Hillsdale, River Vale will fight to keep Woodcliff Lake in regional district

Hillsdale and River Vale will fight a state appellate court ruling that Woodcliff Lake can ask voters if the borough should withdraw from the Pascack Valley Regional High School District. 

Both boroughs have asked the state Supreme Court to review the July 20 decision. 

Woodcliff Lake has sought for years to leave Pascack Valley Regional and instead enter into a send-receive relationship with the district, which would allow the borough to pay tuition on a per-pupil basis rather than pay taxes based on equalized property values, as it currently does. The send-receive arrangement could save borough taxpayers more than $3 million annually, Woodcliff Lake officials have said. 

But Hillsdale and River Vale contend that Woodcliff Lake’s withdrawal could affect the high-performing district’s educational quality. 

"Money should not be considered over the educational deprivation withdrawal would cause,” the opposing boroughs argued in their appeal. 

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River Vale Mayor Glen Jasionowksi said Woodcliff Lake's withdrawal would hurt the district financially, possibly leading to course reductions, staff layoffs and sports cutbacks. 

“We are going to fight every step of the way, and pursue every available legal remedy, to make sure our children continue to get the very best education we can give them," Jasionowski said in a statement.  

Hillsdale Mayor Doug Frank also said Woodcliff Lake's withdrawal would threaten the high school district, which he called "one of the most valuable assets" in the community. 

"Whatever savings Woodcliff Lake believes it would realize by withdrawing from the high school will not overcome the negative impact these actions will have upon our property values when the high school's reputation is damaged by having to suffer through this disruptive change," Frank said in a statement. 

But attorney Kerri Wright, who represents Woodcliff Lake, said that for years the borough's taxpayers have been paying more than their fair share. Wright said that when Pascack Valley Regional was founded in 1951, all four towns agreed to fund the district based on a per-pupil formula.  

However, the law changed in 1975, and required regional districts to apportion tax levies based on equalized property values. Wright said the additional money paid by Woodcliff Lake and Montvale, where property values are higher, is akin to a subsidy.  

In 1993, the state Legislature changed the law again, allowing districts to apportion school tax levies based on a per-pupil cost, equalized property values or a combination of the two. However, all constituent municipalities in the regional school district must agree. 

"What River Vale's mayor is 'fighting' against is the right of the voters to decide this issue, to decide how their children are educated and their tax dollars spent," Wright said.  

Pascack Valley Regional accepts students from River Vale, Hillsdale, Montvale and Woodcliff Lake, each of which operates an independent pre-kindergarten-through-Grade-8 school system and sends students to one of two high schools.  

River Vale and Hillsdale students attend Pascack Valley High School. Montvale and Woodcliff Lake students attend Pascack Hills High School.  

If Woodcliff Lake decides to pursue the referendum, all four towns would participate in a special election to determine whether the borough can withdraw from the district. 

The state Department of Education’s board of review originally granted Woodcliff Lake’s petition to pursue a referendum in March 2014.  

The board can deny a withdrawal petition on several grounds, including if it finds that an excessive debt burden will be imposed on constituent districts, an efficient school system cannot be maintained in the constituent districts without excessive costs, or insufficient pupils will be left in the remaining districts to maintain a properly graded school system.  

The board found that Woodcliff Lake’s withdrawal would not result in any of those outcomes, whether it enters a send-receive relationship with the district or leaves entirely and builds its own high school.  

That decision was upheld last month after Hillsdale and River Vale appealed the board’s ruling.  

Wright said she and her clients are confident that if the state Supreme Court takes the case, it will rule in Woodcliff Lake's favor. She said she does not expect the state Supreme Court to grant certification, however, since the appellate court judges were unanimous in their support of the board of review's ruling. 

This is not the first time Woodcliff Lake has sought to hold a referendum to withdraw from the regional district. In 2010, both Woodcliff Lake and Montvale requested a special election to change the funding formula. The measure failed.

Staff Writer Catherine Carrera contributed to this article. 

Email: nolan@northjersey.com