Sullivan West
looks to 2003

By TOM KANE

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — The biggest item on the horizon during 2003 for the Sullivan West School District is the September opening of the new high school, the completion of renovations to the three older schools of the district—Narrowsburg, Delaware Valley and Jeffersonville—and the hiring of an assistant superintendent.

Construction of the high school has moved indoors for the winter. Composition board has been placed over the window openings to facilitate the work within.

“We are on target and expect to open the high school in the fall of 2003,” Superintendent of Schools Michael Johndrow said.

The district has been advertising for a assistant superintendent to replace Dave Rowley, who left in the beginning of December to become superintendent in another school district. The school board is concerned that the formidable task of scheduling for the new school year will fall largely on the shoulders of Johndrow if Rowley’s replacement is not found during the current school year.

The board also faces the decision whether or not the district should own its buses or should contract with a bus company. That decision would affect whether a $2 million bus garage would be built by the district.

“We are currently researching the benefits/drawbacks of owning our own bus fleet, which would necessitate building a bus garage versus contracting,” Johndrow wrote in the December district newsletter.

“Presently, the plan is to do double tripping—secondary students would be picked up first and taken to the new high school in Lake Huntington, and then the elementary students would be picked up and taken to their elementary buildings,” he said.

The coming year will also see the end of the three renovation projects: Narrowsburg renovations are scheduled for completion by March of 2003, and Delaware Valley and Jeffersonville are to be completed by December of 2003.

“We fully expect that the renovations will be finished on schedule,” Johndrow said.