The Journal News (Westerchester County, NY), July 27, 2005, Wednesday

Copyright 2005 The Journal News (Westerchester County, NY)
All Rights Reserved
The Journal News (Westerchester County, New York)

July 27, 2005 Wednesday

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5A

HEADLINE: 1 rep per H.S. to sit on boards

BYLINE: Hema Easley

BODY:
Clarkstown S. grad leads way for extra student on panels
Hema Easley
The Journal News
Andrea Vidler will not enjoy the benefit of her efforts, but she is pleased that future students in her high school will be ensured a voice in making decisions that affect them.
Vidler, 18, a Clarkstown South High School graduate, was among high school students from the state who lobbied to have a law enacted that would allow more than one student representative on the school board if the district had more than one high school. It would also allow options for choosing the student rep.
The state Senate and Assembly have approved the bill, which was awaiting Gov. George Pataki's signature yesterday. Pataki had until midnight to sign the bill into law.
"As soon as this bill passes today, we will have succeeded," Vidler said yesterday. The New City resident is studying industrial and labor relations at Cornell University. She was her high school representative to the school board in 2003-04.
Under the existing law, each school board was allowed to have one student-representative serve as a nonvoting member, although student reps could not attend executive sessions. The representative also had to be the student body president.
But in districts that have more than one high school - Clarkstown, for example - some administrators and students such as Vidler said the law didn't give adequate representation and restricted the right of students to choose their representative to the school board.
As a student-representative, Vidler alternated with Josh Mann, Clarkstown North's representative to the board, at school board meetings. But with different issues in the two high schools and their differing demographics, the two believed they could not do justice to the students they represented.
They decided to meet local leaders to try to change the law.
Vidler and Mann contacted Assemblyman Steven Sanders, D-Manhattan, and with his help drafted a bill that would allow each school to have a nonvoting student rep who could sit in on board meetings and voice opinions. These representatives would not be limited to a student government leader; they could be elected by students or the high school government body or selected by the principal or the school board.
"I think it is very important that the point of view of the ultimate consumer of our education system - the student - have input," said Sanders, chairman of the Assembly's education committee. "I think it's a situation that is a win for everyone. It's a win for the school board, a win for the school district and certainly a win for the students."
The bill does not mandate or require student representation.
All districts that want to invite students to join their boards must have voter approval. Those districts that have student representation must also have a periodic vote on the issue, under the bill.
If enacted, the law would affect all districts in the state that have more than one high school, including East Ramapo and Lakeland, which have two high schools each, and Yonkers, which has five.
Yonkers has no student reps on the board, said Eric Schoen, the district's spokesman. The district had no immediate comment on the bill.
In Lakeland, students looked forward to the bill becoming a law.
Walter Panas and Lakeland high school each had two student representatives in the 2004-05 school year. The district has had at least one representative for at least 20 years, Lakeland spokesman James Van Develde said. The district was unaware that a limit had been set on student representatives.
Staff writer Diana Belletieri contributed to this report.
Reach Hema Easley at heasley@thejournalnews.com or 845-578-2442.
Multiple high schools
Only a few school districts in the northern suburbs have more than one high school:
Clarkstown: Clarkstown North and Clarkstown South high schools
East Ramapo: Ramapo and Spring Valley
Lakeland: Lakeland and Walter Panas
Yonkers: Gorton, Roosevelt, Lincoln, Yonkers and Saunders Trades and Technical