Consensus reached on GWL student transfer

Warwick — The Warwick Valley School Board has given its blessing to an All Saints Day vote on the decision to transfer students in from Greenwood Lake. At a joint meeting on Monday night where the Warwick board met alongside their colleagues from Greenwood Lake there was unanimity on the way ahead. Nov. 1 is the likely date when the public in both school districts will be asked to give their support to the proposal. A general agreement between the two boards was reached that the vote in both communities should be held on the same day. That date remains tentative until both boards confirm it at their next meeting. And then there is the added complication of whether Warwick can have their voting machines set for this referendum just five days before the political election date on Nov. 6. Voting regulations prevent the referendum and the political votes being cast on the same day. Same day but different costs. Warwick taxpayers would incur anything from $8,000 to $10,000 to cover the cost of a referendum but in Greenwood Lake it would be as little as $300 or $400. The reason: Greenwood Lake has its own voting machines and needs only one voting site. The proposed move involves the transfer of approximately 320 students who live in Greenwood Lake to Warwick High School phased in over a three-year period. For the past 23 years, those students have commuted to George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo. The prime motivator for this transfer is the significantly reduced costs to Greenwood Lake property tax payers if the move to Warwick proves successful. The cost per pupil to attend high school in Tuxedo this year will be $14,000 but in Warwick the projected cost is about $6,800 per pupil. There will be additional costs to Greenwood Lake, including busing at around $1,215 per pupil per year, but a considerable saving would still be made. While Greenwood Lake residents feel the expected benefits, it is argued just as strongly by those in favor of the move that the Warwick school will reap just as many rewards. Through the addition of more students and the hiring of five new teachers for each grade, officials project that Warwick Valley High School would be in a position to offer an additional 36 elective classes. Financially, Warwick would benefit, according to Warwick Superintendent Dr. Frank Greenhall. “Assuming we hire five staff per grade level … the net gain to Warwick based on all calculations would be roughly $688,600 net over what we would expend in costs per year, after the fourth year,” said Greenhall. These same regulations that determine no voting on the same day also stipulate that Greenwood Lake must have a period of 45 days between the date they confirm their choice to transfer the students and the date a full public poll can be taken. Warwick is under no obligation to ask the public to approve the influx of students to the high school but has remained consistent in its intention to do so. The increase in enrollment at Warwick High School has raised the most apprehension. However, Greenhall believes that projected demographics show that no such significant increase in students will take place. Assuming students from Greenwood Lake transfer to Warwick at the start of the 2008-09 school year, the projected figures show a total of 1,608 students in the first year of the three year phase-in period. The enrollment peak at 1,671 students will be reached, according to Greenhall, in the 2010-11 school year when all Greenwood Lake students would be integrated. “There would only be one year where the total number of students, with the Greenwood Lake students included, would be over the number we had last year (1,645 students) in school and this is by approximately 26 students,” Greenhall said. “We are not any where near capacity with those numbers.” Kathy Gilson, president of the Greenwood Lake School Board, advised that in discussion with parents and board members it had been agreed to allow parents of ninth graders to decide whether they wanted their children to transfer to Warwick or attend school in Tuxedo. The reasoning being that parents who already have children attending school in Tuxedo may not want to split their children into two different schools. Gilson also said, however, that parents would only have until the end of 2007 to decide. Much of Monday night’s meeting was taken up with concern over the time available to get sufficient and clear information out to the public prior to a vote. Some members of each board favored hiring public relations experts but that idea was rejected in favor of in-house delivery to the public. If the referendum successfully endorsed the plan to transfer students, a contract would be drawn up for a three -year period which would be renewable each year. Terminating the contract would require either party to elect to dissolve the agreement. While ongoing discussions stressed the benefits of the transfer to Greenwood Lake, Greenwood Lake School Board member Bill Kelly said: “I think one of the things that’s being lost here is that this is mutually beneficial to both districts. The addition of additional programming within Warwick; the addition of additional money coming into Warwick in the long term.” Warwick board member Mike Meinhardt agreed. “At this point I’m looking at a net tax benefit to Warwick of nearly $690,000 after a four year period; the potential for as many as 36 electives as well as something that hasn’t even been mentioned tonight, Greenwood Lake is part of the town of Warwick. This is a very strong third component in my judgment.” Assuming both boards give their official approval at their next meeting, a program of information delivery will go into action which will include a public hearing in each town. Joseph Zanetti, superintendent of Tuxedo School District, could not be reached for comment prior to publication but has made clear in the past his views on the move. Greenwood Lake students make up 75 percent of the total enrollment at Tuxedo. Zanetti spoke on the transfer early in the summer and said, “We’ve built excellent programs and facilities here in Tuxedo. Greenwood Lake students will always be welcome. I hope Greenwood Lake understands the value of what we currently have.”