Tuxedo residents go to the polls Tuesday to fill three open seats on the Tuxedo Union Free School Board. Residents will also vote on the district’s proposed $14 million school budget, with a tax levy of 1.69%.
Tuxedo residents vote Tuesday for the town’s school budget and for three Board of Education seats, where 5 of the 8 candidates have discussed closing George F. Baker High School.
The district budget calls for the elimination of some 15 full time positions (FTE), including faculty, staff and administrative positions. The board voted to use approximately $900,000 in district reserve funds for the 2015-16 budget in anticipation of revenue coming in from the Tuxedo Farms development to replenish reserves.
In a late April meeting, the Tuxedo BOE determined to split enrollment at George Grant Mason into grades K-6, with 130 students estimated to attend in the fall. George F. Baker High School will take in a projected 130 7-12 grade students.
The school board election perhaps best sums up the upheaval in Tuxedo schools, with the loss of Greenwood Lake students and rejection by New York of the district’s STEM academy charter proposal, residents have questioned the viability of the George F. Baker as a stand-alone high school.
Eight candidates are seeking three Tuxedo Board of Education seats and include Angela Mulvaney (incumbent), Mary-Fidelis Feeley, Joe Rickard, Edward J. Colletti, Raymond R. Ferri, Mary E. Vaught, Allyson Arber and Diana L. Petrosky (incumbent).
There are eight candidates vying for three board seats. Three candidates have said outright that they would possibly vote to close the school. Angela Mulvaney (incumbent), Mary-Fidelis Feeley and Joe Rickard questioned the cost per pupil for an enrollment of 80 high school students, with Rickard saying that the school’s educational programs and financials just don’t work.
Candidates Edward J. Colletti and Raymond R. Ferri have each voiced skepticism about the long-term health of George F. Baker, questioning the quality of education the school can deliver. Both have said they would entertain the idea of closing the school.
The candidate trio of Mary E. Vaught, Allyson Arber and Diana L. Petrosky (incumbent) advocate staying the course with George F. Baker.
In a letter to the editor at TPFYI.com (where Mary “Meg” Vaught co-edits), Joseph Ribando wrote that tax impacts on Tuxedo being absorbed into another school district — such as Ramapo Central — would be enormous.
“The social impacts are immeasurable,” Ribando wrote in an article titled A Community At The Crossroad. “If Tuxedo loses its high school, you cannot simply reopen it in the future. Local districts must adhere to laws and regulations imposed by the State Education Department and the State Legislature. Close the high school and you lose your right to operate a high school in the future.”
The Tuxedo Union Free School District Budget vote and Board elections take place on Tuesday, May 19 from 2-9pm.
