The Green Island Union Free School District Board of Education is considering a tuitioning agreement with Watervliet City School District. Under the proposed agreement, Heatly students in grades 9-12 would attend Watervliet High School, beginning in September 2025. This proposed plan would provide access to educational opportunities that are not currently available to high school students in Green Island, including a wider choice of electives, college-level and Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and more extracurricular opportunities and learning experiences.
In recent years, it has become increasingly challenging for smaller school districts, like Green Island, to deliver the rigorous academic foundation, diverse extracurricular experiences and exposure to real-world learning opportunities that high school students need — and more importantly, deserve — to prepare for success after high school.
The Green Island Union Free School District and Watervliet City School District have built an existing partnership that has successfully combined interscholastic sports, provided food/cafeteria services and various transportation services, and collaborative special education programs. For our two neighboring districts to expand as partners in education with the proposed high school tuition plan makes good academic sense.
It is anticipated that the Green Island Board of Education will vote on a resolution to determine how to proceed with the tuitioning process. If the Board adopts a resolution, residents of the Green Island Union Free School District will vote on the proposed tuitioning agreement in February.
We will provide updates as the tuitioning plan proposal unfolds and will share more information at future Board of Education meetings.
Please check the Heatly School/Green Island UFSD website for additional information, including a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) web page.
Q&A
Why would Watervliet consider a tuition agreement with Green Island?
There are several reasons, but at the top of the list:
It is in the best interest of students.
In Watervliet, our mission is to educate, inspire and challenge every student, every day. As educators, we believe it is important to provide equitable learning opportunities for all students. Smaller schools, like Green Island, are increasingly unable to offer comprehensive academic programs at the high school level. That is because of evolving state Learning Standards and new graduation measures that require school districts to offer multiple pathways — that include foreign languages, technology, business, art, and music — for students to earn a diploma. In Watervliet, we have a healthy number of electives that students can take to prepare themselves for a pathway that best fits their needs and interests. In addition, we offer 17 college-in-the-high school or Advanced Placement (AP) courses for students to begin taking college-level classes and advancing their studies in the academic area of their choosing — be it English language arts, math, science, social studies or languages.
In recent years, we have built a strong relationship with our neighbors in Green Island. This includes athletics, food service, shared transportation, staffing, summer school, etc. While there are some financial benefits, there are also logistical benefits for both districts — for example, growing concerns about staffing and our ability to fill vacancies due to teacher and other staff shortages that may impact our capacity to offer more diverse programs, learning opportunities and sports for students.
In addition, the NYSED and the Governor are pushing for regionalization among school districts. Regionalization is an effort to improve student opportunities and operational efficiencies through shared resources. In recent years, our neighboring districts have proactively explored ways to do this, which has resulted in a successful partnership for interscholastic sports, food/cafeteria service, shared transportation, staffing, summer school, and more.
In that regard, we continue to plan ahead and find creative solutions to sustain a robust education for all our students, rather than be reactive when changes are imposed at the state level.
How would this benefit our students in Watervliet?
While this is an important step for the families of Green Island, it is also important for our Watervliet families. Our students would have more peers with whom to interact and build positive relationships. While we are a larger district than Green Island, we are still a small school; adding a few more students at each 9 through 12 grade level would likely provide more participants in clubs, band, chorus, school activities, and extracurricular events. Students from both communities currently engage with each other outside of school on youth teams, at ballparks, and social settings.
We do not anticipate that the number of students tuitioning in from Green Island will greatly impact our class size due to the number of sections of each course offered in our high school. Our class sizes would likely increase by only one or two students in each high school class.
Will residents of the Watervliet City School vote on the tuition proposal?
No. Per New York State Education Law, the sending district — in this case, Green Island — is the only community that would vote on the action of tuitioning their students. If the measure passes, the Green Island Board of Education would then approve the tuitioning agreement and identify the receiving district — in this case, Watervliet.
Following that, the Watervliet Board of Education would take action potentially to accept the tuitioning agreement.
Is the tuitioning agreement considered a merger?
No. The proposed tuition agreement is NOT a merger. This agreement would allow for Green Island UFSD to send their grades 9-12 students to Watervliet High School for a tuition fee. Similar to the Menands School, which has the option to pay tuition to send students to Watervliet for a high school education.
Would the tuition proposal have an impact on taxes for Watervliet residents?
No. The proposed tuition agreement would include a tuition fee paid by the Green Island UFSD. In addition, Watervliet City Schools would eventually receive increased state aid per pupil due to the growth in enrollment in our district driven by the tuitioned students.