Relinquishing ‘more than what we would gain'

To the editor: The upcoming vote to allow the Greenwood Lake students to attend the Warwick Valley High School presents a tentative situation. Warwick Valley High School building expansion within recent years, if it was correctly planned, should have been built with the intention to provide for future growth for many years to come, assuring the public that the system would not become overcrowded in too short of a time frame. This must have been a major concern of the voters and the prior school board. Presently due to the mortgage crisis, growth in the short term may have slowed. This is temporary, proven in past cycles; growth will again become the norm. The inclusion of 300 students is not what you would call normal growth. Should we accept the 300 students from Greenwood Lake, we are also accepting the possibility that they - in addition to Warwick - will grow and could very likely create more than what we bargained for. If the move should come to pass the Tuxedo school system will be decimated, negating the three-year agreement and on moral grounds it would be very difficult to terminate their attendance. Why change what seems to be a good balance of students and teachers, an appropriate level of student achievements and enough room to enjoy Warwick Valley and reasonable future growth? What we may relinquish seems to be more than what we would gain. Hank Fortmuller Warwick