Published Friday, September 15, 2000
WEST MIDDLESEX
School officials talk of including Wheatland
West Middlesex school officials had gotten wind that there was a movement in Wheatland to break away from Farrell schools and latch onto the West Middlesex district.Superintendent Albert Jones said the board had discussed the prospect of an expansion.
"The board said we would listen to them," Jones said. "I’m sure that the board would sit down and talk to the people. We’re not going to solicit them to come."
Should the move be successful, West Middlesex could work the Wheatland residents into its system without a lot of problems, he said.
According to May figures provided by the borough, Wheatland had no more than 82 school-aged children, of which 20 to 25 were going to private schools.
"The amount of kids in Wheatland, if they would come here, wouldn’t be a great hardship right away. We’re not talking about an influx of hundreds of kids."
Jones said the prospect of Wheatland leaving Farrell came up once before, some 20 years ago. "This is not the first time Wheatland has looked into this."