Palisades School District will be getting about 60 new students in 2013.
Since 2006, some Riegelsville residents have pressed to send students to Palisades School District instead of Easton Area School District. And after six years, a handful of fundraisers and two court appeals, supporters and opponents finally have an answer.
The Pennsylvania State Board of Education last week unanimously approved the transfer of Riegelsville Independent School District from the Easton Area School District to the Palisades School District. Though they are in the northern tip of Bucks County, about 52 of Riegelsville's about 75 school-age children attend schools in Easton in Northampton County. Most of the rest attend private schools.
Supporters of the state’s decision said it will benefit Riegelsville students.
Ken Lundie, member of the Riegelsville Tax and Education Coalition, said the state's decision was "wonderful."
“I think it will be good for the children to go to school in the same county in which they live,” Lundie said. “They can avoid the long bus trips to Easton, going back and forth.”
Because of the transfer, the Easton Area School District will lose $900,000 in the 2013-14 school year. Beginning in 2014-15, Palisades will pay Easton $1.4 million over four years to compensate for the lost property tax revenue and skewed debt obligation Easton will suffer. Palisades and Easton compromised on the figure at a hearing in early February.
The state board’s only role in the process was to approve or deny the petition, and it will have no part in transportation or other concerns.
Easton district students would begin attending Palisades schools in 2013. An arrangement for some students who may wish to stay in Easton schools past 2013 is in the works but has not been finalized, according to Riegelsville Tax and Education Coalition attorney James Sweeney.
Easton Area School Board President Robert Fehnel said he's glad that both school districts can move forward with what's best for the students.
"I'm glad to see that everything's been worked out and that the people in Riegelsville are satisfied," he said.
