Report Details Merger, Other Options For Pennsbury & Morrisville School Districts

The consulting group that conducted a feasibility study on the potential merger of the Morrisville and Pennsbury school districts issued that report leading into the holiday weekend.

Three possibilities are presented in the 161-page report by Philadelphia-based Public Financial Management Group Consulting to help the officials of the school districts decide whether a merger or tuition arrangement could be in their best interests.

For decades, talk of a merger between Pennsbury, which covers Falls Township, Lower Makefield Township, Tullytown Borough, and Yardley Borough, and Morrisville, which covers the riverfront borough across from New Jersey’s capital city, has been discussed. The most recent talks heated up last year.

Three possibilities for the possible merger of the two school districts are presented in the in-depth report. The first is that Pennsbury would merge and take in all of Morrisville’s students; the second is that Morrisville would pay Pennsbury tuition to educate its students in grades 3 through 12; and the third is that Morrisville would pay Pennsbury tuition to educate its students in grades 6 through 12.

“Overall, the study team found that each of the alternatives could be viable,” the report states.

The report’s creators will provide an outline of their work at a public meeting on January 31 at 7 p.m. in the Falls Township auditorium of Pennsbury High School East. The meeting will be live-streamed and recorded.

The public will have the opportunity to comment during the meeting on the study and the choices for Pennsbury and Morrisville. Neither school board will cast a vote during the meeting on the report or any recommendations. Both boards have yet to plan a vote on a merger or a tuition agreement as of this week.

The document details the intricate costs associated with each of the outlined scenarios, such as those associated with staffing, transportation, food service, and facility use and maintenance, as well as how these costs would impact bond ratings and property tax rates in either the merged district or the two separate districts. It also illustrates the effects of Morrisville paying Pennsbury’s tuition for some of its students’ education.

According to the report, any merger or tuition arrangement, if it were to happen, would not start until the 2024-2025 academic year, giving ample time for planning and transition.

The report notes: “It is also important to note that the two districts have meaningful opportunities for collaboration whether or not the two board decides to further consider merger or a tuition agreement. This cooperation can start now, and is generally beneficial to both districts, in most cases through opportunities for Pennsbury to provide excess service capacity to Morrisville at a lower cost than Morrisville can achieve on its own.”

In the 2021-2022 school year, Pennsbury educated 9,673 students and Morrisville taught 830 students.

According to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsbury spends $21,000 per year on each student, while Morrisville spends $24,157.

A merger of the districts would mean Pennsbury would assume Morrisville’s outstanding debt and its two school buildings. It would also make Pennsbury more racially diverse.

The report notes that the two options with Morrisville paying tuition and sending those students to Pennsbury schools hinges on decreased enrollment numbers in the larger district.

According to data in the report, Pennsbury teachers can start at $53,228 and top out at $107,804, while Morrisville teachers can start at $48,920 and finish their careers at $108,038. A merger would mean figuring out staffing of a combined district and settling contracts with the combined workforce.

“In a merger scenario, Pennsbury would need to renegotiate the salary and benefits in its contract for the staff that may be brought over from Morrisville,” the report states.

The report notes that Pennsbury’s larger size provides more educational, elective, and extracurricular offerings for students.

Students from Morrisville who attend Pennsbury schools would ride buses on neighborhood routes, just like Pennsbury students, and wouldn’t have to go to a single central pickup/drop-off location, according to the report.

If a tuition plan is adopted, the two school boards would have to work together to formulate a tuition plan, the report states.

“In contrast to a school district merger, with a tuition agreement Pennsbury and Morrisville would remain separate entities. Under this scenario, the two school districts would develop a contract stipulating the services that would be provided by the receiving school district, Pennsbury, and the payment structure and process for the sending school, Morrisville,” according to the report.

The report mentioned the districts could put forward a referendum for voters to decide on a merger.

The study points to the Central Valley School District in western Pennsylvania that undertook a similar merger several years back. The report states that district’s experience could provide a roadmap for Pennsbury and Morrisville.

The study of Pennsbury and Morrisville in the report is to offer information to help school officials to “determine if a merger or tuition arrangement might be in the best interest of both school districts, including but not limited to, if instructional opportunities would be enhanced for all students at a similar or reduced cost to taxpayers.”

The $195,000 report follows a series of public meetings on options in the fall.

Pennsbury School District Superintendent Dr. Thomas Smith said the following after the report was made public: “The report’s intent was to identify major issues that should be considered if the Boards of Pennsbury and Morrisville wish to consider a merger or tuition agreement. The report represents a good first step in what will be a much broader conversation. A committee of over 20 individuals from both communities provided feedback and varied perspectives, and we thank them for their time.”

Tim Daly, a Lower Makefield Township parent and resident who has concerns about the merger’s financial impacts, said he worries existing debt from Morrisville would have to be covered by Pennsbury taxpayers and create an undue burden.

“Hopefully our Board has learned from past lawsuits and will wait on Morrisville’s dissolution so that we take on only their kids, not their debts and deteriorating facilities that need millions in renovations as noted in the report,” he said.

Daly also took issue with the report: “The Feasibility Report provided by PFM is filled with misinformation, predicated on biased opinion with lacking evidential supporting data and avoids addressing the impending insolvency of Morrisville Borough School District. But the one thing the report did get right is that it was unable to find one positive reason for Pennsbury to entertain a merger.”

In the mid-2010s, officials from the Morrisville Borough School District sent letters to the Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Bensalem, Council Rock, Neshaminy, and Pennsbury school districts in an effort to generate interest in merger talks. In 2014, Pennsbury turned down an offer to merge with Morrisville.

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