TRR photo by Chris Conroy Megan Gorzynski addresses the Sullivan West board of education. Reading from a prepared statement, Gorzynski was one of more than a dozen Sullivan West/Narrowsburg students at the meeting who oppose the proposal to move high school classes to the Jeffersonville-Youngsville cmpus next year. (Click for larger image)

A community reacts

By CHRIS CONROY

DELAWARE VALLEY - The question of where Sullivan West/ Narrowsburg students will attend high school next year remains undecided as over 100 people turned out to the October 19 board meeting to hear pros and cons of a proposal to move students to the Jeffersonville-Youngsville (JY) building.

Building renovation plans on the three existing schools in the merged district are scheduled to run simultaneously with construction of the new high school. Originally, said Sullivan West Superintendent of Schools Michael Johndrow, the bulk of the renovations were to take place over this summer and next, with only minor disruptions during the school year. A short time ago, he said, that changed.

"When this whole thing hit about five weeks ago," said Johndrow, "we thought we could do it just by freeing up two classrooms. Then the contractors came to us." The contractors indicated that in order to get the project completed working only summer months, the cost of the project would increase to the point where another public referendum would have to be held to increase the already approved $49 million budget, Johndrow said.

A proposal is on the table to relocate Narrowsburg students, grades nine through 12, to the JY campus, leaving elementary and middle school students in the Narrowsburg building. Many students and parents in Narrowsburg voiced their protest of the proposed move.

"We don't want to go to Jeff," said Junior Class President Logan Cole. "We think it is going to hinder our ability to have a good education." Cole and more than a dozen students from Narrowsburg attended the meeting to speak out against the potential move.

If Narrowsburg students were to make the transfer to Jeffersonville, they would still remain an autonomous class, Johndrow said, unless they wanted otherwise. Class rankings, extracurricular activities and similiar matters would remain separate from those of the native JY campus population.

"Where would you put the students?" one parent asked. "Isn't the [JY] building already overcrowded?"

Johndrow said there are currently offices occupying spaces that were once classrooms. If the proposed move takes place, those classroom spaces would be reclaimed. In other cases, he said, the number of students entering certain classes, like Advanced Placement chemistry or other elective classes, would be small enough that the current classrooms could hold them with no problem.

"Will it be tight?" he asked. "Will it be inconvenient for a year? Yes."

Johndrow, Rowley and school board members stressed that the move was in no way definite. "I think we're jumping the gun a little on this," said Assistant Superintendent David Rowley. "We are still looking for space to keep Narrowsburg students in Narrowsburg."

However, Johndrow also stressed that if the high school is to remain in town, students need to relocate out of the school. The two neighboring churches, the Tusten Theatre, the town hall and the Narrowsburg Inn are all on the list of potential locations. If enough space can be found, it is possible that no move to the JY campus will have to occur.

A tight timeline has increased the stress and urgency of the entire situation. In order to make the cut for the Orange County League sports schedule, Sullivan West needs to know what it will be doing with its sports teams by November 26. If Narrowsburg students relocate to JY, sports directors recommend that the varsity and junior varsity teams from all three campuses merge. If students remain in town, there is no need to merge the teams at this time.

"We are as disappointed and [frustrated] with this [whole situation] as you are," Johndrow told the crowd.

As the investigation into alternatives continues, the topic of the potential move will be dealt with again at the November 2 and November 16 meetings of the Sullivan West board of education.