Morrisville fails to invest in children’s future

From the BCCT.

Morrisville fails to invest in its children’s future

I am a lifelong resident of Morrisville and graduated from Morrisville High School in 1978. My children attend the same school I attended. I have heard these same issues for the entire time my children have been enrolled in Morrisville: that there’s no money to fix the school or to do much else. My boys have often asked why the school board treats them like non-citizens.

Now there is talk about having a school system of K-8 and sending our teenagers to a different school system, possibly Pennsbury, which we’d pay to educate our children.

Would this prevent Pennsbury from raising taxes? Be realistic. We would send fewer than 200 kids to Pennsbury. Pennsbury’s budget will increase due to the added students but will the added income from Morrisville really add sufficient funds to reverse a tax increase? I do not see how the math would help Pennsbury taxpayers.

Another question to consider is how interchangeable the Morrisville curriculum is with that of Pennsbury so that if/when the students transfer they are not hindered? In this day and age, it is difficult for teenagers to adjust, and to take them from a graduating class of 45-55 kids and move them to a graduating class of 800 is a big change. Yes, the majority of the kids would “just deal with it” as school board President Hellman has stated. But why should they?

I moved to Morrisville because it is a small town. I had a great education at Morrisville High School and I have done well for myself. My kids have great teachers and both boys have career goals.

Why can’t today’s school board see that and encourage our kids? Morrisville is not as “transient” as Hellman believes. Morrisville is full of good families doing the best they can to raise their kids and the school board has failed them again.

When are we ever going to do the best for our children? If Morrisville residents of the distant and recent past had been willing to invest in their youth and in the future the problems the district now faces would not exist. When will residents understand that shortterm savings and shortsightedness do not produce long-term growth and prosperity? We need to invest in and plan for the long term.

Regina G. Wallace Morrisville