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St. Basil and Garrison Settle Tuition Lawsuit for $150,000
Other actions remain, but "progress" declared
by Margaret Sternberg
At its May 8, 2007 meeting, the Garrison Board of Education announced a tentative settlement with St. Basil Academy on the lawsuit currently in State Supreme Court in Putnam County. Under terms of the agreement, which was reached through mediation at the request of presiding Justice Andrew P. O'Rourke, St. Basil will pay Garrison $150,000 in three installments of $50,000, starting September 24, 2007 and at six-month intervals thereafter.
The monies paid will cover the 2003-4 tuition of all out-of-state students who resided at St. Basil and attended the Garrison School at that time. The funds do not cover tuition for the in-state students.
Sal Ferlazzo, the attorney for Garrison, said the district is asking for summary judgments for money damages against all but one of the in-state school districts involved. Garrison negotiated with the excluded district and is in the process of finalizing an agreement.
In addition to the $150,000 settlement for the out-of-state students, the nine students from within New York account for an additional $187,298 in tuition. There is also $100,000 in Title I funds that was being sued for by St. Basil but will now be kept by Garrison because of the enrollment of the St. Basil children. Garrison had originally sued St. Basil for $410,000 to cover the costs of educating the St. Basil children during the school year in question.
The settlement was ratified by the St. Basil Board of Trustees May 9 and will now go before Justice O'Rourke to be finalized.
Greg Horowitz, the attorney for St. Basil, said, "I'm happy the issue of tuition has been resolved for the 2003-4 school year, but now we have to move forward with the much more important issue of where our children will be educated in the future, but this is progress."
Mr. Ferlazzo said, "We are pleased to have come to a resolution with St. Basil's Academy on the past tuition litigation, and we're hopeful that the declaratory judgment action will provide guidance from the State Education Department so that we can all go forward without litigation. Both sides compromised and agreed, and now we have to change our attention from the past to the future."
Superintendent Gloria Colucci released a statement saying, "I am pleased that Garrison and St. Basil were able to come to an agreement on the tuition for the 11 out-of-state St. Basil children who attended the Garrison School during the 2003-2004 school year, and that St. Basil has agreed to withdraw all related counterclaims.
Garrison will continue to pursue the collection of tuition for the 9 in-state students from their sending school districts.
The settlement of the suit does not affect a Garrison request for a declaratory judgment filed in State Supreme Court in Albany asking for clarification on its rights, responsibilities and obligations in educating the St. Basil children nor does it affect a civil rights action, also filed in Albany, by St Basil against Garrison.
Through a separate action in Albany, the District will also continue to seek a legal solution to the question of where children who are privately placed at St. Basil attend school and how their education is paid for. The District has sought a declaratory judgment involving St. Basil, the Office of Children and Family Services, and the Department of Education so that each of the parties can have clear direction as to its legal responsibilities.
In other business, Superintendent Colucci announced that the State Education Department had issued a permit for construction of the pavilion that is being underwritten by the Garrison Children's Education Fund. Construction is slated to begin June 25 and is expected to be finished prior to the beginning of the 2007-8 school year.
The eighth grade, which will be taking their class trip May 17 and 18, was successful in raising all of the monies needed for the trip through fundraising and other means. According to Superintendent Colucci, the only money the children will now need for the trip is spending money.
An update from the Education Committee included information that the district will be able to afford to purchase nine SmartBoards, four of which will be for the Middle School, with the locations of the others yet to be decided.
According to Trustee Marilyn Palefsky, chair of the committee, the future will bring a greater emphasis on "Arts" in the classroom, and the possibility of having an "artist in residence," who is able to integrate the Arts into the curriculum is being considered. There wais discussion concerning the production of the school play being for grades 5-8, while grades K-4 would have a separate talent program. The reason for the separation, Palefsky said, is that it was easier logistically, and that involvement in the production of the play "asked too much of the younger kids."
The next meeting of the Garrison Board of Education will be Wednesday, May 23, at 7pm.
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