School Board sets public hearing Nov. 26 on student transfer

Warwick - A public hearing into the proposed transfer of students to Warwick Valley High School from Greenwood Lake will be held on Monday, Nov. 26. A similar public hearing will be held in the Village of Greenwood Lake the following evening, Nov. 27. Residents will be given the opportunity to ask questions of the School Board and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Greenhall concerning the plan to allow approximately 320 students to transfer in to Warwick Valley School District over a three-year period. These students have attended George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo for the past 23 years. At stake is substantial savings in cost for Greenwood Lake property taxpayers who pay almost $14,000 per student to have their children educated in Tuxedo. If the transfer to Warwick goes ahead, that figure is thought likely to drop to closer to $9,000 per student. Greenhall and Warwick’s School Board have given their full support to the transfer. They also have consistently expressed a unified belief over the past six months that no detrimental effect will surface at the high school despite such a large influx of new students because, as Greenhall has advised, the number of children attending school in Warwick is falling. The referendum for residents to cast their vote on the matter will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 12. In that ballot, which will take place in Greenwood Lake on the same day, residents will be asked: “Shall the Warwick Valley Central School District enter into an agreement with the Greenwood Lake Union Free School District to have high school students from Greenwood Lake enter the Warwick Valley Central School District as tuition-paying students?” Voter registration for residents not already on the election rolls will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 4. In other news, School Board member Michael Meinhardt has announced his intent to resign. Meinhardt was re-elected to serve for a three-year term in May of this year. The next meeting of the Warwick Valley School Board is Monday, Nov. 19.