Page 24 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • December 19, 2012 Midland Park Spreading holiday cheer The Highland School Band was not at the rescheduled Tree Lighting festivities in Midland Park due to a previous commitment, but those who were there got into the holiday spirit just the same and enjoyed the excitement of Santa’s arrival on a fire truck, friendly elves, refreshments and giveaways. The event was sponsored by the Midland Park Board of Recreation. Enrollment study (continued from page 4) Meanwhile, using the same three-year percentage model, the Franklin Lakes enrollment at Indian Hills is projected to increase from 326 students in 2012-13 to 366 in 2016-17. The Oakland enrollment is projected to increase from 650 in 2012-13 to 657 in 2016-17, and the Wyckoff enrollment is projected to increase from 301 in 2012-13 to 408 in 2016-17. Despite this disparity between the schools, the overall total enrollment in the regional high school district is projected to remain constant with 2,291 students in 2012-13, declining to 2,284 in 2014-15, and rising to 2,291 in 2016-17. This projection is the mirror image of the issue that caused controversy in the district in the early 1990s. At that time, most students from Wyckoff went to Ramapo, Oakland had to send students to Indian Hills, and Franklin Lakes sent to both schools. In Franklin Lakes, students were split between the two high schools based on a dividing line drawn roughly from north to south through the borough. Students on the west side attended Indian Hills and students on the east side attended Ramapo. A full chronology of the “split” controversy is available in the reference rooms of the libraries in all three district towns. The policy of splitting the Franklin Lakes students between the high schools began in 1971 and lasted until Jan. 5, 1998 when the board of education at the time voted to allow Franklin Lakes students to have a choice of district schools. Students were to make that choice when they entered the high school district. Many Oakland residents opposed the policy change because they felt most students would choose Ramapo, and that would have a negative effect on Indian Hills. The action by the school board was challenged in court, but was later dismissed by an administrative law judge whose recommendation to dismiss the case was affirmed by the commissioner of education. The policy change did not extend a choice of schools to Oakland’s incoming students. Students from Wyckoff already had a choice of schools by virtue of a 1994 school board decision to allow students in any town in the district to choose to attend the school with the lesser enrollment. Indian Hills had the lower enrollment at that time. The policy change did not impact the enrollments at the schools, however, and in March of 1999 it was announced that the combined incoming class at Indian Hills from Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff was 65 students compared to the previous year’s comparable ninth grade Indian Hills enrollment of 67 students. In September 1999, there was an increase in enrollment at both schools. In October 2005, the regional board of education approved a revision to its school attendance area policy and regulation to allow incoming freshmen from Oakland to choose, starting in September 2006, which district school they would like to attend for their entire high school experience. As a result of that revised regulation, all students from Oakland, Wyckoff, and Franklin Lakes were then allowed to choose a district high school. The latest enrollment projections now indicate that more students are opting to attend Indian Hills than Ramapo.