Possible Pennsbury / Morrisville merger raises questions of redistricting, fairness and facilities
Lots of questions were raised at the meeting the Pennsbury School Board held Tuesday night to discuss the feasibility of a merger with the Morrisville School District.
About 105 people attended the event in the Pennsbury High School East auditorium, school officials estimated, and almost all were from Pennsbury. Only one resident from Morrisville spoke ― and he was a fifth grade child named Micah pleading to come to Pennsbury.
“I excel at math and reading,” he said, speaking confidently at the podium reserved for those addressing the school board. He wants to come to Pennsbury to participate in the district's advanced classes.
Would taxes rise, property values fall with a merger?
But most of the questions focused on finances. And how Pennsbury could absorb Morrisville’s estimated $9 million debt without raising taxes more than they are planned to be raised to pay for Pennsbury’s capital improvement projects, including a newly renovated or new high school.
Some residents were concerned their taxes could rise substantially and their property values dip if a merger took place. The district raised taxes this school year by 2.8% on a budget of $234.1 million.
The feasibility report showed that in about six years, the district would be saving money through the merger or the scenarios in which Morrisville paid tuition to Pennsbury, which would offset the costs of extra staffing and extra buses, an additional expense. Morrisville wouldn't totally be out of debt but would be in a better situation financially at that point, officials said.
A big question that would need to be answered soon is how big of a high school is needed. The school district plans to turn Pennsbury High School West into the district’s one high school and demolish the East building. Will the West building need to be larger if the district were to get an additional 300 high school students, even though Pennsbury currently is seeing a downward trend in enrollment?
Another unanswered question is how much aid from the state would be forthcoming to make the deal worthwhile for Pennsbury. The PFM Group which performed a six-month feasibility study said they couldn’t factor in state aid, except for a $1 million grant that the Morrisville district currently is receiving. But one resident questioned that, saying the number was more like $600,000.
Several Pennsbury residents asked the board to consider having a referendum put before voters as to whether they wanted a merger, rather than leaving the decision to the school board. Others were concerned the district would need to redistrict its own students to make room for those from Morrisville and that more students will need special education services.
Could Morrisville's waterfront help it raise revenue?
Former Pennsbury School Board member Howard Goldberg did his own analysis of the three scenarios presented including a full merger of the two districts and the alternative plans that PFM presented – for Morrisville to pay tuition to Pennsbury to educate its students in third through 12th grade or sixth through 12th grade. He said it was a good thing for Pennsbury to consider helping Morrisville but he couldn’t envision any of the alternatives that would really benefit Pennsbury.
However, he also questioned why Morrisville wouldn't develop its waterfront to raise taxes for the borough and its school district so it wouldn’t be in the financial straits it’s in now. He suggested it “revisit developing its waterfront, which it rejected.”
Both Pennsbury residents Tim Daly and Robert Abrams, who frequently attend the school board meetings, discredited the PFM report.
Daly said that if Pennsbury has to take on Morrisville’s debt, Lower Makefield taxpayers will suffer the most since they pay the lion’s share of the district’s real estate taxes and because it’s a wealthy community, state aid would not be forthcoming once the merger took place. “Does this seem fair? Morrisville makes a killing,” Daly said.
Abrams said that the Pennsbury district’s bond rating would fall to “junk” status. He said that as a member of the feasibility committee composed of residents from both districts he asked for information on whether there was asbestos abatement needed in Morrisville's Grandview Elementary or Morrisville Middle / High School.
Either of those schools might be needed in a merger and removing asbestos could make renovations very expensive, but there was no information on that given in the report. He said Pennsbury needs committees and focus groups. “They need to be assembled immediately,’ he said.
Residents mentioned the need to redistrict the schools as well as the need for more buses, and significantly, finding bus drivers since the district is already short on them.
How to divide the school board?
"We’re taking on a lot of assumptions. We need certainty in order to move forward with clarity,” said resident Allyn Barth.
She also said that if there were a merger, it wouldn’t be fair that Morrisville would have the same number of board representatives as Pennsbury, which would be making up 91 percent of the population in the merged district and provide 94.5 percent of the tax revenue.
Following the meeting, Falls resident Joan Graves said “all these individuals made excellent points,” and she too hoped there could be a referendum for voters.
Pennsbury Superintendent of Schools Thomas Smith and School Board President TR Kannan said the board would get answers to questions posed by the audience. Pennsbury has considered mergers with Morrisville in the past but they have never been done.
“This is not going to be an easy decision,” Kannan said, noting that once a merger takes place, it can’t be undone. “So you have to be careful. We don’t have a timeline,” he said.
More:Pennbury-Morrisville merger could happen. Here are three scenarios, according to feasibility report
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Pennsbury School District residents question Morrisville merger idea
