GWL student transfer on hold

Greenwood Lake — Discussions to transfer Greenwood Lake High School students from Tuxedo’s George F. Baker High School to Warwick Valley have been put on temporary hold. The amount of state aid Warwick Valley School District would receive is the sticking point. “We are going to Albany (Thursday, April 26) to speak with officials of the state Education Department about the high school situation,” Greenwood Lake Schools superintendent John Guarracino said Wednesday. A halt in the discussions had caused some alarm that the proposed deal had fallen through but parties on both sides are putting that fear to rest. “Nothing has changed in the Warwick Greenwood Lake discussions,” said Dr. Frank Greenhall, superintendent of Warwick Valley Central School District. “The Warwick Board has consistently stated that until firm answers on the financial end are available, then they can’t move toward a vote by the public.” New York State has changed the method it uses to calculate aid and that has added to the holdup. “The new foundation aid system in Albany has complicated getting these numbers and this may delay the process,” Greenhall said, ”but the interest still exists to get numbers and have firm discussions regarding this issue.” Guarracino endorsed Greenhall’s view on the new aid system. “It’s confusing,” he said. There was confidence, however, that the current delay will not prevent the relocation of students from proceeding to the next stage. “We are well on our way to reaching a conclusion to this,” Guarracino said. Even if the state aid is concluded to the satisfaction of all parties, the road ahead still has several obstacles. The earliest Greenwood Lake students might begin in Warwick is for the following year - 2008-09. Before that could happen residents in both the Warwick Valley and Greenwood Lake school districts would need to approve the move in separate referendums. Greenhall said no ballot issue would be considered until the fall of 2007 - at the earliest. Meanwhile, Greenwood Lake officials still need to negotiate with their counterparts in Tuxedo for the education of their high school students for the coming year. Students have been attending the George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo for the past 23 years and while there have been no complaints regarding the quality of education available, it is the cost that’s the problem. The price of tuition to send students to Tuxedo will be approximately $14,000 per pupil next year. The estimate for sending the same child to Warwick currently sits at an estimated $6,800. While Warwick and Greenwood Lake sit patiently waiting for news from Albany, Joseph Zanetti has his own justifiable concerns. Zanetti is the superintendent of the Tuxedo School District where 75 percent of the students who attend the local high school are bused in from Greenwood Lake. On the difference in student tuition costs, Zanetti said: “People better know what the numbers really are. All I’ve heard so far are estimates.” Zanetti has been working in education for 22 years and understandably does not want to see Greenwood Lake students’ leave his district. He is proud of the association between the two towns. “We’ve built excellent programs and facilities here in Tuxedo,” said Zanetti. “Greenwood Lake students will always be welcome. I hope Greenwood Lake understands the value of what we currently have.” While Greenwood Lake students make up three quarters of the high school population in Tuxedo, Zanetti noted things would be very different in Warwick. “These students make up seventy-five percent of our enrollment; in Warwick I think it would be only around seventeen percent. Greenwood Lake students are no small potatoes for Tuxedo.” Zanetti concluded: “I’m not only hopeful we can keep Greenwood Lake students in our school, it is our goal. Unequivocally, we want Greenwood Lake to stay here.”