From the BCCT.
Now it's the BCCT who is using only the dollars and cents criteria to look at the Morrisville schools situation. After profiling the Emperor's self-serving fiscal statement and taking him to task for it, they now copy his example.
There's two big differences here: The first is simple transparency. Here we find that Solicitor Fitzpatrick has been conducting these secret negotiations for six months, yet nothing has been discussed in public at any board meetings. We have our former congressman conducting secret meetings for the secret meeting board.
That's a disappointing stain on the congressman's reputation that's going to be hard to dismiss, even if he is only performing duties at the request of the client.
[NOTE: It looks like a vote was held in June to authorize the solicitor to proceed with these inquiries, so our initial information was inaccurate. We may not like the secret meetings, but they were authorized, so the solicitor was acting properly. The above paragraph is inaccurate and we regret the error.]
The BCCT takes the Neshaminy school board to task for its secrecy, yet sanctions it in Morrisville. "Citizens ought to get periodic updates on negotiations that include more than no comment, and a series of hearings should be held before the board takes a vote. That would be the thoughtful thing to do for taxpayers, which is who board members represent." Why the inconsistency in the editorials? Why isn't that same line of reasoning being used for Morrisville?
It also shows that the entire series of community action plan meetings was a complete farce and a waste of time and money. Out front, the participants were yessed to death and a grand show was made of "community participation", while in the back room, Solicitor Fitzpatrick and the Emperor were already ignoring anything yet to come out of there and busily moving along on the Emperor's grand six point plan that STILL HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC!
The second difference is that even I'd be willing to look at Pennsbury and Morrisville "merging", which is completely different from "tuitioning out".
In merging, Morrisville gets seated on the board, (probably only one board member) and has somewhat of a say in policy and direction. In tuitioning out, we are at the mercy of their board to do what's right. As readers have pointed out, the tuitioning option removes any semblance of control from the parents and the Morrisville board. Pennsbury is free to set tuition as they want. They can even let the contract lapse following expiration. What do we do with the students then?
The problem is not that we might need to move the students. The parents are not fools. We know the schools themselves are in need of repair. We also pay the tax bills and know the burden there as well. The problem is that just about everything in this district is presented to the public as a surprise box of chocolates from Forrest Gump. We never know what we're going to get.
One final thing about the line "A few million dollars from Morrisville to take its high school kids..."? Why do you dismiss our children like that with such a disrespectful line of reasoning? Despite what is happening here, they are NOT cattle to be sent here and there. They are our children and our future. If you're a Morrisville parent and want to complain about this disrespect, here's a link to do that.
Thumbs Up
To a better education for students at Morrisville High School, where a dire financial situation has put the damper on opportunities available to kids in wealthier districts.
Unfortunately, more opportunities and better conditions for Morrisville High School students likely means attending another high school. To that end, the Morrisville school board has contacted other districts in hopes of striking a deal.
This is a very tough situation for students and their parents. Kids naturally have allegiance to their school and parents want their children close to home. But this school board was elected to nix a plan to build a new K-12 school and it wasted no time getting the deed done. The board also does not intend to renovate the district’s two elementary schools. In fact, one was shut down because of a boiler explosion.
Instead, members appear to favor renovating the high school as a K-8 school and paying another district to educate borough high school students. It might be the best alternative.
And the best choice among the alternatives is neighboring Pennsbury. Morrisville is surrounded by the Pennsbury School District, which could use an infusion of revenue.
Pennsbury is facing a budget shortfall of $12.6 million and a $457 tax hike for the average homeowner. A few million dollars from Morrisville to take its high school kids would help plug Pennsbury’s budgetary hole and reduce the gargantuan tax hike the board’s considering.
Pennsbury officials — and taxpayers — should seriously think about it. It also would be the neighborly thing to do.
Friday, January 23, 2009
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9 comments:
That BCCT editorial board is really schizophrenic. And so are they.
Sorry, but I'm afraid that 60% of the time, dollars, perception, racism, classism, and a few other isms trump neighborly every time.
I saw a little blurb in today's BCCT that Simon "Stop School Strikes" Campbell is, aw shucks, considering a run for Pennsbury School Board.
Simon's probably a hero of the Morrisville board majority & supporters for his anti-strike, anti-Teacher's Union acitvities. My bet is that his hero coefficients drop and his goat coefficients rise if he gets elected.
Do you see any way on God's Green Earth that he'd be a supporter of accepting Morrisville students into Pennsbury?
An algebra lesson for the BCT
"...the Pennsbury School District, which could use an infusion of revenue."
An infusion of revenue?
OK, let's assume that the cost of educating a Pennsbury student is p, and that the tuition charged by Pennsbury (t) is p+r. The only possible infusion of revenue Pennsbury will see is r*f (the number of 9-12 grade students we farm out there) which ought not be significant. Because if it is, then Morrisville is being raked over the coals, being charged a premium for taking our students.
And by the way, if the difference between educating students in Pennsbury instead of Morrisville is m-p (assuming that the economies of scale favor Pennsbury), if that difference is less than r, then expect taxes to increase in Morrisville.
If the BCT is expecting a "few million dollars" in extra revenue from Morrisville, then this formula is true...
Given:
p=cost of Pennsbury education
m=cost of Morrisville education
t=tuition charged
r=revenue stream to Pennsbury [r=t-p]
f=number of 9-12 grade students farmed to Pennsbury
it follows that
if f*r < a few $million then we are not meeting their expectations and r must be raised
and that
if r > m-p then our taxes must go up to meet the rise in t
It's really amazing how an unreasonable, arrogant, tin-eared, student-denigrating Morrisville school board majority expects to cut a tuition-out deal with another district.
I guess they're hoping they'll find someone out there to deal with who is NOT like them.
I guess I'll give the BCCT editorial board some props for hoping that some poorly reasoned words on an newspaper editorial page will help jump-start something (a groundswell of neighborly peer-pressure/political momentum?). Heck, I keep hoping someone in Yardley gets all neighborly and fulfills my fantasy of a solid gold toilet.
This editorial floored me. Yes, the board should consider ALL the options and then make an informed, rational decision on how to act. The problem here is that the bad ideas (i.e. farming) are the ones that seem to stick. Also, as noted, where is the BCCT when it comes to the sunshine act? I know I got toasted by them for having such a meeting; the difference, however, is that my meeting was in response to public outcry to pursue a merger -- then those same people (including the BCCT) wanted to cry foul.
It would be interesting if Simon Campbell were elected to their board. How would he handle the contract negotiations. Clearly he doesn't want to give away the farm, but he *really* dislikes strikes too.
So here's the silver lining as I see it... Steve, errrr, I mean Simon lives in Lower Makefield.
When did the board vote to authorize the solicitor to enter into these discussions?
Authorization (by Mr. Hellmann) was given at the June 25, 2008 meeting to Mr. Fitzpatrick "to contact neighboring school districts; such as, Bristol Borough and Pennsbury School District to review and discuss possibilities for regional cooperation for program efficiencies".
See minutes beginning at page gg in bold at the bottom of the page. When questioned, Mr. Hellmann was not very forthcoming with information. How surprising.
From today's BCCT. Sounds like a YES to me. Let's book it! See, unlike Sandy Gibson & Co., all you have to do is try it "the right way" and it happens! Thank heaven for Mike Fitzpatrick. His power from being a former US Congressman made the difference this time.
Oops! I went to Neshaminy so I occasionally have problems with my reading comprehension. I re-read the article, and it doesn't sound promising at all. Never mind.
Officials: No room for more students
By: MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Rep. Galloway suggested referendums be held in Morrisville and Pennsbury on any proposed student transfers.
Pennsbury says it simply doesn't have room for an infusion of students from outside the district.
Though Morrisville is once again knocking on its door for help, some Pennsbury board members say that nothing has changed from previous efforts to merge the districts.
This time, Morrisville solicitor Michael Fitzpatrick is asking Pennsbury and other local districts to consider taking about 300 students in grades nine through 12 on a tuition basis.
That money doesn't translate into extra cash for Pennsbury, said board member Linda Palsky. She said she doesn't believe the buildings can support the extra students, and services such as guidance counseling are already stretched thin over the high school's 3,400 students.
"The money isn't free money for us. It's to educate those students. It's not going to be a windfall for us," she said. "I understand it's the neighborly thing to do, but it's going to be on the backs of the Pennsbury taxpayers."
Unless the state forces some sort of merger and makes it advantageous to her district's taxpayers, Palsky said she doesn't support taking on additional students.
State Rep. John Galloway, D-140, said both Morrisville and Pennsbury should hold voter referendums about the proposed student transfer. If Morrisville ends up with a financial situation it can't handle, it could need to ask the state to intervene.
"But the state can't unilaterally act on its own," Galloway said.
Declaring itself a distressed district is a last resort under 1998's Public School Empowerment Act, said state Rep. Paul Clymer, R-145, the minority chairman of the House Education Committee. One qualification of financial distress is the inability to pay teacher salaries for 90 days, he said.
At this point, Morrisville could simply ask to speak with the secretary of education to explore ways to attain more resources, Clymer added.
Fitzpatrick has said he plans to talk to state representatives, but he didn't return phone calls and e-mails Thursday and Friday requesting further comment. He has been communicating with Pennsbury for the past six months and is reaching out to other local districts as well.
Housing grades pre-K through eight in the high school building and sending grades nine through 12 to other districts on a paid tuition basis may be Morrisville's best hope for survival, Fitzpatrick said. He compared it to the crisis that's forcing some local private schools to merge due to lack of funds and enrollments.
The cost of educating one Morrisville secondary school child is about $15,000, a price tag that's close to the highest in Lower Bucks. Pennsbury's cost is just above $12,000.
Advertisement Board member Gene Dolnick said he's not sure about class size and building utilization projections. He was also unsure about how Morrisville PSSA scores might affect his own district's averages. This past year, Morrisville High School students' reading and math PSSA scores made great strides but were slightly lower than Pennsbury's.
"I'm not ruling it out, but I'm not ruling it in," Dolnick said.
Gregory Lucidi, Pennsbury board president, says that until Pennsbury built a two-story, 55,000-square-foot addition and renovated its West campus building in 2004, "we were busting at the seams." Now, he said, students just "barely fit comfortably."
Pennsbury's two high school buildings have a capacity of 3,414 students, according to the district. That means the spaces are already nearly filled. In 2006, the high school averaged 25 students per teacher, according to the district. That's more than Neshaminy's high school ratio of 14 students to one teacher and Bristol Township's ratio of 22 students to one teacher.
Pennsbury's already considering enlarging class sizes to reduce expenses, said Lucidi. Adding 300 more students next year "would be a major impact on resources," he added.
However, the state Department of Education's January 2009 estimate projects a 14.5 percent drop in Pennsbury's high school population by 2017.
The district's own projection for that year is 2,979 students, a 12.4 percent drop from this year. That's based on a variety of factors, and the number may change in time, according to the district.
Lucidi thinks Pennsbury will experience increases in all grades, including children from families who don't want to pay for private schools anymore. Pennsbury doesn't have data on how many of its students used to attend private school but more than 2,000 new students register each year in Pennsbury, according to the district.
In the meantime, Morrisville has been dealing with spiraling financial problems. The same issues have been cropping up for years, including the need to renovate or replace its three buildings. It is about to consider closing one of its two elementary schools permanently. Most other solutions, such as rebuilding or renovating all the buildings, imply a tax increase, based on past board discussions.
In 1990, the Pennsbury school board voted against a merger after a feasibility study found it would cost $1 million in transportation costs and would significantly raise taxes in Pennsbury. Around that time, the district offered help providing advanced courses to Morrisville, but "for some reason the ball was dropped on their part," said board member Palsky."
We've gone around and around with Morrisville for years now," she said.
Dubious indeed.
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