October 9, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 Midland Park Dialogue open on sending students to Highlands The Midland Park School District may be exploring sending its high school stu- dents to Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale after all. Board of Education President William Sullivan told the board at its last meeting that Highlands’ Superintendent of Schools John Keenan had told him his district may be able to accommodate Midland Park’s high school students in a send/receive arrangement. Midland Park has 335 stu- dents in grades 9-12 this school year. Northern Highland has 1,351 students. “The decision now rests with the nine of us to decide whether we want to fund a feasibility study to determine the impact on education, facilities, staff, transporta- tion and, of course, the financial impact on the Midland Park taxpayers,” Sullivan told the board. Sullivan asked the school adminis- tration to research what a study of this magnitude could cost so that any board member that wishes to move this as a resolution could attach an accurate dollar amount to it. He said he anticipates infor- mation will be available for the board’s Oct. 15 meeting. Sullivan explained he reached out to Keenan two weeks ago to clarify on a pre- liminary meeting held last March between himself and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marie Cirasella with Keenan and High- lands Board of Education President Bar- bara Garand. At that meeting, Sullivan said, they had discussed the send/receive option, and he thought Keenan was to get back to Midland Park with answers about academic programs. Since no one had gotten back to him, Sullivan said at the Sept. 17 board meeting, he had assumed Highlands was not interested in any joint arrangement. But parents at that meeting questioned that interpretation, claiming Highlands was indeed interested. Speak- ing at that meeting, parent Therese Con- nors said the sending option had to be fully researched and discussed before funds for any future building project can be pursued. “The answer is important to both sides. If not given their due, people will wonder if there is a more effective option,” Con- nors said in pushing for a resolution to the Highlands outreach. Sullivan explained why he followed up with Keenan now. “We both had some different recollec- tions of our meeting last March, and when two people disagree, they come together to discuss it, which is what we did,” Sul- livan said last week. In February, following the defeat of a $15.27 million referendum to upgrade facilities and athletic fields, the board decided to reach out to neighboring dis- tricts to determine if there was any interest in either a sending or a receiving arrange- ment. The board president said the goal was for the board to have as much solid information as possible, rather than spec- ulation, in making decisions. Ridgewood officials said they could not take Midland Park students. No other meetings were reported. Northern Highlands is the regional high school district for Allendale and Upper Saddle River. The district receives students from Ho-Ho-Kus and Saddle River on a tuition basis. Ho-Ho-Kus sent its students to Midland Park High School on a tuition basis for over 20 years until switching to Highlands in 1997.