Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • October 13, 2010 FLOW Area Indian Hills’ enrollment tops Ramapo’s for first time by Frank J. McMahon The enrollment figures recently announced for the two schools in the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District reveal that, for the first time in the history of the two schools, the enrollment at Indian Hills High School is higher than that at Ramapo High School. This statistic represents a stark contrast to the dismal predictions that were made when the “Franklin Lakes split” policy was eliminated in 1998. According to Superintendent C. Lauren Schoen, the enrollments at the two schools this year total 1,153 students at Ramapo and 1,203 students at Indian Hills. The breakdown of the enrollments by grade are: 286 students in grade 9 at Ramapo and 306 at Indian Hills; 291 students in grade 10 at Ramapo and 314 students at Indian Hills; 242 students in grade 11 at Ramapo and 286 students at Indian Hills; and 334 students in grade 12 at Ramapo and 297 students at Indian Hills. For 27 years prior to 1998, the regional school district had a policy that determined which school in the district students could attend. All Wyckoff students attended Ramapo and all Oakland students attended Indian Hills, while Franklin Lakes students were split by way of a dividing line that separated the borough so that students on the west side of the borough attended Indian Hills and students on the east side attended Ramapo. That split created an ongoing controversy, especially in Franklin Lakes and Oakland, that found its way into every initiative attempted by the school board and almost every board meeting for many years. Comparisons of the two schools were being made constantly, and many of the residents of Franklin Lakes found themselves at odds with their neighbors on the other side of the dividing line. Dr. Ronald Frederick, the principal of Indian Hills during the split controversy, often found himself defending Indian Hills at board meetings and extolling the school’s educational value and its family atmosphere. He recently said he was pleased with the increased enrollment at Indian Hills and praised former Superintendent Paul Saxton for making the tough decision, which turned out to be the best decision for the district. “They said it would be the end of Indian Hills,” Fredericks said, “but it was the rebirth of Indian Hills; that’s what it was.” Saxton, who was hired as the district’s superintendent in 1997, recently said he was very pleased to hear of the enrollment success at Indian Hills. He recounted that he was very confident at the time that his enrollment projec- tions would be proven to be accurate. When Saxton joined the district, he immediately began to steer the school board toward a new curriculum for the new millennium, which was to include new programs and the reconstruction of both school facilities. “I knew I couldn’t get anywhere until I resolved the issue of the split,” Saxton said. “That’s why we took it on immediately and brought it to closure.” Oakland resident James Mokhiber was the president of the school board in 1998, and he also urged the board to end the split policy although that decision was unpopular in his municipality. Mokhiber was defeated in his reelection bid following his effort to end the split, but he recently emphasized that he believes it was the right decision. “It’s nice to be right in something that you do for nothing,” he said. “They (the opponents of the decision) were absolutely wrong, and I’m glad I stood up for what I believed in. I’m glad I was part of it.” In December of 1997, led by Saxton and Mokhiber, the Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education recommended a change in the school attendance policy. The amended policy gave incoming Franklin Lakes ninth graders the choice of which district high school they would attend in September 1999. That choice was to be permanent for the student’s entire high school experience. Under the amended policy, Wyckoff high school students continued to attend Ramapo and Oakland high school students continued to attend Indian Hills, although they have the choice of attending the school of lesser enrollment which, at that time, was Indian Hills. 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