Lawmakers Seek State Help For Morrisville Schools

MORRISVILLE, PA — Lawmakers representing Morrisville on Friday said they are pushing for state help for the borough's school district, which is considering drastic cuts to make up for a $1.5 million budget shortfall.

"Morrisville is a great, great community," said state Sen. Steve Santarsiero, during an online news conference. "It has a great history. A storied history, in fact, and great potential. But it also has great challenges."

Earlier this week, Morrisville's school board said it is eyeing cuts that would include furloughing assistant principals, media specialists and other support staff as well as eliminating all sports programs, kindergarten programs and the arts.

The cuts would come along with a 2.79-percent property tax increase — which would bring the district's tax rate to its legally mandated limit.

Santarsiero, along with state representatives Perry Warren and John Galloway, wrote a letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and legislative leaders asking for help. In it, they requested that the state look at how its school funding formula applies to Morrisville schools.

The lawmakers say they believe decisions on funding the system are made based on the median household income in the borough's zip code — which also includes Yardley Borough and Lower Makefield Township.

Santarsiero said that number is about $75,000, while the actual median household income in Morrisville Borough is more like $53,000.

In the mean time, the letter asks that base funding for Morrisville schools be increased to bridge its current funding gap, and that a recent technology grant that would have helped the system pay for Chromebook laptops during the coronavirus shutdown be reconsidered.

Lawmakers think the grant was denied, once again, because median incomes in neighboring districts are higher than they are in Morrisville itself.

For the past five years, lawmakers have quietly gotten $1 million in state funds approved to help Morrisville schools make ends meet. But, they say, now is the time for a more permanent solution.

"That's a bandage, but it's not a long-term solution," Warren said. "It was meant to be a short-term solution, but it's gone on for five years. We need to work for a long-term solution."

Both lawmakers and local officials at Friday's news conference said they are also open to considering another long-term solution — having Morrisville schools join another school district.

The most obvious candidate would be the Pennsbury School District, which borders Morrisville's district on three sides. The Delaware River makes up the district's fourth border.

School board members said there have been on-and-off talks with Pennsbury in the past about joining, but nothing has come of them.

"If there's an interest between Pennsbury and Morrisville or any other district for that matter ... that's something that both parties are going to have to agree on," Santarsiero said. "From what I'm hearing ... it sounds like Morrisville would be more than willing to have those conversations."