Public voices doubt on student transfer

Warwick - Over the 19 months of discussions and presentations, Warwick residents have barely been heard concerning the idea to introduce about 300 students from Greenwood Lake into Warwick Valley High School. That all changed on Monday night. Despite the ceaseless rain and descending fog outside, inside the Middle School’s community room every seat was taken and just about all possible standing areas occupied. These were residents, many of them parents of children who attend Warwick schools, some of them teachers, some of them students, but almost all of them taxpayers. It was this last group whose reluctance to the transfer sounded out the loudest. Dr. Frank Greenhall, superintendent of schools in Warwick, laid out a comprehensive slideshow detailing the financial benefits to the district - almost $1.9 million after the fourth year. Greenhall also expressed his desire to counteract what he believes will be anticipated 11.7 percent decrease in K-12 students over the next five years. Additional benefits to the school district, as a result of the projected increase in finances, are expanded programs in music, agriculture and other core subjects. It all sounded so far, so good. A resident in Warwick for 25 years, Nancy Dalbert, praised the school system but disagreed with Greenhall. “I just can’t say enough about the Warwick schools; I am so proud of them,” said Dalbert. “What is so bad about a smaller enrollment? I really don’t think that dropping is such a bad thing. I think we need to stay as we are.” Dalbert also expressed her concern with the lack of a long-term agreement if the Greenwood Lake students were to transfer to Warwick. The contract would initially be for three years and could be ended by either party after that time. Dalbert addressed the parents of Greenwood Lake, “If you really care about your students — keep them there.” Greenwood Lake point of view Those Greenwood Lake students currently, and for the past quarter of a century, attend high school in Tuxedo and make up 75 percent of that school’s total student body. Toni Ehlers, a Greenwood Lake resident, was apprehensive about the tentative contract. She said: “I just can’t imagine as a Greenwood Lake resident that I would vote, ‘yes’ to a three-year contract. We have been somewhere for 25 years. It makes no sense to me.” Deanne Singer, Warwick resident, also voiced her unease by suggesting that the school in Tuxedo could close should their enrollment fall so dramatically, creating a longer term problem. She said: “In three years if we decide we are not happy with the situation and we were to nix the contract, and there is no Tuxedo to go back to, will the state say, ‘Hey, you took them, now keep them.’ If we say we don’t want them would Monroe-Woodbury or Suffern have to take them?” Greenhall responded: “All my work has been for Warwick Valley School District. It’s not my job to worry about the Tuxedo School District, as harsh as that sounds. It’s also not my job to speculate ‘what if.’” Not all comments were negative, however. “I support the children coming to Warwick,” said Veronica Fernandez-Rogers. “If we bring in more diversity into the school district it will be a plus for our students. I want my children to be around people from different places.” Overcrowding While he acknowledges that some classes this year have more than 30 students in them, Greenhall said many more have less than 10 students. But a first-hand account of life in Warwick Valley High School by freshman Steven Dixon differed. “I didn’t have a desk for two weeks and that was before my schedule had to get switched around,” he said. “In the class I was in before that there had to be 10 or 15 kids who were sitting on radiators because there were no seats.” Added into the mix, should the transfer proceed, is the genuine prospect of a lawsuit by the New York State United Teachers. A Warwick resident with a foot in each camp, John Kane is a teacher at Tuxedo who may well lose his job if the transfer goes ahead. Kane has appeared at several Warwick School Board meetings to argue that Warwick may be required by state law to employ any and all teachers who become surplus to requirements at Tuxedo should the students move to Warwick. Greenhall has consistently responded that his lawyers are confident the rule doesn’t apply in this situation. The benefits for Greenwood Lake Greenwood Lake Superintendent John Guarracino was also at the hearing to explain why he believes the transfer would be good for Greenwood Lake. “Right now we’re paying $12,500 per student (to attend high school in Tuxedo); if we came to Warwick the cost would be $6,500, a little more than half of what we’re paying at the moment,” said Guarracino. “We’ve been taking from our K thru eight programs for a number of years to pay for our high school students,” he added. “We have computers that are now 12 and 14 years old because we simply cannot afford to buy new computers. Our kids are suffering because of what we spend to send our kids to Tuxedo.” The outcome will be decided at the polls on Wednesday, Dec. 12.