By Ron Nowak

The State Education Dept., on Thursday night, said no to a high school in Greenwood Lake. SED official Charles Szuberla told a joint meeting of the Tuxedo and Greenwood Lake boards of education that he would not recommend that Greenwood Lake be granted permission to establish its own high school. He said now is not the time to start up a new, small high school.

Szuberla’s pronouncement did not sit well with the Greenwood Lake Board of Education or the estimated 30 Greenwood Lake residents who traveled to the Harriman Learning Center for the meeting. They pointed out that SED, although denying Greenwood Lake permission to have a high school, offers no other viable alternatives except for special legislation that many speakers pointed out has been tried in the past.

Szuberla offered no response except to agree that Greenwood Lake is unfairly funded through the current state aid system adding he understands that the district is at a disadvantage.

Greenwood Lake’s Board of Education was urged to appeal Szuberla’s decision in court as the only other alternative the district has at this point. The board gave no indication it would agree to that course of action nor did it indicate what other steps it might want to take.

Szuberla, at the urging of Tuxedo Board of Education member Joanne Vernon said he would send a written copy of his decision to both districts.

Following is the statement that I made at the Jan. 28^th meeting:

FOR SOME OF US IN THIS ROOM IT HAS TAKEN 10 YEARS TO FINALLY GET TO THIS DAY. DURING THIS DECADE-LONG JOURNEY WE HAVE BEEN PATRONIZED, TOLD WHAT WE WANT IS IMPOSSIBLE AND THAT WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. WE HAVE BEEN SHUNTED ASIDE, DELAYED, SIDETRACKED AND DENIED EVEN THE COURTESY OF TALKING DIRECTLY TO THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION. IN GENERAL, WE’VE BEEN GIVEN A BUREAUCRATIC RUN-AROUND – ALL BECAUSE WE HAVE HAD THE AUDACITY TO DEMAND PERMISSION TO HAVE OUR OWN HIGH SCHOOL.

HERE WE ARE AGAIN AT A “NEURTAL” SITE THAT, I WOULD POINT OUT, IS FARTHER FROM GREENWOOD LAKE THAN TUXEDO IS. THERE IS NO REASON FOR THIS MEETING TO BE HERE. THIS MEETING IS NOT ADVERSARIAL. WE IN GREENWOOD LAKE SIMPLY WANT TO KNOW, ONCE AND FOR ALL, WHETHER WE WILL FINALLY HAVE PERMISSION TO HAVE OUR OWN HIGH SCHOOL.

I’M NOT REALLY SURE WHY THIS IS A JOINT MEETING WITH TUXEDO. THE MERE FACT THAT WE TUITION OUR STUDENTS TO THAT DISTRICT HAS NO BEARING ON GREENWOOD LAKE’S DESIRE FOR ITS OWN HIGH SCHOOL. GREENWOOD LAKE SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO SUPPLY TUXEDO WITH STUDENTS, TO PAY UNNECESSARY TUTION, TO LOSE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN STATE AID OR TO BE HELD TO ARBITRARY STANDARDS SET BY THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT ONE BEING THAT WE, IN GREENWOOD LAKE, ARE SOMEHOW RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT ULTIMATELY HAPPENS IN TUXEDO. I WONDER IF THAT SAME STANDARD WILL EXIST IN FUTURE YEARS WHEN TUXEDO RESERVE IS BUILT AND TUXEDO MIGHT NO LONGER HAVE ROOM FOR GREENWOOD LAKE UNLESS FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS ARE FORTHCOMING.

EIGHT YEARS AGO I SAT IN ONE OF YOUR CONFERENCE ROOMS IN ALBANY WITH MEMBERS OF THE GREENWOOD LAKE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND A FORMER GREENWOOD LAKE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. WE HAD A SERIES OF CONDITIONS LAID OUT FOR US. THREE YEARS LATER, IN 2005, WE HELD A REFERENDUM. YOU KNOW THE RESULT — OVERWHEMLING ENDORSEMENT OF A HIGH SCHOOL IN GREENWOOD LAKE. WHAT WAS SED’S RESPONSE? WE WERE TOLD THE REFERENDUM WAS “PREMATURE.”

TWO YEARS LATER IN 2007, DESPERATE FOR LOWER TUITION AND A HIGH SCHOOL ALTERNATIVE, WE VOTED OVERWHELMINGLY TO MOVE FROM TUXEDO AND ENROLL OUR STUDENTS IN WARWICK. UNFORTUNATELY, WARWICK VOTERS WITH DIRECT ENCOURAGEMENT FROM, AN INTERVENTION BY, SEVERAL FACTIONS IN THE TUXEDO SCHOOL DISTRICT DEFEATED THAT PROPOSAL.

A YEAR LATER IN 2008, MR. SZUBERLA CAME UP WITH HIS LIST OF CONDITIONS, NOT UNLIKE THE ORIGINAL CONDITIONS SET IN 2002. WE HAVE MET THESE NEW CONDITIONS: WE HAVE A FIVE YEAR AGREEMENT WITH TUXEDO, NO OTHER DISTRICT WANTS US EITHER ON A TUITION OR ANNEXATION BASIS AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT WOULD BE CONSIDERABLY LESS COSTLY TO RUN OUR OWN HIGH SCHOOL THAN IT IS TO PAY TUITION TO TUXEDO.

IT HAS TAKEN A DECADE TO GET TO THIS POINT AND THE DELAY HAS COST GREENWOOD LAKE’S TAXPAYERS HEAVILY DURING THAT TIME. ONLY RECENTLY I WAS INFORMED THAT WE STILL DO NOT COLLECT ALL OUR BOCES AID AT OUR OWN AID RATIO AND THAT WE CONTINUE TO BE SHORT-CHANGED ON EXCESS COST AID BECAUSE SED WILL NOT ALLOW GREENWOOD LAKE TO BE LISTED AS THE DISTRICT APPLYING FOR THE AID, A SITUATION, I STRESS, THAT COULD EASILY BE CORRECTED BY SED. WE DO NOT HAVE CONTROL OVER OUR CLASSIFIED SPECIAL EDUCAITON STUDENTS’ PLACEMENTS, WE HAVE NO VOTE ON A BOARD OF EDUCATION THAT OVERSEES A DISTRICT IN WHICH OUR STUDENTS MAKE UP THE MAJORITY. WE HAVE NO DIRECT SAY IN WHAT GOES ON IN A HIGH SCHOOL WHERE THE STUDENT POPULATION IS 80% FROM GREENWOOD LAKE. WE ARE DISENFRANCHISED AND DEPRIVED OF THE BASIC RIGHTS THAT VIRTUALLY EVERY OTHER RESIDENT IN THIS STATE ENJOYS. THIS MUST END TONIGHT — AT THIS MEETING.

THERE ARE NO LOGICAL, LEGAL OR ETHICAL REASONS WHY WE SHOULD BE DENIED OUR BASIC RIGHTS. IF THE GREENWOOD LAKE COMMUNITY WANTS ITS OWN HIGH SCHOOL — IT IS ENTITLED TO HAVE THAT PERMISSION, TO PRESENT THE FACTS TO THE GREENWOOD LAKE COMMUNITY AND TO AGAIN VOTE TO TAX OURSEVLES. PERSONALLY, AFTER 10 YEARS, I AM TIRED OF PRESENTING THE SAME CASE, OVER AND OVER AND OVER. YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT OUR SITUTION IS. IT IS A SITUATION THAT UNIQUE AMONG THE STATE’S 700 SCHOOL DISTRICTS. YOU HAVE KNOWN BUT YOU SIMPLY CHOSE NOT TO MAKE A DECISION AND INSTEAD TO STRING US ALONG YEAR AFTER YEAR. THAT MUST END TONIGHT — AT THIS MEETING.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE STATE’S ECONOMY, AID REDUCTIONS OR BUILDING AID. THIS NOT ABOUT HAVING A 300-STUDENT HIGH SCHOOL IN A WORLD THAT WANTS 2,000-STUDENT HIGH SCHOOLS. THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION TUXEDO PROVIDES. WE IN GREENWOOD LAKE CAN ALSO PROVIDE A QUALITY EDUCATION. THIS IS NOT ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO TUXEDO. WHAT HAPPENS IN TUXEDO IS NOT, I REPEAT, NOT, OUR RESPONSIBILITY. YOU NEED YOU TO ACKNOWLEGE THAT FACT — TONIGHT — AT THIS MEETING.

I EXPECT TONIGHT — AT THIS MEETING — TO OBTAIN PERMISSION FOR GREENWOOD LAKE TO HAVE ITS OWN HIGH SCHOOL. THIS COMMUNITY IS ENTITLED TO THAT PERMISSION. WE ARE ENTITLED TO SELF-DETERMINATION AND WE ARE ENTITLED TO AN END TO YEARS OF FRUSTRATION. WE ARE ENTITLED TO EDUCATE OUR 9^TH-12^TH GRADERS IN THEIR HOME DISTRICT AND WE ARE ENTITLED TO LEAVE TUXEDO IF THAT IS WHAT WE CHOOSE TO DO. WE ARE ENTITLED TO PERMISSION TO ESTABLISH GREENWOOD LAKE HIGH AND WE ARE ENTITLED TO THAT PERMISSION TONIGHT – AT THIS MEETING.