Schools

Nyack H.S. Open Campus Open Discussion Tonight

Published

August 24, 2010

Nyack, August 24 — Nyack’s Board of Education will hear from the public tonight on a proposed change to the high school’s “open campus” policy which lets students leave the property for lunch. The meeting is scheduled for 7:30p in the Nyack High School cafeteria.

Over 60% of respondents to a NyackNewsAndViews survey conducted earlier this month favored changing the current policy which lets all grades go out for lunch. A little over half of all respondents agreed that “open campus should be restricted to juniors and seniors.”

A vocal minority of parents have objected to board’s process citing the lack of formal public input prior to implementing a pilot program which begins with the new school year. Tonight’s meeting is the schools’ response to that criticism.

“The fact that the board [implemented the pilot program] without first taking account of the opinions and suggestions of the students, faculty or parents raises obvious concerns,” says Nyack High School senior Kendi Kajogo. “Since this decision was made with little to no input from those who it would be directly affecting or from those who would be in charge of enforcing it, expecting full cooperation from everyone who is involved is highly unlikely,” she says.

High School Principal Joe Spero will lead a followup discussion with students and parents about new open campus restrictions on Thursday 8/26 at 7:30p in the high school library.

Also on the board’s agenda for Tuesday is a discussion of the Madison Square Garden Cablevision agreement and the schools’ sex offender notification policy.