Lenape Valley Could Take Hopatcong Kids

A handful of Hopatcong students could call Lenape Valley Regional High School home next fall.

The Stanhope school accepted a number of Hopatcong students who applied for the state's Interdistrict Public School Choice program, which allows high-performing schools to take out-of-district students with no cost to their parents for up to a 20-mile radius. Anything farther and parents must pay for transportation.

Eight Hopatcong students applied before the May 16 deadline. Hopatcong schools Superintendent Dr. Charles Maranzano said he wasn't sure how many Lenape Valley had selected. Lenape Valley Superintendent Paul Palek didn't return multiple phone calls.

Maranzano said he understood the parents' decision.

"I don't see a widespread exodus," he said. "I think kids are loyal to Hopatcong High School for the right reasons. We had a good educational experience. But I understand there are limits here because of budget constraints. We don't have as many advanced courses, and offering them is becoming more and more difficult as the budget shrinks."

The Hopatcong school district has seen its state aid cut by more than $1 million over the last couple of years. That, combined with failed budgets, has forced Hopatcong to cut 41 positions and many athletic and academic programs since 2010. No teachers were released, however, after the 2011 budget defeat.

U.S. News & World Report magazine gave Lenape Valley its Bronze Medal Award in 2008.

Maranzano said families have until August to decide whether to leave the district. He said he had spoken to at least one parent who said he was keeping his options open and hadn't committed to moving his student.

"There was a rush to beat a deadline," Maranzano said. "There was a window of about a week where students can apply and … there were a few parents that said, 'Look, we don't know if we're going to send our kids to Lenape, but because there was a deadline and an application process we wanted to cover all bases in case our kids get accepted.'"

Maranzano added, "[Lenape Valley] is a nice school. It's a very nice place. They do things a little differently than we do in Hopatcong. And it's a little different in terms of socioeconomics."

Choice program schools were chosen by the state based on the financial impact on the district; the quality and variety of academic programs the district offered; the impact on the student population's diversity; and whether the program would affect educational quality in the choice and sending districts.