Wednesday, August 11, 1999

Schools ask state board to OK split

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BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor

        MIDDLETOWN — The Middletown/Monroe Board of Education has joined State Rep. Gary Cates, R-West Chester, in petitioning the state school board to decide next month on splitting the district into two.

        A letter from Mr. Cates asking the state board to make a decision at its September meeting was delivered Monday to all 21 members and Susan Tave Zelman, superintendent of public instruction.

        A similar letter in support of Mr. Cates' position from the Middletown/Monroe Board of Education was delivered Tuesday during the state board's monthly meeting.

        “They (the state board) and they alone have the ability to make a decision,” Mr. Cates said Tuesday.

        “Yet, they've given the (Middletown/Monroe) board no timeline on when they might make that decision. “We'd like to see the matter expedited,” Mr. Cates said Tuesday.

        “There are a lot of things hanging, the most critical being a bond issue.”

        In February, voters rejected a $97.4 million bond issue to repair or rebuild schools, add classrooms and restructure grade levels in buildings. In part, educators attribute the defeat to the uncertainty of the situation.

        The Committee on Reviewing Education has asked the state board to reconsider its December 1997 decision deny ing the group's petition to form a new Monroe school district by consolidating areas within Monroe that are part of the Middletown/Monroe and Lebanon districts. The group thinks children in Monroe would receive a better education if they were separated from Middletown.

        The state board delayed the matter in January to gather more information. It was later delayed again to give Ms. Zelman time to review it. In December 1998, the Middletown/Monroe board first asked the state board if it would decide the matter quickly.

        The state board has not discussed the matter since.

        “For several months, all interested parties have patiently waited for a final decision,” Mr. Cates wrote. in his letter.“Not only has the matter failed to be resolved, it hasn't even been included for deliberations. ...”

        Mr. Cates said he is urging the state board to act on the matter next month to give the Middletown/Monroe board as much time as possible to restructure a bond issue and file the necessary paperwork by the Dec. 22 deadline for inclusion on next March's primary ballot.

        “It's an excellent letter. He (Mr. Cates) has an understanding of the issues at hand,” said Dr. Mark Frazer, vice president of the Middletown/Monroe board.

        “I'm not feeling comfortable about a bond issue until our state board makes a decision.”

        Mr. Cates said his goal is to put pressure on the state board to make a decision quickly. He urged local groups and individuals to write similar letters, urging the state board to settle the matter at its September meeting.

        “Nothing has changed in the material evidence presented,” Mr. Cates said. "What it comes down to is, when are they going to make a decision?”

       

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