District refuses to pay tech school
By: GEMA MARIA DUARTE
Bucks County Courier Times
Morrisville School District officials refuse to pay their share of the cost to operate Bucks County Technical High School until the Bristol Township school adjusts its funding formula.
The borough believes the tech school is overcharging Morrisville for educating 51 borough students who attend the occupational school full time. Morrisville board President Bill Hellmann issued a stinging indictment of the technical school Friday, saying it wasn't achieving academic standards, was too expensive to operate and should be returned to the part-time institution it once was.
"The larger issue is: We do not need nor can we afford a seventh very expensive academic high school at the tech school," Hellmann said. "They also have not met AYP the last three years. The six sending school districts already have six very expensive academic high schools. All six of us have huge deficits. We cannot afford it any longer and it will only get worse."
He continued: "The middle tech school and the upper tech school are tech schools only. I think (all contributing districts) can save approximately $15,000,000 per year going back to a tech school only. For last year and projected for the next year (2011-12) our cost has increased approximately $400,000, and we only have 51 students there. That is an approximately 76 percent increase in two years."
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching tech school officials Friday for comment.
Bucks County Technical High School serves students in the Bensalem, Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Pennsbury, Neshaminy and Morrisville school districts. Students sent there attend both academic and vocational classes on a full-time basis.
The Middle Bucks Institute of Technology in Warrington and the Upper Bucks County Technical School in Perkasie are part-time institutions where students split time between their home schools and the tech schools. Council Rock and Centennial students attend Middle Bucks.
On Wednesday, Morrisville stopped a scheduled $151,914 tech school payment due this month and put it in an escrow account. Similar payments in October and December were also placed in escrow. This year's last payment - about $200,000 due in April - will also being going into escrow, board member Marlys Mihok said Friday. Only the first payment was released, said Hellmann.
The district is being charged about $740,000 for this school year for Morrisville students attending the academic vocational school, much more than officials say the district should be paying. Until the school adjusts its charge downward, Morrisville plans to withhold payments, officials said.
Last week the board unanimously voted to have its solicitor prepare the needed legal paperwork to start discussions with the tech school administration.
"At this point, litigation is our only option, so it appears," Hellmann said. "Let the courts settle it."
At this month's board meeting, school directors, especially Hellmann, were frustrated and angered by the issue.
"I and our school district do not believe the funding formula is being properly applied and I have documented evidence supporting that statement from the two budget revisions from the 2010-11 fiscal year and how they were applied to Morrisville School District. We asked the tech school administration for an explanation and I am still waiting a year later," Hellmann said in a written statement.
Gema Maria Duarte can be reached at 215-949-4195 or gduarte@phillyBurbs.com Follow Gema on Twitter at twitter.com/deadlineduarte
