry that while Hellman may be very good with a dollar, he isn't trained to run viable schools. He and the rest of the board have to count on staff for that.

That's going to require mutual respect and trust.

Times have surely changed, but there'd be no danger of bankrupting the schools or the town if decent people would only bury the hatchets —it will take a mass grave — so that calmer, cooler, more professional, good-natured heads and hearts can prevail. It's possible.

Kate Fratti, whose column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, wonders if enough leaves can be turned quickly enough to make a difference fast.