Morrisville woos other school districts for merger deal

In theory, Morrisville High School still has a music program, but with the music teacher assigned to a social studies class, students aren't getting lessons, and the Bulldogs have yet to field a marching band at a football game.

Its musical blues aren't the only off-key notes in the small and steadily shrinking district in the postage-stamp-size Bucks County borough just across the Delaware River from Trenton.

Its situation is so dire school leaders have issued urgent appeals to several neighboring districts to consider either a full-scale merger, or at least a tuition deal that would allow Morrisville to send some of its students to their schools. So far, however, any courtship has been one-sided.

As a prospective partner, Morrisville would come with some baggage. Elementary school teachers now also handle special subjects such as art, music, and phys ed; the new superintendent triples as both high school and grade school principal; and it has been years since the high school offered Advanced Placement (AP) classes.

The music program is practically kaput, though a recently hired part-time teacher is trying to put together an after-school marching band and orchestra.

"Everybody here doubles up," said Michael Kopakowski, the superintendent/principal.

None of the nearby districts - Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Bensalem, Council Rock, Neshaminy, and Pennsbury - has raced to embrace Morrisville's unconventional proposal, although several promised to consider it before a Nov. 1 deadline.

The districts will weigh Morrisville's argument that a merger could bring tax stability, curb the need for costly school renovation projects, and arguably lower the Bucks crime rate by stemming the borough's economic decline.

"I think there could be a mutual benefit for both districts," school board president Damon Miller said of merger appeals, adding that high property-tax rates in Morrisville almost surely would drop through a consolidation.

Even a tuition program could relieve financial strain and provide options for students seeking to take AP classes or study German, said Kopakowski.

The status quo, he said, is becoming unworkable.

The idea is hardly new. Morrisville first approached its larger and more affluent neighbor Pennsbury in the 1970s and has been rebuffed multiple times. Its push for a partner expanded dramatically this year after school leaders learned from state officials that districts don't have to be contiguous to merge.

Morrisville's merger pleas are closely linked to the fight for the future of a small blue-collar community that has lost not only its factory-era luster, but also a chunk of its population.

During the 2000s, according to census figures, Morrisville, which covers less than two square miles, lost 1,285 residents, nearly 13 percent of its population. Those losses, amid the struggle to maintain its small school district, led to steadily rising property taxes that drove out more residents.

The third-smallest of the region's 63 local districts, Morrisville is the 18th poorest, yet it is placed among the higher taxed, at 22d on that list.

The borough's struggles have led to a series of cutbacks - four teachers were furloughed this fall and full-day kindergarten was cut to a half-day - that have fallen hard on students who say they've been robbed of opportunities.

Freshman Nijal Hizer, 14, said she hoped neighboring Pennsbury would reconsider.

"I know they play a lot of sports and have nice clubs and everything," Nijal said. "It would be better to have more activities. We're going to be applying to college in a few years, so maybe that would help us."

Since a state-mandated consolidation effort in the 1960s and '70s reduced the number of districts from 2,227 to just over 500, only one voluntary merger has occurred: Center Area and Monaca in Beaver County formed the Central Valley district in 2009.

Five years later, district officials say they are pleased with the results. Central Valley now has the lowest tax rate in Beaver County while offering students more AP classes and avoiding the expensive need to replace aging schools in Monaca.

Districts in three other counties are considering mergers, according to the state Department of Education.

But so far, Morrisville's overture hasn't gained traction in Bucks. Last week, board members in mostly affluent Council Rock flatly rebuffed Morrisville's proposal, calling the borough's plight sad, but noting they had their own problems to deal with.

"I don't see much of a benefit," said Bensalem school board president Heather Nicholas, who added the district was willing to consider Morrisville's offer.

In Bristol Township, Superintendent Sam Lee agreed a merger might be a chance to better leverage the resources of the two communities. "These conversations, as you can imagine, would be significant, prolonged, and robust," he said.

Nancy Sherlock, president of Morrisville Borough Council, said that the schools were excellent when her now-grown children attended them, but that she worried about the next generation now that the town had lost its industrial tax base.

"It's so crucial, the connection between a good school system and a healthy town," she said. "Unless you can offer a good education, you're not going to have young families move in there. You're going to continue to be used as a pass-through."