from the bcct
Morrisville district officials seek mediation in tech school dispute
Posted: Friday, March 25, 2011 12:00 am
Morrisville district officials seek mediation in tech school dispute By GEMA MARIA DUARTE STAFF WRITER Calkins Media, Inc. | 0 comments
Morrisville officials say the school is overcharging the district for educating 52 borough students who attend the occupational school full time.
Morrisville School District officials want to mediate the payment battle they have going with Buck County Technical High School. They also plan to attend an April meeting to discuss potential funding formula changes.
The board voted Wednesday to request that the Pennsylvania Department of Education appoint a mediator to help solve the conflict, which has Morrisville putting its share of tech school funding into an escrow account.
The tech school joint board committee is expected to take similar action at its meeting on Monday.
Morrisville officials say the tech school is overcharging the district for educating 52 borough students who attend the occupational school full time.
Bucks County Technical High School serves students in the Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township, Pennsbury, Neshaminy and Morrisville school districts. Students sent there attend both academic and vocational classes.
Each district's share is based on a somewhat complicated formula, which takes into account fixed and variable costs at BCTHS and the number of students each district sends there.
That formula will be discussed at 6:30 p.m. April 5 at the tech school, 610 Wistar Road, Bristol Township. The meeting is open to the public. Business managers, superintendents and school board presidents from each district will attend. For the formula to change, all six districts have to agree.
The articles of agreement among the technical school and its six sending districts require each district to contribute its share as long as the BCTHS budget is approved by the joint school board committee and four of the six school boards at sending districts.
In February, Morrisville stopped a scheduled $151,914 tech school payment and instead put it in escrow. The same was done with payments due in October and December, and is expected to be done with this year's last payment - about $200,000 due in April, board directors have said. Only the first payment was released to the tech school in August.
Morrisville is being charged about $740,000 this school year for borough students attending the academic vocational school, much more than officials have said the district should be paying. Until the school adjusts its charge downward, Morrisville plans to withhold payments.
Dividing the share of the total operating budget of the technical school by the number of students it sends to the tech school, Morrisville pays $14,765 per student; Bristol, $16,044; Pennsbury, $13,937; Bensalem, $12,473; Bristol Township, $13,350; and Neshaminy, $15,176.
The Morrisville school board last year voted against funding its share of the tech school's $21.54 million budget for this school year.
The mediator idea came about earlier this month after a conference call that included representatives from the tech school, Morrisville School District and its solicitor, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The call was held after BCTHS solicitor Ellis Katz filed a petition with the education department seeking payment of funds owed by Morrisville.
Gema Maria Duarte can be reached at 215-949-4195 or gduarte@phillyBurbs.com Follow Gema on Twitter at twitter.com/deadlineduarte
