975

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The Susquehanna Bulle-
tin will not be published
Wednesday, July 9.
It will come out Wednes-
day, July 2, skip a week,
then resume regular weekly
publication Wednesday,
July 16.
SUSQ
Vol. 75 No. 25 June 25, 1975
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UEHANNA BULLETIN

Susquehanna Times & The Mount Joy Bulletin
MARIETTA & MOUNT JOY, PA.
Ten Cents
Lower Rapho Township wants to join the Donegal School District

Some junior and senior
high school students in
lower Rapho Township live
within sight of Donegal
High School; yet, they have
to travel 13 miles to
Manheim Central High
School in Manheim, because
all of Rapho Township is
part of the Manheim Central
School Distrecit.
Some of these students
spend two hours every
school day riding on school
buses. Because there are no
activities buses in the
Manheim Central Districts,
many of these students are
unable to participate in
band, dramatics, and
sports. Theirs and their
families’ social life is cen-
tered in places other than
Manheim. They feel left out
in school. When they
graduate there is a blank
space under their pictures,
where extracurricular activi-
ties are normally listed.
Petition Circulated
To remedy this situation
for their children a commit-
tee headed by Mrs. Carol
Miller, Newtown or
(‘“‘Drytown’’), has petition-
ed the courts to make lower
Rapho Township an inde-
pendent school district,
which would then transfer
students from Manheim
Central to Donegal schools.
(Previously, Mrs. Miller had
headed a movement which
was successful in getting
bussing for kindergarten
children.)
The committee secured
266 signatures on their
petition, more than a major-
ity of the 481 taxable
residents of lower Rapho
Township, the area bounded

by the Big and Little
Chicques Creeks on the
east, west, and south, and
by the main line of the Penn
Central Railroad on the
north.
County Judge William G.
Johnstone, Jr., has signed a
rule to serve a preliminary
order on State Secretary of
Education, John C. Pitten-
ger. If Pittenger approves
of the move, there will be a
public hearing soon on the
proposed changes held by
both the Donegal and
Manheim Central . School
Boards.
Some Oppose Move
Although a majority of the
taxable residents of the
lower Rapho area have
signed the petition asking
for the move to Donegal,
some residents are unhappy
about the proposed move.

Robert T. Musser
Some opponents of the
move who own property in
the area are afraid that
property taxes will have to
be greatly increased to
finance the move. They
believe they will be asked
not only to help pay for
ongoing expenses in the
Donegal District, but also to
pay their share of past costs
of Donegal school buildings.
Drawing by Ramona Sell
These opponents say that
a large number of the people
signing the petition do not
own property and conse-
quently will not be bearing
the increased tax burden.
They also state that a large
number of the signers did
not know what they were
signing and that some of
them have regretted sign-
ing.
Some critics of the pro-
posed move said that the
Manheim Central District
would not mind giving up
lower Rapho to the Donegal
District, because a lot of
people with children have
moved into the area who do
not pay property taxes; tax
income from lower Rapho no
longer exceeds the cost of
educating children from the
area, as it used to.
Musser Outspoken Critic
Most outspoken critic of
changing school districts a
year and a half ago was
Robert T. Musser, who
moved his family to lower
Rapho because he wanted
his son Jeff to attend schools
in the Manheim Central
District.
Musser maintains that
although he does not want a
change in schools, he would
prefer a move of children to
the Hempfield District,
which is just as close as the
Donegal District. He says
that he spoke to members of
the committee circulating
the petition and asked them
to call a meeting of lower
Rapho residents before sub-
mitting the petition. A
‘major topic he wanted to
discuss at that meeting was
the possibility of drawing a
line through lower Rapho,
“affiliated
ANE
one side of the area to be
with the-
Hempfield District, the
other side with the Donegal
District.
Standing in his backyard,
Musser pointed to the
Farmdale Elementary
School of the Hempfield
District, a short distance
away across the Big Chic-
ques Creek.
He feels the committee
did not consider the wishes
of a large number of
residents.
He also feels that the
problem of lower Rapho is
not unique, but exists all
over the state. There are
many areas where children
attend schools further away
than nearby schools in other
districts. He urges State
Representative Kenneth
Brandt to investigate the
problem of distance to
schools on a state-wide
basis, and encourage long-
range planning, instead of
hasty, local, and impulsive
action.
Musser concludes, ‘‘Hf
this move goes through we
might have a bigger mon-
ster on our hands than we
have now...”
Problems in Proposed Move
Both David E. McKalips,
superintendant of the Man-
heim Central District, and
Ragnar F. Hallgren, Jr.,
superintendant of the Done-
gal District, see logic in the
arguments of the committee
which circulated the peti-
tion.
(continued on page 7)
M.J.H.S. class of’50 gets together
Story and more photos on page 14

Photo by James Beck
Mr. and Mrs. W. 1. Beahm at Beahm Jr. High