Jan 23, 2013 10:14 AM
Some parents in the Tuckahoe School District are upset about the prospect of losing Westhampton Beach High School as an option of where to send their children once they graduate from the eighth grade, thanks to a pending arrangement with the Southampton School District.
In December, Tuckahoe School officials agreed to a one-year exclusivity deal with Southampton High School that will save almost $600,000 in tuition costs, despite Tuckahoe’s nearly 20-year history of sending some high school-age children to Westhampton Beach High School. Tuckahoe does not have a high school; its high school-age students had been able to attend Southampton or Westhampton Beach, with Tuckahoe paying the tuition.
Under the agreement, in return for Tuckahoe sending all of its ninth-graders to Southampton High School, Southampton officials pared down the tuition rate for... more
In December, Tuckahoe School officials agreed to a one-year exclusivity deal with Southampton High School that will save almost $600,000 in tuition costs, despite Tuckahoe’s nearly 20-year history of sending some high school-age children to Westhampton Beach High School. Tuckahoe does not have a high school; its high school-age students had been able to attend Southampton or Westhampton Beach, with Tuckahoe paying the tuition.
Under the agreement, in return for Tuckahoe sending all of its ninth-graders to Southampton High School, Southampton officials pared down the tuition rate for... more
Every child sent to Westhampton Beach saved Tuckahoe nearly 20% per year in tuition for special ed students and over 13% per year for general ed students. The Tuckahoe School Board came to the public with the decision already made. They did not share the facts, ...more we had to ascertain them for ourselves.
To date, the school board has yet to tell parents and students the whole truth: While it is their "intent" to assure that all current Tuckahoe students at Westhampton be allowed to stay their until graduation, the decision will, in the end, not be theirs. The board has gone out of its way to conflate intent with action, hence the proposal to hire the PR person.
It should not have been left to three people to decide the fate of 52 current Tuckahoe kids at Westhampton (all of whom are currently SAVING the district money) and all those who had planned to attend WHB in the future. It should have been put to a vote. The board chose to go with a one-year exclusive with Southampton because it enabled them to ignore voters. Anything longer and it would have had to have been put to a vote - which would have been the right thing to do.
Yes, the school is in dire financial straights, but why punish kids for the school's mismanagement.
Just 2 years ago two members of the current board came to the public looking to spend "surplus" dollars to build on-campus housing for the superintendent. Tuckahoe residents came out in droves to protest this ludicrous expenditure proposal. The board had a chance to drop the idea, but instead insisted on bringing it to a referendum. The move was overwhelmingly defeated as was the budget and the result of this wrong-headed move was to inflame public passion against the school. The following year the budget did not pass again. Now, faced with huge deficits, the school cannot go to the public and ask to pierce the 2% tax cap because they have destroyed community relations.