The Pennsbury School Board voted 5-2 Thursday evening to end consideration of a merger with the Morrisville Borough School District.
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The board’s vote came after an evaluation of a merger or tuition agreement between Pennsbury and the much-smaller Morrisville school system.
The Morrisville Borough School District has had been having financial issues and has been seeking another district, often Pennsbury, to absorb it.
The vote means Pennsbury will no longer pursue the merger or tuition agreement.
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The school board voted to “direct its proper officers to cease exploration of a merger or tuition agreement with the Morrisville Borough School District at this time so that the District can focus on other priorities including the proposed high school project. The District will offer collaborative services to assist Morrisville as appropriate.”
The move comes as Pennsbury looks at building a new high school or a major renovation.
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The two school systems had seriously considered a merger over the past year.
Philadelphia-based Public Financial Management Group Consulting presented an overview of the potential merger in a 161-page report issued late last year.
The report outlined three possibilities for the two school districts. They were presented as Pennsbury merging with Morrisville and combining student populations; the second was that Morrisville would pay Pennsbury tuition to educate its students in grades 3 through 12; and the third was that Morrisville would pay Pennsbury tuition to educate its students in grades 6 through 12.
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Speakers at public meetings in Pennsbury seemed to be largely opposed to the plan, citing little perceived benefits for Pennsbury.
Talk of Pennsbury and Morrisville merging have been around for decades.
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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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