A Mercer County judge has invited West Middlesex Area School District to sit in on court proceedings concerning a movement that seeks to have Wheatland become part of the district.

Common Pleas Judge Francis J. Fornelli invited West Middlesex to observe the proceedings, said district solicitor John C. Reed.

"I'm sort of like the fifth wheel," he said. "We have no say in what's going on."

But if Wheatland's Educational Alternatives Taskforce succeeds in the steps it must undertake to leave Farrell Area School District, that role could change.

"It ultimately could impact the West Middlesex Area School District," Reed said.

"They are going to be actively kept apprised of events and, at least, sitting in until it is determined how active they will be," said Farrell school solicitor James Nevant II.

Reed added that his school board could legally ask to join the proceedings as an intervenor.

Reed sat in on a status conference Tuesday with Fornelli, Nevant and WhEAT attorney Joann Jofery. The conference discussed procedural issues concerning a 9:30 a.m. Feb. 4 hearing on WhEAT's petition, Nevant said.

Jofery declined to comment without first talking to her clients.

One issue that has not been hammered out is the amount of time to allot for the hearing, Nevant said.

The hearing will be for the judge to determine if WhEAT has met its obligations under the School Code of 1949.

The code says the judge must determine that WhEAT's petition properly described the boundaries of the area that would be moved to West Middlesex, the reasons petitioners want the transfer and the name of the district they want to join.

The judge also must determine if a majority of the taxable inhabitants of Wheatland signed a petition asking for the change of districts.

Should the judge decide that all the criteria are met, he will notify the state secretary of education, who will rule on the educational merits of the petition.