I'll Use a Lifeline, Regis

From the BCCT.

Bang the drum. Again. And again. Why the tuitioning thing one more time?

The notion of the federal funding as a basis for the merger is foolish. This is an economic stimulus package, a one shot deal, not a promise of sustained funding. That's like buying a house on the basis of one year's tax refund. We tried that already. Look where it got us.

Let's say that the BCCT needs a lifeline. The Philadelphia Inquirer, which encircles the tiny Courier Times circulation area, has offered to accept the newsroom staff and the Courier Times will even pay the salary of this staff. Governor Rendell and the state legislature are smiling on the deal and offer some incentives as well. Everyone's having a warm fuzzy moment...What a neighborly thing to do!

Well? Why aren't you packing? Because it's not a good deal. Where's the gain for either newspaper?

It's not the greatest analogy. Then again, tuitioning out the students is not that great an idea either. What happens in a year, two, or three, when Pennsbury says there's no more room and Morrisville has no more room either? What happens when Pennsbury doubles the tuition cost at the end of the contract? That's the marketplace laws of supply and demand at work. A school system is pressured enough these days. It doesn't need the added pressure of uncertainty.

Merger? Let's talk. Tuitioning? NO.

Lifeline to a neighbor
Needing a helping hand
Could $4.2 million in stimulus funds working their way through Congress enable Morrisville high school students to attend Pennsbury?

If the U.S. House of Representatives prevails in Congress, the Pennsbury School District would receive an extra $3.5 million in stimulus grants over the next two years. The economically deprived Morrisville School District would receive $708,800.

The amount going to Morrisville schools would be like a Band-Aid, since the district needs millions and millions of dollars to renovate substandard schools at a time when its tax base has eroded. In near desperation, the school board is looking for options.

The board has appealed to Pennsbury, which encircles tiny Morrisville, to accept about 400 high school students on a paid tuition basis. That way, the more up-to-date borough high school could be turned into a consolidated K-8.

The remaining two schools would be closed and, hopefully, sold. But Pennsbury says it has no room for the high school students.

Given the promise of new federal funding, coupled with the borough’s willingness to pay tuition for its students to attend Pennsbury High School, we hope Pennsbury officials consider ways to help Morrisville. It’s the neighborly thing to do.