Schools
Cost of School Fight May be Too High for Montvale, Report Says
Montvale officials have not yet committed to funding a legal battle to leave the Pascack Valley Regional High School district, according to the report.
Officials in Montvale, one of the two towns from the Pascack Valley Regional High School District, are not sure they want to continue spending money on what will likely be a costly legal battle, according to a report on NorthJersey.com.
A 2009 study found that residents of Montvale and Woodcliff lake are paying more per student in school taxes than residents of Hillsdale and River Vale. The four towns share the regional school district, which contains Pascack Valley High School and Pascack Hills High School.
Montvale Mayor Roger Fyfe said he believed they had "little chance" of succeeding in their attempt to withdraw, according to the report.
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Executive County Superintendent Robert Gilmartin previously told Patch that the final decision on whether or not the split will happen would be up to voters of the four towns. According to 2010 Cenus data, Hillsdale and River Vale outnumber Montvale and Woodcliff lake by more than 6,000 residents, though that number does not reflect how many residents are registered voters.
The mayors of Hillsdale and River Vale previously said and will be having their own study done.
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"The initial research conducted by River Vale and Hillsdale suggests that the potential damage to the academic reputation of this district is too high of a risk for River Vale and Hillsdale to bear to stand aside and let this happen," Hillsdale Mayor Max Arnowitz previously said.
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