Gateway

While this does not directly apply to the current issues with our schools, it certainly does apply to the level of taxation in the borough.

Right now, the same people who stopped the school, supposedly to lower the taxes, are also opposing the Gateway project, which would generate tax revenue, lowering the tax burden on all of us. The logic seems sound. Up is Down, Good is Bad, Black is White. Paging George Orwell: It's 1984 in Morrisville and doubleplusgoodthink is alive and well.

Here is an email that I received covering some of the background on the project. I also have a Power Point presentation with more information on the project. As soon as I can get it posted somewhere I will, but if you want to see it ASAP, drop me a line and I'll email it to you.

(You asked for information on the Gateway Center. Please share the enclosure and this e-mail with those you think may find it of interest.)

The enclosed is the materials that I presented to the Borough Council on October 2, 2007 – now almost four months ago. This provides some very interesting information which I would be pleased to discuss with you and others interested in the project.

To give you the brief update from October – nothing has happened! A slightly longer answer follows …

The basic issue holding up the project for the last year and a half has been acquiring the land from – 1) the Bridge Commission, and 2) the Borough Council.

If I understand the Borough Council’s comments on Tuesday, they implied that the Council cannot do anything until we submit a preliminary development plan. If this is what they said, it is misleading.

As I explained to the Council on October 2, October 9th, and October 15th there are two aspects of the proposal that impacts the Borough Council – 1) approval of a preliminary development plan, and 2) agreement to sell land for the parking lot.

Preliminary Development Plan

The first item – the preliminary development plan – is a routine but costly part of the development process. Once prepared the preliminary development plan is submitted to the Borough Planning Committee and Zoning Committee which upon approval would ultimately require the Borough Council’s approval.

The Bridge Commission asked PJRP to submit a preliminary development plan before they would agree to sell the Morrisville EDC (who would sell the land to PJRP) the Bridge Commission portion of the project land. The Borough also wanted us to submit a preliminary development plan before they agreed to sell us their land for the project. PJRP objected to submitting a preliminary plan before having a purchase agreement with either the Borough or the Bridge Commission for two reasons –

1) It is a very expensive process to go through – over $50,000 – without having a commitment from either land owner that they are willing to sell their land; and

2) It is illegal, which the Borough Solicitor agreed with at the October 15th Borough Council meeting, and which has since been communicated from the Borough to the Bridge Commission. PJRP cannot submit a preliminary development plan until PJRP has an “economic interest” in the property to be developed. The preliminary development plan must come after a purchase agreement.

So, the bottom line with the preliminary development plan is that we cannot present a plan until we have a purchase agreement with either the Bridge Commission or the Borough. (The purchase agreement, by the way, would be contingent on the approval of the preliminary development plan. If the plan is not approved – neither the Bridge Commission nor the Borough is obligated to sell their land and we are not obligated to buy their land if the plan is not approved.)

Agreement to sell (buy) Borough land

This brings us to the “Catch-22” that the Borough has us. One, however, they have the ability to fix. As noted above, the preliminary plan must come after PJRP has an “economic interest” in the land. One way that PJRP gets an economic interest in the land is that the Borough enters into a purchase agreement with PJRP to buy the Borough’s land.

The Answer to the Borough Councils comment

So … If the Council or anyone else says “we can’t do anything until the developer submits a preliminary plan.”

A good response would be, “Doesn’t the developer have to have an economic interest in the land before they can submit a preliminary plan?”

The appropriate response from the Borough Council would be, “uh huh.”

A good response to that would be, “then if the Borough Council enters into an agreement of sale with the developer wouldn’t the developer be able to submit a preliminary development plan?”

The appropriate response from the Borough Council would be, “uh huh.”

A good response to that would be, “then why doesn’t the Borough Council enter into an agreement of sale with developer for the Borough land so that the developer can submit a preliminary plan?

I haven’t been able to get an answer to that question for four months now …

Dan

Dan Jones
Penn Jersey Real Properties, LLC
56 E. Bridge Street, Suite One
Morrisville, PA 19067
(267) 799-4481 (Office)
(215) 378-6279 (Cell)
danieljones@pennjerseyproperties.com

Huh? We've got a chance for 400-600 jobs coming INTO the borough and an estimated $300,000 in tax revenue, and we're not showing interest in moving forward? Both the borough and school district budgets are in the toilet and here's a hometown group who want to improve Morrisville and bring money in? Why is anyone stalling on the decisions for this project?

You need to contact YOUR ward's council members and tell them to move forward with Gateway. It's that simple. Go to the borough website from the link on the sidebar to the left and find your council members. Let them know you support Morrisville.

MAYOR
Tom Wisnosky: 215-295-0439

COUNCIL MEMBERS 2008

President:
Nancy Sherlock 215-736-1264

Vice President:
Kathryn Panzitta 215-295-1264

George Bolos: 215-428-0667
Jane Burger: 215-736-1321
Eileen Dreisbach: 215-295-1914
Rita Ledger: 215-295-4344
David Rivella: 215-295-5030
Stephen Worob: 215-736-2987

Defeasement, Part II

So where do we go from here? The three schools are in pretty sad shape. M.R. Reiter, the worst of the three, is not salvageable without major renovation. I partially agree with Marlys Mihok that the site would make a great park. It would also make a great light business location too. Maybe doctor's offices or accounting offices, something like that. Why can't we make the location assume some of our tax burden and become productive? This is a debate for another time though.

Grandview is in bad shape too. This is the unspoken assumption that was there in the K-12 proposal from the previous board: All three schools are in bad shape. All of those parents who thought that the elementary schools were somehow "safe" from major upheaval once the evil K-12 building was defeated need to re-examine the situation. Renovation items from all three schools were, quite reasonably, postponed under the assumption that a new building was coming. Now they need to be addressed.

We're going to be renovating the Six Million Dollar Shell. Is that enough money to do the job? Aside from Emperor William Hellmann CPA, I'm not sure anyone else believes it is.

There are four boilers at MHS and all need replacement. Will they stay as fuel oil boilers, or convert over to gas? Where are energy prices heading? I assume that "down" is a safe incorrect answer.

The current windows assume cheap fuel prices. Will the new windows be the same size or smaller? Smaller means the walls need to be addressed as well, and the current AC units removed and patched over.

Electric? What's coming into the school, circa 1957, assumes open windows in warm weather (no AC units) and the occasional filmstrip projector being used. Today, there are multiple computers in each room (with each monitor, CPU, and printer needing an outlet), coffee makers, microwave ovens, electric pencil sharpeners, fans, televisions. I would safely assume that the electricity being used today is 10 times over what it used to be back in the Eisenhower Administration.

That's the tip of it. How many home repairs have you done only to find that the job is more that you expected? One items leads to another and soon, there's ten items to repair where there once was only one.

So this is where the engineers and architects come in. They need to survey what's there, what can be done, and the cost to do it. Has this been done yet? Where are the written reports, estimates, quotes, findings. etc? What plan is being used here, other than the plans of Emperor William Hellman CPA?

Incidentally, considering the William Hellman CPA designed and maintained borough finances are tanking too, tell me again why we're allowing him to work on the school budget. Someone? Anyone? The lack of a borough tax base is one of the reasons why this issue has arisen, and what did William Hellman CPA do to make things better or worse?

We also have to consider the capacity of the buildings. Will the physical MHS site accommodate a K-12 building? I don't have the floor plans and utilization figures available to me. My answer is *probably*, but I don't know. Reiter is a goner, so maybe renovate Grandview as well as a K-3 or 4 building, and bring the 5th grade over to MHS if there's not enough room. OK. Will six million refurbish TWO shells? Oops...maybe we need to keep $10 million? Well, since no one is doing the due diligence, who knows? We need to establish the costs involved in each of the options, along with the pluses and minuses. These are feasibility studies in the real world. Where is the MVSB's study? Nowhere, that's where.

There's a lot of emotion that goes with this whole question, and we've paid the price for it over the past few years. The seniors feel cheated out of their retirement money. The parents feel cheated out of a safe educational facility for their children. All of the homeowners feel cheated by the lack of a tax base to relieve the crippling taxes.

Let's sit back and take a deep breath and dispassionately examine this issue openly (sorry, Marlys, no executive sessions) with a somewhat open mind and in a general spirit of cooperation. The truth, and the eventual solution, lies somewhere in the middle, where it always was. We just need one of Kate Fratti's heroes to lead us to that point.

Who is going to step up?

Defeasment, Part I

Outside of the magical world of CPAs and other money mavens, the word defeasement is not used in casual conversation. I'm not sure it's used in conversation period. However, the good citizens of Morrisville have this word on their minds and tongues quite a bit lately. Do not forget the special board meeting on Wednesday, January 30, at 7:30 P.M. in the MHS LGI room. Please, please, click on that link and read the entire text. It will confuse many of us. Keep in mind that some of the board members are confused and uncertain as well. This is an important issue, maybe even more important than the farming issue.

The root of the word is in "defeat" and there are several dictionary entries and explanations I found for the word in Infoplease, the National Council of Health Facilities Finance Authority, Wikipedia, and a California public entity law firm.

The new school is dead and anyone who supported it must accept this reality.

So now we have money left over from the $30 million bond issue less the "two million dollars that were used for Lord knows what!" that the Stop the Schoolers fondly mention.

This money was borrowed for a period of years, for a purpose, at an interest rate, and it is obligated to be paid off. It's nothing more than a new car loan with lots more zeroes at the end, except that it's hard to repossess a building, and the taxpayers are footing the bill in the form of their taxes.

So, just like a mortgage or car loan, it can be repurposed and refinanced as needed providing the legal dotted Is and crossed Ts are all in place.

William Hellmann CPA maintains that the borrowing interest rate is too high. Yes, it is high. The more money you borrow, the higher the interest rate. Morrisville also pays its bills off the backs of homeowners rather than businesses. Even the accounting community recognises this as a bad thing and raises the interest rate accordingly. Takeaway from this: Morrisville is a less than excellent credit risk. Keep thinking car dealers for a moment: Where does your credit rating allow you to buy cars and what is your interest rate?

William Hellmann CPA also maintains, quite correctly, that interest rates are going to fall. The Federal Reserve just made an emergency interest rate cut to boost the economy, and I doubt that it was the last one for the short term. Returning the money now means 1) we can retire the high interest money now, but 2) we need better current interest rates to defease the debt because the lower the rates drop, the more money we need to put up to accomplish the defeasement. We can then 3) borrow less money (say, $10 million rather than $30 million) to continue renovating the school at a lower interest rate because the principal borrowed is smaller and we're using today's rates rather than the rates of two years ago.

Once the bond is defeased, it "goes away" and in theory, the tax millage increase that borrowing this money represented also goes away.

So far, this seems fairly straightforward, and perhaps the reasoning of the rules-bound Mr William Hellmann CPA is valid up to this point. A bond defeasement does seem to be the more prudent choice at this time if these criteria were the only issue. However, this is only the first part of a very complex situation.

There's a lot more to discuss, and I really would like to stimulate some serious discussion on this issue before the January 30 meeting. In the next post, I intended to cover the Morrisville angle of where we are, and what our current reality is. At this point, any of the defeasement options I described in the poll are possibilities. They each carry an element of risk, and I'm not sure which is "more right" than any others. I'm not sure that some of the board members will take the initiative to ask Emperor William to slow down and examine the issue more closely. But there's the challenge. It's out on the table for any of the eight remaining board members to pick up.

Free Form Friday

Plenty to read today in the BCCT. Angry Al, Kate Fratti's column, and the Gateway project are all hot topics. There's also the body slam applied by the BCCT to Hellmann's Heroes. It's too good to pass up posting it below.

Also thanks to the anonymous graphic artist. :)

Do you have anything to add?

No more secrecy

More than a hundred people jammed Wednesday's Morrisville school board meeting. Probably half of them wanted to be heard. After all, the board was meeting just days after it leaked out that members were secretly considering shutting down the borough's 116-year-old high school program, and that Morrisville kids were being shopped around to other school districts.

Hey, if you take 'em, we'll pay you!

No wonder people stormed the meeting. But rather than patiently listening to folks who wanted to be heard — every one of them, as the board should have — board President William Hellmann invoked a rule to limit public participation. He allowed only 15 citizens to sign up to speak. And he gave them just three minutes each to be heard — 45 minutes total.

And he wouldn't budge.

Nice way for a community leader to treat the people he's supposed to be serving. But folks didn't just lose an opportunity to vent, an opportunity they deserved. The board squandered the possibility that citizens might have had some practical suggestions.

Maybe board members don't realize it, but they don't know everything.

Indeed, this arrogant bunch has little consideration for anybody who disagrees with them. By law, the school closure/student exportation discussion should have been held publicly. Instead, it occurred behind closed doors. And if Hellman gets his way, the general public will continue to be shut out.

Hellman promised at Wednesday's meeting that no decision will be made without a referendum. We're glad to hear that. We weren't happy to hear there will be more closed doors — and neither should residents. We refer to a meeting the board president intends to organize between board members and a select group of citizens, students and teachers. The plan is to brainstorm ideas and discuss options.

Better late than never.

Problem is, he intends to make it a so-called executive session, meaning the general public would be barred.

That's illegal. And Morrisville citizens shouldn't accept it.

Hellman clearly likes to set rules. But there are also rules that he must respect and follow. To that end, we suggest he review the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act.

And then, by all means, hold a meeting. In fact, hold a few. The school board should schedule as many meetings as it takes for every citizen, students included, to be heard.

Maybe no ideas will surface that are any better than the one the board was secretly pursuing. But at least the community will have been heard at open forums where input is invited. Then and only then should the board propose shutting down an institution that is part of what makes a community whole.

Smackdown at the MV Auditorium

Great show at the MHS auditorium last night. I haven't attended a board meeting in quite a while but figured I would join the fun. I'll link to any articles later.

1: Front Page - It is our future
2: Kate Fratti - Morrisville Needs Heroes

Want to go through the mental snapshots I took?

William Hellmann CPA: My God, what an arrogant SOB! He pointedly ignores the public comment, even to the point of not responding to it. He is dismissive with the other board members. His body language is very much outward facing negative. Bonus arrogance points for cutting off public comment, but just lay off Reba Dunford, would you? It's clear you don't like her, but the way you belittle her at every possible turn is just infantile. Bully-Boy reminds me of a cocky arrogant know-it-all can't-tell-me SOB currently living in Washington DC. By the way...what's all this with "I didn't get a chance to review this" stuff. Running a one man show beginning to get a little tiring? This isn't "Hellmann's Heroes". Turn in your Type A obsessive compulsive membership card at the door.

Angry Al: Yep. The name is back. Apparently Al's been using words he shouldn't be. Tsk, tsk. At least we know now why John Jordan, former board member and head of the Bucks NAACP asked to speak last night to ask for Angry Al's resignation. Don't think this one is going away too soon. Ed Bailey may be a board member yet.

Bill Farrell: Our dark horse winner from last night. The man described as Captain Algebra (and we're still a little uncertain on why that question was asked, but...) was the one seeking to put some peace and calm on a situation that's been brewing for years. I'm not certain it's at the point of bringing Begin and Sadat to the table at Camp David, but it's a positive development.

Gloria Heater: Please stop vigorously shaking your head in agreement whenever William Hellmann CPA speaks. It appears sycophantic. Or that your bobble-head needs readjustment.

Marlys Mihok: Still on the secrecy bandwagon I see. You wanted to have an executive session at the agenda session two weeks ago and the lawyer told you no, giving you the five explicit reasons available. Now you're going after Joe Kemp for allegedly releasing information from an executive session, and it wasn't him. Rule #1: Almost nothing in an executive session remains completely executively quiet. So stop trying to negotiate in secrecy (wasn't that one of your campaign promises?) and bring it out into the open for all to see and discuss. Reflect on Bill Farrell's remarks, would you?

All Nine Members: Shame on you for limiting the public comment. The "People's Board" doesn't want to hear from the people. More supreme arrogance. Tell you what guys...go back through your propaganda from the last few years, cross out that "Sandy Gibson", insert "William Hellmann CPA" and re-read it. That's what you looked like last night.

William Hellmann CPA, part II: You get extra special "creepy" points for trying to nickel and dime the special education positions. Unfunded and/or underfunded federal and state mandates are a fact of life. Special education needs are a fact of life. It took the superintendent, quite properly, noting that the board as individuals could be civilly liable yet again (see, you've got to listen and drop the know it all act) before the approval was grudgingly given. (I believe your vote was Yes, With Reservations, followed by Bill Farrell's vote of Yes, With No Reservations. Look. Listen. Learn.) But then there's this diatribe on how the town needs to watch where the money goes. It does, but the money and the numbers have a human face. They're called students.

The students: Kudos for even showing up, and that's not meant to be condescending. Your teen years are for hanging out with your friends, doing your homework and McJob, and preparing for life, not experiencing adults playing poorly with your future. But you showed up and did a commendable job. For the most part you were quiet and respectable and direct, and that goes a long way.

Morrisville Farming Plan: It's dead, all except for the official funeral. The board members botched this one pretty well. "Brainstorming" is collecting ideas. When you start acting upon them, it's not just brainstorming anymore. Calling around to other districts was the equivalent of Commissioner Gordon shining the Batlight on a cloud for all to see. The secrecy stuff does not work.

Bond Defeasment: We don't know what we want, how we're getting it, or how much it will cost, but we're getting rid of the bond. William Hellmann's buddy apparently needs the work after the rocky economic news so far for 2008. What's he getting anyway? Even a 1% management fee is some $24,000. The Six Million Dollar Shell sits there, patiently crumbling, er, waiting for someone, anyone to fix it. Even the board members are confused by this maneuver. Call them, write them, and be sure to attend the special meeting on January 30 to discuss it. Remember that the devil is in the details: Where are the engineer reports, the specs, the bids, the cost analysis, the due diligence?

M.R. Reiter and Grandview RIP: The shouts of "what about the other schools" were met with silence last night and here's why. Both those schools are in poor physical shape, especially Reiter. The stop the schoolers campaigned against a K-12 building because they didn't want those age ranges mixing. So, close the two elementary schools, make MHS a K-8 building, farm out grades 9-12 and we're done! Except that it's now looking like the Six Million Dollar Shell will be a K-12 building. One order of Karma Crow for the Stop the Schoolers, extra spicy!

Enough from this side of the monitor. Anyone else have anything to share?

Borough Budget Blowout!

Oops. It looks like even the borough tax increase is going to be bigger than expected. Expected revenues are not meeting those expectations. Now that William Hellmann CPA has moved his expertise to the school board, the borough is failing. Or does this mean that this is what we can expect from the school board budget once Billy Boy is done?

Council reopens budget talks to discuss shortfall

By DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times

Because of unexpected expenses that have arisen following approval of the 2008 budget, the council decided to reopen its spending plan Tuesday night to account for an estimated $91,098 shortfall.

In order to account for the budget's shortcomings, municipal taxes could rise even more than the $56 increase that passed in December.

The council will hold a special budget meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 29 at borough hall, 35 Union St. Under state law, the budget must be closed by Feb. 15.

A memo from borough Manager George Mount said the borough received $37,700 less than was budgeted from a recycling performance grant.

The borough also was left with a $20,000 expense for a workers compensation audit for 2006 and 2007, and will have to pay an additional $33,398 for 2007 and 2008, Mount said.

Those expenses were not included in the 2008 budget.

Council President Nancy Sherlock said now is the time to open the budget to avoid a bigger deficit going into next year.

According to the budget that passed in December, the owner of a property assessed at the borough average of $20,000 will pay approximately $663 in property taxes in 2008.

The $5.3 million budget was a $300,000 increase over 2007. Millage increased 2.8 mills to 33.18. The cost of 1 mill translates to about $20 for the average property owner.

Shoe on the Other Foot?

Congratulations to Ed Bailey, lately of the QSRE and now a member of the Morrisville School Board, replacing...um...replacing...um...

Wait a minute...when did he get elected? Or appointed? Who is he replacing?

In any event, Ed has provided the LOL Of The Day. We have been warned! Propaganda is effective only when the QSRE/Stop the School people are using it and it is disloyal and unAmerican when used against those same people.

By the way, my algebra skills show that $500,000 over 13 years, considering a student educated from K to 12 in Morrisville comes out to $38,461 per year. Is this the new propaganda based number we should we be using?

I'm also intrigued by Mr Bailey's insistence in infringing my civil rights to speak out.

Considering all options

In the Jan. 12 article, “Mixed reaction to outsourcing idea,” the reporter mistakenly refers to a “proposed transfer plan” for Morrisville High School students. No proposal is under consideration; rather, the school board is researching possible ways of providing quality education while controlling costs.

Our district is currently spending about $500,000 for every student that it graduates. Yet because of our small size, the high school curriculum is necessarily limited.

Perhaps outsourcing is not the solution for our struggling district, but let's get as many options on the table as possible. Every option will have its pros and cons, and whatever we choose, we will have to accept trade-offs. We are already accepting trade-offs even if we are not aware of them; we need to assess our options to find out what opportunities we are missing.

Those of you who supported the K-12 school need to end your propaganda war against the school board if you want your wishes to be considered. If you can only deliver 350 votes, and nothing the school board does can please you, why should they bother?

Ed Bailey
Morrisville school board

Showdown at the MV Corral

Tonight is the night to give the school board a big fat red "F" in their performance. The meeting has been moved to the MHS auditorium, 7:30 P.M. If you want to speak, I understand that they are maneuvering, quite legally, using standing board policies and general annoyance tactics, to limit public speaking as much as possible. I suggested this last night and will suggest it again: Have two clean printed copies of your remarks available. If you don't get to talk because they cut you off, give one copy to the board secretary and the second to the BCCT reporter that will be there.

However, it's not just about the farm program. That's not even on the agenda, but please bring out your tar and pitchforks and let them know how you feel about that issue.

Tonight the bond defeasement will be taken up. After yesterday's emergency interest rate cut, William Hellmann CPA's money buddy will have to re-do the figures. This is the first step in the bankrupting of the school district.

Basically, the money goes in a long term account and earns interest to pay off the bondholders. We're holding on to some of that to pay for the Six Million Dollar Shell renovations.

This is a one shot deal. Once the money is gone, it's gone. Six million is not enough to do the job, no matter if the high school students stay or go. They have no studies showing this cost. They have no quotes even hinting at this cost. All they have is the word of their construction buddies. When was the last time you took your contractor, mechanic, or any other service provider at their word?

If you just watch the magicians as they make the money go and the taxes continue to rise without letting them know it's risky, then when your tax bill arrives, holler and scream at yourself. You're the one that let the school board do it to you.

Job Performance Poll Closed

Thanks to everyone who voted only once. The new poll software seems to keep the Cook County Democrats out of the polling booth.

Here's the results. I don't have much to say. None of this is a surprise and with nothing to compare the figures to, it seems prudent to let this sit for another month or three and compare.

Board Meeting Times and Public Comment

I received this information from a reliable source.

The BCCT this weekend, in their two articles about this week's meeting, indicated an incorrect start time. In Manasee's article she said it starts at 7:00. In the listing of "Meetings this week" for the entire county, the paper says it starts at 8:00pm. In reality it starts at 7:30pm. I have already notified the paper of this error. Hopefully they will correct it.

Secondly, apparently you can only sign-up for public comment up until 7:30pm. At 7:31 you will be too late and not permitted to speak. So those interested in speaking should be prompt or early. Secondly, the sign-in sheet has recently been placed in front of the Board president, not off to the side as was previous Board practice. Those who have spoken in the past may need this new bit of direction.

Apologies for the Delay in Posting...

...but when I was reading the paper this morning I spit coffee all over the paper itself. Then, I think I sprained my keyboard accessing the BCCT website to re-read this letter.

School closing no big deal; you'll get over it, kids

As a veteran of the Neshaminy/Maple Point debacle of 1975, I too was upset at the thought of losing friends to a “foreign” school. Guess what? I survived and my quality of life shows no ill effects from my experience. And I have news for the kids of Morrisville. The things that they think are life and death issues now, in five years, will not matter at all.

They must realize that as public school students, they are required to attend the school that the public (the taxpayers) can afford to provide. This is Morrisville, not Beverly Hills. When these kids become taxpayers, they will understand.

As for the kids who say they will drop out of school if they are sent elsewhere, I hope they realize that even if they do drop out, their parents will still be required to pay school taxes. Again, in time none of this will matter — except whether or not they have a diploma. These kids shouldn't throw away the opportunity to become a useful, productive citizen just because they think they are being treated unfairly. This is not a personal issue.

Isn't it also unfair for long-time Morrisville residents (especially senior citizens and those on fixed incomes) to lose their homes or be forced to move because they can no longer afford to live here? Be assured that the fallout from this issue will affect them long after these kids have gone on to their post-high school lives. These kids need to realize that, in the big picture, what they want, or don't want, does not take precedence over the needs (or very survival) of a whole community.

Whatever happens, kids, believe me, you'll get over it. So get out of bed, get dressed and go to school — wherever that is.

Wow. And people like this get to vote, drive, and everything.

Dear Letter Writer: How many borough council and/or school board meetings have you attended in the past few years? Are you part of the solution, or just heckling from the sidelines?

Let's start with the main topic, where you are somewhat correct despite channelling Captain Obvious: school is school, and you can learn wherever the school is. You will make new friends wherever you go. It is not the end of the world, and every one of us who has survived puberty and our teen years does know that.

Having said that, what are you smoking? You go off on dropouts and how parents need to make sure their kids attend schools. The same is true of the people of the town. They are as equally obligated to provide the place for the schooling to occur.

Beverly Hills? Please. At least compare apples to oranges. You insult all of us when you compare Morrisville like that. Morrisville is a good place to live. It's a good place to bring up children. And, it's a good place to grow old in. I'll live here any day over Beverly Hills. Why do you see it differently?

You're right: This is not a personal issue and I wish the seniors of this borough would take a deep breath for just a moment and reflect on what they are doing. I will ask it again, this time not in a comment, but in a post. Where were you in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s when the pottery closed, the rubber mill burned and the steel mill died? What did you do then to make things better for today? Did you attend council meetings, school board meetings, and business association meetings to make a difference? I'll give your criticisms more credence if you did. I'm working today for the Morrisville of the 2010s, 2020s, 2030s, and beyond. What are you working for?

I am not indifferent to the tax burdens placed on all of us. I pay high taxes too, but which of you is approaching our borough council to get the Gateway project started? Let's get some tax revenue into this place so the residential taxes can go down for a change. All we hear from are the same old people who want the Morrisville of their youth to reappear. News flash: It ain't happening. You want lower school taxes? Raise the tax revenue by supporting new buildings and the revitalization of downtown. When those front line people supporting a newer and better Morrisville are out there working, do they see you working side by side with them?

I'm not collecting it yet, but where's MY Social Security? There are too many burdens placed on that system for it to continue too much longer, but by law, I'm required to pay for that too. At least you get to complain about the school taxes. I have no choice but to see more of my paycheck go toward supporting the seniors. Since the seniors are calling for a general strike on the youth of this borough, what if the tables were turned and we, the wage earners, stop paying into Social Security?

Let's turn your own words around: You must realize that as taxpayers, you need to live in the house you can afford. I'm very sorry that inflation and recession and all manner of economic ills have befallen all of us. But why do you want to be protected, yet think it odd for the children to be protected too? Let's continue..."you need to realize that in the big picture, what you want, or don't want, does not take precedence over the needs (or very survival) of a whole community." You're looking very small picture at the seniors. Let's expand your vision just a bit, shall we? Look in the mirror and read that paragraph again.

Are you really sure this is the way you want to go? Generational wars where one side loses out in favor of another? I've seen this play out in a number of cities and towns. When one side has to lose out, eventually the entire town suffers. This isn't just about you.

The board meeting is this Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 7:30 P.M. I will expect our letter writer to be there and to sign up to speak. Otherwise, your words today are meaningless. Whatever happens, you'll get over it, won't you?

The soapbox is now available. Next speaker?

Did You Get a Postcard?

I got a postcard. It came in the mail yesterday. Anyone have any thoughts or perspective they want to share?

Important Morrisville Community News

Do you know what the new Morrisville School Board is up to...

Farming out all of the High School students to other districts, even Catholic schools.

Cutting sports, after school programs, teacher training, and textbooks.

Using their friends to advise them on facility and financial matters.

Selling the A-Field meaning and creating a hardship for the Little Bulldogs and Holy Trinity

Trying to bankrupt the Morrisville School District with no renovations

Please come to the next School Board meeting, Wednesday January 23rd at 7:30 P.M at the Middle Senior High School (LGI Room) lo learn more.

Find out what else they're up to!

Opinion Polls

I thought I would try something, and if it works out, it could be a regular monthly thing.

As of today, what is your opinion of the school board? No trick questions or hidden meanings. As a PSP or NSN, do you approve or disapprove of the job the current school board is doing? Polls close January 21 and are located to the left of this question in the sidebar.

Don't forget to vote in the Morrisville Farm Association poll as well.

The People Are Ticked!

Today I thought I would share the contents of the mailbag with everyone. Many people blind copied me on letters that were sent to the board members, the superintendent, and the Courier Times. A few did grant permission to publish excepts here and I appreciate their openness.

It appears that the people of Morrisville are generally cranky about this rather bizarre and underhanded desperation move by the Stop the School board members. Stop the School didn't mean Close the School.

Just a reminder: the next meeting is in the MHS LGI room on January 23, 2008 at 7:30 P.M. However, my Crystal Ball tells me a larger venue will be needed.

On to the mailbag...

Letter 1: I am firmly and vigorously against your plan to "Farm Out" our students to Conwell-Egan or to any religious based school. Any tax payer dollars going to a religious based institution is a violation of the US Constitution.

I am a Roman Catholic, a taxpayer, and a parent; but I am an American first, and I believe that this scheme is nothing but an attempt to starve the Morrisville School District out of existence.

Letter 2: Oh and this point: We are the candidates that pledge to work together with the parents and residents, in an open and honest partnership in the best interest of our children’s education. Where was the working together with parents and residents when deciding to farm out the children? Perhaps PLEDGE means something different to me….again I must check the dictionary. While I am at it, I will look up OPEN and HONEST as well.

With your help we pledge:

to provide a quality education for our children. By making the students share books?
a curriculum that will enable our children to achieve proficiency on the PSSA tests and academic excellence.
state of the art technology for grades K through 12. Will we be busing the state of the art technology with the 9th-12th graders? We made need a bigger bus!
a financial management plan to assure every possible dollar goes into educational programs and materials and stops waste. Again, by sharing books?

Letter 3: I have not bought a home in Morrisville to take advantage of the small school system only to see my children bused ridiculous distances to a school where they will be outcasts.

I admit that removing high school students from the mix is certainly a novel way to raise the test scores in 11th grade.

Brainstorming is a wonderful tool. It exposes the stupid ideas rather quickly. Publicly, quickly, now, expose this stupid idea and abandon it.

On The Road to Closing

The BCCT addresses the idea of closing today.

District must navigate code for closing

By JO CIAVAGLIA
Bucks County Courier Times

Unless Morrisville School District submits a plan, the state Department of Education can't definitively say if the district can close its only high school and send its students elsewhere.

Pennsylvania school code is so complicated it's impossible to speculate if the district meets state school closure criteria, what would happen to its students or if neighboring district high schools could be forced to accept them, education department spokesman Michael Race said.

Last week it was revealed that some members of the new Morrisville school board majority have contacted local school systems to see if they'd be interested in accepting its high school students on a tuition basis. For years, the 1,000-student district has been plagued with financial and academic problems.

Charles Herring, an attorney for the state education association and Morrisville teachers union, said this week the union would oppose any attempt to tuition out students.

He added that state precedent exists, which he believes prevents a school board from closing a school and furloughing employees covered under existing union contracts.

Before any district can proceed with a school closing, a plan must be submitted and state-required steps followed, including holding a public hearing to discuss the possible closure at least three months before action is taken. It's unclear what additional requirements apply to school closings that would involve educating students out of a district.

In Pennsylvania, over the last 23 years, at least three school districts — Midland and Duquesne outside Pittsburgh and St. Clair Area in Schuylkill County — have closed high schools and transferred students into neighboring district schools. Each district's set of circumstances and tuition arrangements is so unique to that district that none can be used as a comparison with Morrisville, Race said.

“The particulars of any school closure vary, so it's impossible to speculate on the particulars of Morrisville unless or until the district would outline a closure plan,” Race said. “There are so many areas of the code that could affect this it is difficult to get into a what-if situation.”

Parts of the state school code suggest if a district doesn't have a school, its students would attend the nearest and most convenient school district, Race said. The code does not address what would happen if a district has no room in its school or a policy limiting or barring tuition students.

Take the Midland Borough School District, which closed its high school in 1985. Initially it transferred students to a nearby district's high school, but when the district abruptly ended the agreement — and other districts refused to accept the students — Midland was forced to send the students across state lines.

The district is now the only one in Pennsylvania that sends its students to a high school in East Liverpool, Ohio.

Pennsbury School District, which borders Morrisville, has a board policy that narrowly defines which tuition students can attend the district, district CEO Paul Long said. But that policy doesn't address the potential situation in Morrisville.

“If we got to the point of facing that question with Morrisville, it would be aside from that policy,” Long said.

Neither Bristol Township nor Neshaminy, nearby school districts with underused schools, has a written board policy defining tuition students it will accept into the district.

The state school code also dictates a specific process for closing a school, and there is a general criteria that must be met — such as dwindling student population, poor building condition or shrinking tax base — but each school closure has individual circumstances that must be considered, Race said.

St. Clair Area School District closed its high school in 1990 after experiencing teacher contract problems and falling student enrollment, a district official said. The students now attend nearby Pottsville High School, though the closing resulted in years of legal battles with its teachers union.

A state-appointed board decided to close Duquesne City School District's high school in June, seven years after the 775-student district was named to a state list of 12 financially and academically distressed districts.

Specific state legislation was added to the school code to dictate some of the particulars of the Duquesne closure, including giving state Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak the authority to reassign nearly 200 high school students to nearby school districts, over those districts' objections.

Starting this school year, Duquesne high school students attend West Mifflin Area or East Allegheny School Districts. The district continues to educate its K-8 students. West Mifflin Area and East Allegheny have filed a joint lawsuit seeking to overturn Zahorchak's decision.

The state code also doesn't spell out what the per-student tuition rate for sending school districts would be, Race said.

Applying the charter school funding principle, the money follows the student, meaning whatever the sending district receives in state funding is what the charter school receives. But per-student costs vary by district and it's unclear if a sending or accepting district's rate applies — and which district would make up any cost difference.

The school code dictates that terms of “tuition out” students can be determined by the districts, so the cost of reimbursement for the students could be negotiated between the sending and accepting districts, Race said.

Montgomery County's Bryn Athyn School District, the state's lone paper-only district, sends all its public school students to neighboring Lower Moreland School District.

The district operates no public school buildings. Most children attend the Academy of the New Church, a private school operated by the Swedenborgian church, whose world headquarters is Bryn Athyn.

This year there are eight Bryn Athyn students attending Lower Moreland schools, Lower Moreland business manager Mark McGuinn said.

Bryn Athyn pays the state-certified Lower Moreland tuition rate of $9,297 for elementary students and $10,833 for secondary students. There is a separate hourly rate for services for special education students, he added.

Lower Moreland also has a board policy specifying the only tuition students it accepts are from Bryn Athyn.

Did you know...

As of the 2006-07 school year, Pennsylvania had 65 school districts with 1,000 or fewer students.

Of the 501 school districts in the state, 39 percent have fewer than 3,000 students.

Staff writers Rachel Canelli and Joan Hellyer contributed to this story.
Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at 215 949-4181 or jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com.

A Bridge to a New School Redux

Do you remember the collapse of the bridge in Minnesota? I blogged about it way back on August 3, and it directly addressed the issues of age, lack of adequate maintenance, and lack of follow-up.

Apparently, the final reports are being assembled and written. A "design flaw" is the apparent conclusion of the report.

The official, who was briefed by the National Transportation Safety Board, said that investigators found a design flaw in the bridge's gusset plates, which are the steel plates that tie steel beams together.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is expected to issue an advisory later Tuesday urging states to check the gusset plates when modifications are made to a bridge -- such as changes to the weight of the bridge or adding a guardrail, said a federal official with knowledge of the plans.

Currently, such calculations are done for the entire bridge, but not down to the gusset plates, the official said. [Ed Note: What is waiting inside the Six Million Dollar Shell? This board's need for speed is a recipe for further disaster.]

Last August, Peters advised states to consider the additional stress placed on bridges during construction projects. An 18-person crew was working on the bridge when it collapsed.

Nearly three months later, Peters told a gathering in Washington of a "working theory" of a poorly designed gusset plate and a heavy load of construction materials.

The bridge was deemed "structurally deficient" by the federal government as far back as 1990.

Do you see any other parallels here?

Comic Relief

I found these two Dilbert cartoons recently talking about budgeting and design in the real world that seemed to refer back to budgeting and the radical shifts being made from the world of the possible into the Twilight Zone of Unreality that has become a hallmark of the new Morrisville School Board.

Then...Santa Claus made an unannounced late visit. I thank the gifted graphic artist who provided us with the seal of approval for Morrisville's school budgets!




I'll have to add "Leadership by Words" to my business lexicon along with "developing synergies" and "involuntarily downsized." Oops, sorry to all the high school teachers, I should have never said that.



And once we apply this regal seal, ask the question...are we REALLY bringing out the best, or preparing for bringing out the dead?

Note: In the office pool, I have the 4-6PM slot today for a witty commentary from jon. While I do appreciate everyone's comments, jons are pretty much along my same style of humor and I look forward to them!

NEWS TIP: Students to NJ?

I have some information from an very credible source which is not yet confirmed. The general sense is:

[Hold on to your hat. I just got a call from a headmaster of a private Catholic academy in New Jersey who wants his school to be part of the mix when it comes time to "farm out."]

Can anyone second this information?

Telephone Numbers

I was going through some old documentation here and I was struck by a telephone number. You know, something like 867-5309 or Pennsylvania 65000.

I was looking through an old Stop the School brochure and I noticed the telephone number 215-295-2900 listed as a place where the Stop the School people would tirelessly answer the phone and get you a voter registration form. I even blogged this back a month ago and never did this search. So I Googled the number. Imagine what I found.



Did the Historic Morrisville Society make an illegal campaign contribution to the Stop the School candidates by providing this service?

The Children Are Playing With The Poll Again

I'm watching you do it right now. 8:10 AM Sunday morning.

1:30 PM Sunday afternoon
I reposted the poll, so if you already voted, please vote again. I actually like the idea that a ballot box stuffer thinks that over voting will make me sit here and cry and pack up my blog and go home. Well, OK, I am already home, but my self-esteem just doubled because I'm so important to you that you need to consume your day with reloading your browser and reclicking on the mouse.

I bet I can keep this up longer than you can!

The Sunday Funny Papers

Here it is, Sunday morning and the kids have the funny pages open from the Sunday paper. Oddly enough, the parents have the funny pages open too, but while the kids are looking at the comics, the parents are anxiously reading about our little town's Farm Control Board, looking for the new scheduling of the cattle runs to Bristol and Pennsbury, and maybe even a few to Conwell Egan.

Were you able to contact your board members? Several of you did and were kind enough to include me on the letters, and I thank you for that. Most of you asked that your letters not be reprinted here and I am honoring that request. However, I thought that I was hot under the collar. Perhaps we should talk to George Mount about adding blood pressure medication directly to the town water supply to save time.

According to the BCCT this morning, closing a school is a slow process, and it takes at least three months.

All this board wants is fast, fast, relief. WARNING: Everything is moving fast. Defease the debt FAST! Cut the budget FAST! I know some people so we can fix the school FAST! These are the same people who wanted s...l...o...w... action from the past board, aren't they? Then what is the "other reason" for going fast? This new board has two years at least to complete the job. Who else benefits from fast action?

They also attacked the past president for her "connections" with contractors. Who is questioning the connections that William Hellmann CPA has with the professional defeasement artist who also said come back and see me when you need more money. Other members are using connections to bring their friends directly into the process because they can "work with these people", not like the others before them who were greedy and only wanted a new school. "Work with you", huh? Sounds like a classic sweetheart pay-for-play or inexpensive-work-now-for-guaranteed-work-later type of scam is being run. Even the door locks at Grandview had to be fixed by a William Hellmann CPA crony ("Did you call the guy I told you to call?" was his message to the business administrator).

What's the school board equivalent of a special prosecutor?

And are we following the Sandy Gibson Rule? Substitute Sandy as the protagonist and then read how it sounds. For example, in the above paragraph...Who is questioning the connections that [Sandy Gibson] has with the professional defeasement artist who also said come back and see me when you need more money. [Sandy Gibson is] using connections to bring [her] friends directly into the process because they can "work with these people", not like the others before them who were greedy and only wanted a new school. "Work with you", huh? Sounds like a classic sweetheart pay-for-play or inexpensive-work-now-for-guaranteed-work-later type of scam is being run. Even the door locks at Grandview had to be fixed by a [Sandy Gibson] crony ("Did you call the guy I told you to call?" was [her] message to the business administrator).

See how easy that was? If you were incensed by reading that last paragraph and went outside to stoke the vat of boiling tar to corner Sandy, why aren't you doing it to William Hellmann CPA? Because you're a hypocrite, that's why.

One item to close with:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead, US anthropologist (1901 - 1978)

Call For Action NOW!

Yes, it's a Friday night and it's Miller Time! After a long work week, it's time to kick back and relax. But not so fast. We need a few moments of your time.

Today's BCCT front page article by Kate Fratti has set her phone to ringing off of her desk. Curiously enough, the calls are from "residents", not "parents". Yes, the same right-wing no-tax wackos who hijacked the last election are at it again, telling the BCCT that they want to send the kids away to contract high school.

If you have kids in grades K-8, is this what you want for their high school yearbook?
If you don't have kids in Morrisville schools, is this what you want for your neighbor's children?
Would you want your children/grandchildren in other communities to be trucked like cattle to another school?

If you can answer "Yes" to the above questions, you can stop reading.

If you answered "No", then let's talk.

You're already sitting at your computer. Open up your email to compose a new email. Copy the next line into the To: section. This is the email list of the school board members and BCCT reporters Kate Fratti and Manasee Wagh

bhellmann@mv.org, aradosti@mv.org, mmihok@mv.org, gheater@mv.org, efrankenfield@mv.org, jkemp@mv.org, rreithmeyer@mv.org, bworob@mv.org, kfratti@phillyburbs.com, mwagh@phillyburbs.com

If you wanted to copy savethemorrisvilleschool@yahoo.com, I would love to see the emails. I've received several already. Thank you for sending them.

For the Subject, pick something like "Don't Farm out the Kids!"

Then go ahead and tell them not to farm out the kids. Our kids are the future of the community, not an inanimate commodity to be traded and bartered.

After you press the send button, relax. You registered your disgust with this cheap ploy, and you dont have to be back at work until Monday. But there's always the board meeting on Wednesday, January 23 at 7:30 PM. Feel free to come out for any of the meetings.

URGENT: Farming From Morrisville

So now the other shoe has finally dropped. They ARE sending our kids away. Here come the poor little contract kids from Morrisville. Here's the link.

While cooler heads should prevail while I'm having my morning fit of apoplexy, open question to Tom Kelly, Esq.: How do you recall or impeach a school board member?

Kate Fratti Fallout

According to two items from Kate Fratti's BCCT blog, former Morrisville school board member, and current Bucks County NAACP president Jon Jordan will address the Morrisville School Board at its regular meeting on Jan. 23. Meeting begins at 7:30.

Oh, and before I forget, she mentioned something about last night's meeting. Thanks, Kate...your integrity's welcome in Morrisville, and it's much larger than the combined integrity of the two members you mentioned. I don't think you experienced a "pencil malfunction", but the inevitable result that comes from crossing over into this side of the Twilight Zone.

A mea culpa

It’s not easy to stand up for yourself, and especially not when you have to do it before a roomful of people, but that’s what Beth Yonson, superintendent of Morrisville schools did last week.

Said she had no choice holding up a copy of my column in which I’d opined that she wasn’t playing fair with school board members. I based that on board members’ public allegations that her administration never notified them of an important budget deadline.

“It wasn’t advantageous,” Marilys Mihok said, and Gloria Heater agreed, for the administration to let elected officials know they had until just Jan. 3, to cap any budget increase to just 4.4 percent. It is why a special meeting had to be called quickly for Jan. 2, and with very short notice to members. No administrators or even the solicitor attended.

The cap, which the board eventually did approve at the special meeting, means the board has closed the door on asking for any special exceptions even in the event of financial emergency.

Thing is, whether or not Yonson liked the idea of the cap — she doesn’t because she believes the board could hold an increase to 4.4 or below without a legal resolution that could hamstring it — she not only notified them of the resolution deadline but publicly discussed it at length.

Last week, she used her superintendent’s report to replay a meeting tape showing that. She said she didn’t mean to embarrass anyone, just to defend her reputation.
“My integrity is important to me,” she said.

Mine, too. And so I apologize to Dr. Yonson for not checking the physical record before taking board members at their word even at a public meeting.
For their part, members Mihok and Heater accused this columnist of fabricating any statement about being hoodwinked by administrators. Heater said I must have misunderstood. Mihok advised the superintendent to grow a “thicker skin.”

Me, too, I guess.

Integrity is not important to everyone.

The NEXT Ten Words

For fans of "The West Wing", Josiah Bartlet accidentally buzzed on medications is still a better president than most of his 42 real life brethren. We can talk later on about comparisons between Josiah Bartlet and William Hellmann CPA.

Here's President Bartlet about to wipe the proverbial floor with his opponent, Florida Governor Robert Ritchie (played by Mr Barbra Streisand himself, James Brolin) in the final presidential debate.

Video or Script

MODERATOR
Governor Ritchie, many economists have stated that the tax cut, which is centerpiece of your economic agenda, could actually harm the economy. Is now really the time to cut taxes?

RITCHIE
You bet it is. We need to cut taxes for one reason-- the American people know how to spend their money better than the federal government does. [Ed Note: Didn't some president of the Morrisville Board of Education say pretty much the same thing?]

MODERATOR
Mr. President, your rebuttal.

BARTLET
There it is. That's the ten-word answer my staff's been looking for for two weeks. There it is. Ten-word answers can kill you in political campaigns. They're the tip of the sword. Here's my question: What are the next ten words of your answer? Your taxes are too high? So are mine. Give me the next ten words. How are we going to do it? Give me ten after that, I'll drop out of the race right now. Every once in a while... every once in a while, there's a day with an absolute right and an absolute wrong, but those days almost always include body counts. Other than that, there aren't very many un-nuanced moments in leading a country that's way too big for ten words. I'm the President of the United States, not the President of the people who agree with me.

So school board Stop the Schoolers: Give us the next ten words that come after these items and tell us how we're going to do it:

Stop the School [and then...? how?]
Lower the taxes [and then...? how?]
Refurbish a fifty year old building [and then...? how?]
Cut all the sports [and then...? how?]
Sell Grandview, Reiter, and the A-Field [and then...? how?]
Send the high school students to another district [and then...? how?]

Stop being the school board members that represent the people who agree with you. Become the school board members for Morrisville.

Dear William Hellmann CPA, Angry Al, Ducky, Captain Algebra, and the rest of the No-Sports League: This is a breaking newsbrief to get through your heads. You...ALL of you...work for me. You work for the QRSE people too. You work for the kindergarteners, the high school seniors, AND the senior citizens. You are public servants, and have donned the mantle of a servant of the people, not the imperial purple.

So far I am not impressed. Yes, you will defease the 30 million dollar bond issue; yes, you might even bring the budget down (although there were a lot of weasel words from William Hellmann CPA about the actual millage decrease, citing teacher pension contributions, and debt service); yes, you might even bully Beth Yonson and Reba Dunford out of office (after last night if either of them ever trust any one of you NSNs again, it would be foolish!) and arrange for less-talented sycophants to take their positions (but hardly replace them!): you will also probably succeed in re-engineering the Six Million Dollar Marshmallow Stuffed High School Shell, but once the dust settles, WHAT'S NEXT??

All of the NSNs have all consistently ducked this part of the question. So, my fellow Morrisvillians, I ask you now...step up to the microphone during the public sessions, ask your hard questions, and then before you walk away, make sure to say, "What are the next ten words of your answer? Give me the next ten words. Tell us how you are going to do it." Prediction: Silence or weasel words will prevail, because revealing the plan isn't their style.

Anybody at the 1/9 meeting?

joeyouknow said...

Ooh. Anybody at the 1/9 meeting?
Kate Fratti was!
I will expand upon this tasty little tidbit tomorrow.

January 9, 2008 10:29 PM

Joe! Expansion, please! If you send me something in a comment or email, I will gladly post it as an article.

Please keep in mind the Alice Roosevelt Longworth posting challenge as well.

ADDED Jan 10, 12 noon. Many thanks to joeyouknow

The first new board agenda meeting was held last night, 1/9/08. The board went through the proposed agenda from the administration. There was discussion (+ confusion). One highlight was when Reba Dunford, Business Manager went through the budget cuts that Mr. Hellmann asked her to make. She explained (once again) that there is not fat in the budget and pointed out the necessity of each item to the educational and business needs of the district. Finally, she said that instead of cutting necessary programs, the administration decided to liquidate the contingency fund ($120,000) which hasn't been used the past couple of years and can be covered, in case of emergency by the Capital Projects fund, which still has $3 million in it.

Later, Dr. Yonson showed a piece of the tape from the December business meeting. The purpose of showing that tape was twofold: 1) to make her case to the board that the board was advised properly about the budget process (the complaint that led to the Jan. 2 special meeting) and 2) to clear her good name (ref. Kate Fratti's column reprinted on this site). Dr. Yonson was very upset, to say the least, about the comments that she and the administration did not advise the board that going on with the preliminary budget process precluded the need for the referendum. And that this was stated numerous times at a public meeting that she was unable to attend, and that it was told to Kate Fratti of the Courier Times. Friends and colleagues from out of the district were calling her to lend their support, which is how she found out about the debacle.

So it was duly shown that the board was advised, both by document (in November) and live and in person. Discussions about the issue took place between the people who never heard about the process and the people who were explaining the process right up there on the big screen. Three board members did speak up at the January meeting saying that they remembered said conversation. Five did not. Majority rules. As does reality! Sorta.

After Dr. Yonson's proof was presented (and this is the good part), Marlys Mihock told her she'd got to have a thick skin in this job and you can't trust everything you read in the paper. Why, who knows who said what and if it was even recorded properly...

At which point...

The stranger in the brown shirt with the notebook...

Speaks up....

And says.... (I'll quote for dramatic purposes, but it's just my recollection)

"But Marlys, you told me..."
Flipping through notebook, reading...
"Not one of the administrators told us that told you that there was a deadline to cap the budget!"

I could not stifle the laugh.

Yep.

PWNED! (see Wikipedia, old people) [ed: link added]

Kate Fratti was there. She apologized for not double checking her facts. She spoke up, out of turn, inappropriately at a school board meeting, because she, like Dr. Yonson, had her own good name to defend.

Truly, Marlys has her own definition of the truth. And it seems her memory's for crap, too. So except for putting the defeasement (giving back at a cost) of the construction bond on this month's agenda, it was a better than usual meeting.

Thanks joeyouknow! Did Marlys at least have the good grace to somewhat apologize, or was it brushed off as just another outrageous thing she said, and she didn't care that she was caught?

It sounds like Dr Yonson and the award winning Mrs Dunford may be in for a bit of a rough ride from the new and improved school board. But a double helping of kudos for them both, and Kate Fratti as well.

Humor Break: Comedy or Tragedy?

Today's Non Sequitur

Renovation in Neshaminy

Here's an article from the BCCT today on the renovation of the Middletown High School.

You know, when they talk about $77 million to fund the project and updated desks and flat screen televisions, I cannot help but think about how small and petty the NSNs look in renovating a fifty year old school at a cheap cut rate cost. There's nothing wrong with frugality or responsible conservative spending, but all we're going to do is bring out the can of spackle and patch, poke, and prod our way to another second rate showing. For God's sake, they spent $77 million on only THIRTY FOUR classrooms. We're going to take a building shell from the 1950s, hollow it out, and put in a marshmallow center filled with goodies acquired on the second hand market. (This is not a shot at the work the current maintenance staff is doing and the quality of work later workers may do. We're going to continue using second hand equipment because that's all we can afford. We had a chance to step up and blew it.)

This isn't a question of the money differences between the Neshaminy and Morrisville school districts. It's the difference in the progressive and negative thinking modes of the two communities. Unfortunately, we think second rate sometimes, and our new board members want to perpetuate this thinking. Look at the pride that the Neshaminy community has. Remember what Eleanor Roosevelt said? "No one can make you inferior without your consent." Would someone please take away the inferiority permission slips from the school board and let's start to have some sort of real community pride?

Stop the School people....Look and be ashamed. Once again the Academy Award for Most Pointless Enduring Mediocrity goes to...Morrisville.

School offers peek at new classrooms

Today, Neshaminy High School students will be returning from their winter break to some brand new classrooms.

But many teens and their families got a sneak peek of the two-story, 34-classroom wing during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday night.

The event marked the completion of the first phase of the $82 million Middletown high school renovation and construction project. The district borrowed $77 million to fund the project, officials said.

All of the updated classrooms include new desks and flat-screen televisions. Teachers also have planning centers for each subject's department, said administrators.

“It's so spacious,” said 16-year-old Lauren Holliday referring to the new building's wide hallways. “We can actually breathe. Before it was so crammed when classes let out.”

A second two-story, 34-classroom wing should be done by the summer. Both facilities feed into the main corridor called “Main Street,” which links the new main entrance, auxiliary gym and auditorium, said business administrator Joseph Paradise.

A section of classrooms will be torn down to make room for a road leading to that entrance, he said.

“There's a synergy for the first time connecting the entire high school,” said Paradise.

Although there were many people who wanted the district to build a whole new school, the school board settled on 60 percent new space and the rest renovated, administrators said.

The school's current main offices will be also be demolished and rebuilt by the summer. At that time, 16 modular classrooms will be disassembled, officials said.

“It's beautiful and very bright,” said Middletown resident Debbie Hazelett.

But while the project is 78 weeks in, there's still 90 more to go. It's expected to be finished in September 2009, administrators said.

“This is a place of learning where tens of thousands will walk through the halls to prepare themselves to change the future...” said Superintendent Paul Kadri.

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.

Interesting Document

I wonder what the payback to the unions might be for these endorsements on Election Day 2007. Did anyone else see this? And why would Marlys Mihok and William Hellmann CPA be unworthy of this honor, but Bill Farrell, Robin Reithmeyer, Al Radosti, Gloria Heater, Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta, and David Rivella would be?

I'm not against unions. I come from a long, long line of union members in my family. I just want to know if stopping the school and seeking to award reconstruction and renovation work locally are at all connected or not, either then, now, or in the future.

You Never Know What Google Can Find

A brief history of the Morrisville School District, by a guest blogger. I think it's so wonderful that a public servant like the comptroller of Morrisville worked so diligently with the QRSE people to ensure a brighter future for all. Does anyone know who this angel of compassionate mercy is?

I also never knew that our high school, built in 1957, actually met the code requirements of the 1960s. Big, big bravos to our time traveling architects and engineers. (Just for fun, does anyone know which public buildings were our official "Duck and Cover, Kiss Your Butt Goodbye" Cuban Missile Crisis shelters?) Ditto about the evil BCCT who never sees things the same way as these enlightened individuals.

I like the comparison to caring about the senior's medications but not caring about the kids. The technical term for this is "cognitive dissonance." Really. It is.

We also need to have a lesson in the use of apostrophe's when it's a plural and when it's a possessive. I can hear teachers across the commonwealth crying out in pain as they read this amateurish writing.

I feel like something is missing through. More than just the period at the end of the last sentence, or even a completion to the thought. But, sadly, that's where this heartfelt missive ends. Just as we're getting to the good

Taxpayer Successes in Pennsylvania School Districts

This letter is from Sharon Hughes, President of Morrisville Citizens for Quality, Responsible and Safe Education, Inc.
Tonight , Tuesday, 12/4/07, in Morrisville six candidates were sworn in as school board directors who represent the people of this community.It may take a moment to explain.
The state of Pa. recommended that Morrisville consolidate our three schools because we only have 900 students in our entire system and they would all fit in our existing high school with some modifications. But, our school board announced on September 28, 2005, that they wanted to tear down all three of our schools and build a new K-12 School at a cost of $28 Million dollars. (We believe that the actual cost would have been at least one-third higher had the numbers been honest. This belief is based on what the costs are to build schools in other districts in Lower Bucks County.) Our buildings were sound, but our systems, (electric, plumbing, etc.) were shot. Our high school was built to such high specifications in the 1960s that it was our towns designated bomb shelter. Bink Architects were hired on what I consider a very amateurish Feasibility Study that bears no resemblance to the school that was finally settled on.
Morrisville pays the highest taxes in Bucks County already, and this new school would put many of our citizens into tax sales.
Six weeks later on November 16, 2005, the board voted to float a $30 Million bond for the new K-12 School. At this point our group, Morrisville Citizens was born. We were turned down by every law firm in town to represent us. We then hired a law firm from Philadelphia, Robert Sugarman and Associates, to represent Morrisville Citizens. Bob Sugarman's first sentence after we explained the precarious tax situation that this bond put Morrisville's people into was, "That means that seniors will not be able to afford their medicine." Bob is a Godsend to Morrisville, and one very excellent lawyer.
Hiring a lawyer was not inexpensive. We still need to fundraise to pay our bill. But, in the first year of holding off the bond we saved the people of Morrisville about one million dollars because the interest rates for municipal bonds went down in that year.
He fought for us for two solid years and never once wavered in his dedication to our cause although there is really no way to stop a school board. He tried every legal way he could, even taking our case to the Supreme Court of the state of Pennsylvania only to be told they would not look at the case.
Two school board members who voted for the new school were lame ducks and left in Nov. 2005. Three more school board members resigned in the two months after the vote to build. The first to leave was the school board treasurer. I think they all knew about the reality or unreality of the numbers and got out before things got too hot. The three new hand picked board members voted pro school all the way.
Morrisville Citizens for Quality, Safe, Responsible Education met every Sunday night for over a year, and every other Sunday night for the next year. We were blessed early on when the comptroller for Morrisville looked at the numbers and realized what this new tax burden would do to our town and he worked with our lawyer for the entire two years at no charge looking at the financial problems with the plan. We found a member who printed tens of thousands of flyers for us for free. We found dedicated people who took over 3,000 flyers out every time we needed to communicate with the town. This was our only voice as the local newspaper was exclusively the voice for the school board. We brought facts and figures to the school board at every meeting only to be met by condescending attitudes and downright rude responses about us not caring about the children's education. The school board president told us that "schools do educate children", therefore a new school would educate our students better.
We wrote to and spoke with to the governor's office, local state representatives and senators, with PDE reps, the auditor general, Carle Dixon and numerous others who all said the same thing, "School Board's can pretty much do what they want to do !" "You elected them."
Our school board tried to sell two of our existing schools to a developer although they were still being used. The district would have rented back the schools until the new school was built. This was to force the hand of the new school board so they would have to build the new school.
We plowed on and held out until we were able to have our slate of six candidates take all six spots in both the democratic and the republican spaces in the May Primaries.
But the school board wasn't through. They established a new state political party.,"The community Party" in order to get onto the ballot in November. The school board president accused one of the new school board members of threatening her children