WEST POINT – For over 100 years, students living at West Point have attended James I. O’Neill High School in the Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery School District. Those students make up 40 percent of the student body.
The contract with the Department of Defense is negotiated every five years and now the government agency has signaled that it may open the contract for competitive bids from other area schools this year. That, said State Senator James Skoufis, could potentially disrupt the long-standing West Point-Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery relationship.
Skoufis said for no other reason than proximity, the current arrangement should remain in place.
“You can’t have high schoolers who are on a bus right now for five minutes, now suddenly they are going to another high school over the mountain or across the river and be on a school bus for half an hour,” he said. The senator also pointed to the drive to parent-teacher conferences and sporting events.
“To be frank, my constituents are alarmed at the prospect of (the DOD) going out to a competitive bid and abruptly ending its relationship given the grave repercussions that would immediately follow,” Skoufis said.
The lawmaker has launched a website, www.SaveHFFM.com, which will allow residents to submit their feedback abut the possible move. All of the comments will be forwarded to the federal agency. The deadline to comment is September 30.
“Depleting James I. O’Neill High School of such a significant proportion of the student body would result in an enormous, negative impact on West Point families, the public school district’s finances and well-being, and the community at-large,” Skoufis said.
