November 20, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 Midland Park Board back at square one with send/receive options The Northern Highlands Regional High School Board of Education has put a stop to any further discussion of a send/ receive relationship with Midland Park High School. In a brief email sent to Midland Park Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marie Cirasella following a Northern High- lands board meeting on Nov. 11, High- lands Superintendent John Keenan said his district’s board “has decided that a send/receive relationship with Midland Park is not something we wish to pursue.” He noted that he and the board had been following articles in area publications regarding Midland Park’s interest in the shared arrangement. “As you know, in addition to the overall number of students, there are many issues involved with such a relationship,” Keenan said in his eight-line note to Cirasella. “I want to thank Mr. Keenan and the NHRHS Board for taking the time to meet with us,” commented Midland Park Board President William Sullivan. “As both boards knew, there are many issues involved with a send/receive agreement of this magnitude, and I believe they gave it the same serious consideration that our board did.” The previous week, Midland Park trustees had themselves voted not to com- mission a feasibility study exploring a joint arrangement with Highlands, saying that they have no interest in closing Mid- land Park High School or even exploring options. The school has 330 students in grades 9-12. Class size ranges from a low of two students per class in French to a high of 30 in physical education. Band has 54 students and chorus has 43. “The Midland Park Board of Ed. must move on and continue to address our own facilities issues,” said Sullivan. “At this time, no other districts have expressed an interest to receive our high school students. We do however, have an exciting Share & Grow pilot program that we’re working on with the Waldwick Schools, and we continue to look at opportunities that could put Midland Park in a position to receive students from another smaller district,” he added. The board president had indicated pre- viously that one district had inquired a while back about sending its students to MPHS but nothing had come of it. North Haledon’s efforts to pull out of the Man- chester Regional district and send its high school students to Midland Park in the early 2000s were thwarted when the NJ Supreme Court ruled that dismantling Manchester would alter the racial and ethnic balance at the more urban school, harming the students’ education. Concern about the need for facilities upgrades in the district, Sullivan had pur- sued a study at the urging of residents who cited additional educational offer- ings and co-curricular activities, better athletic fields, and cost savings as reasons for exploring options. Residents expressed similar reasons in person at a packed Mid- land Park Board of Education meeting earlier this month, but failed to persuade the board.