'We want true parental choice'

GREENWOOD LAKE — As an eighth-grader, Greenwood Lake resident Brett Buckley knows next year will be a big year for him and his friends as they move onto the next part of their educational journey: High School.
But unlike students in other area middle schools, Brett and his fellow middle schoolers will need to make a choice of what high school to attend.
For the past 31 years, Greenwood Lake students have attended George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo because the Greenwood Lake School District didn’t its own high school.
Based on the Greenwood Lake Board of Education’s August vote, Brett will now need to choose between the small Chester Academy or the larger Warwick Valley High School.
That’s because Baker high, considered by the board to be too expensive of an option after months of review, was taken out of the mix.
Baker was initially selected by the board to be the single high school of choice for Greenwood Lake residents earlier this spring. But after public outcry, the board rescinded its vote. It told the community it would then begin from scratch to review what the best options would be for its students.
Those new scenarios included an all-Warwick option; an all-Chester option; a parental choice option of those two schools; or a parental choice option of all three schools - including Tuxedo - in the mix.
Residents who attended board meetings said public discussions always addressed the three school parental choice option. They claim they were dumbfounded when the board’s vote was for the two school option of Warwick and Chester only.
As acknowledged three school choice advocates, they said their anger is because Tuxedo is not part of that choice mix. They said they understand and respect that some Greenwood Lake parents want their kids to go to Warwick Valley High School. They also know there may be some who also want to go to Chester because of its small size.
But those options don’t interest eighth-grader Brett.
“We’d like them to know we want our ‘choice’ back,” said Brett. “We want true parental choice. I want them to know that I think it’s unfair they took away our choice. We’re trying to get that reversed.”
Supporters of the three school choice are hopeful the 647 signature petition presented at Wednesday night’s board meeting will cause the board to reflect on its August decision and modify it include Tuxedo.
The petition was accepted by the board, but as expected, it did not act on the request at Wednesday’s meeting.
Greenwood Lake officials contend they’ve always wanted a three choice option, but Tuxedo’s current tuition rate - even with its reduction to $13,000 - is still too high. They remind residents that the district must be fiscally responsible
“We’ve said all along we want you (Tuxedo) in the mix, but it has to be a cost that’s reasonable,” said Greenwood Lake School District Superintendent Dr. Richard Brockel on Thursday morning. “Tuxedo has to move on the tuition. We make choices in life every day. You may want to drive a Mercedes but you may not be able to afford to drive it, so you drive something less. We have to protect the integrity of this school district into the future.”
Still, those supporting the three school choice remain mystified as to how their opinions could be ignored.
“I’m very upset because of the fact that when our superintendent approached us with this novel idea of having a parent option, he brought it up to us as if it were be a three school choice,” said Greenwood Lake resident Laura Agostini, who has a daughter who is a sophomore at Baker and an eighth-grade son. “All along, we believed that’s what was going to happen and then to come to find out at last month’s board of education meeting that the board was going to go to the parent option without including Baker.”
They said the board put a precedent in place for modifying its decisions when it rescinded its all-Tuxedo vote in the spring.
If a petition with almost 200 less signatures than the one presented last night could cause them to cancel the vote to have all students attend Baker, they reasoned, then a larger petition combined with public outpour of support of it should cause them rethink the two school choice option.
All they want, organizers say, is to have Tuxedo be part of the mix.
“They accepted a petition with 320 names to rescind and they did,” said Greenwood Lake resident Lena Buckley, Brett’s mother. “Then they rescinded, once they saw how much it was tearing the community apart. They talked about the three school option, and then they pulled that school out of the option. We then petitioned the board with over 400 names asked for it to be an option. So we’re hoping now that we have more signatures and a bigger turnout it will get noticed. We implore them to do the right thing.”
The issue of taxes comes up as well. The three school choice group noted Greenwood Lake officials have said taxes will not decrease despite having Warwick and Chester as the choice options.
“I know that many people are siding with staying with Chester and Warwick because of taxes but our board of education has stated our taxes won’t go down,” Agostini said. “We’re asking for a fair chance for all the residents in this community. Members who rallied for Warwick or Chester were given the choice. Wouldn’t it be fair for parents and students who support Baker to be given that opportunity? My parental choice for Tuxedo was taken away from me. If it’s a choice, it should be a true choice, the three way choice.”

- Nancy Kriz