A Dubious "Thumbs Up"

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.