Clarkstown OKs Moving Laurel Plains Students to Closed Hillcrest Elementary

Clarkstown school officials Thursday night set in motion a plan to move the students and staff of Laurel Plains Elementary School in New City to the closed Hillcrest Elementary School across town in western New City so the district can continue its efforts to resolve the mysterious odor problems at Laurel Plains.

Schools Superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan said Laurel Plains students will continue going to school at Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack until they can be moved to Hillcrest school.

The school board, meeting Thursday night at Clarkstown South, unanimously approved its end of a lease deal with the East Ramapo school district for Hillcrest school, which was closed earlier this year by East Ramapo. Keller-Cogan said the two school districts reached a tentative agreement for the move late Thursday afternoon, and that as soon as the East Ramapo school board approves it's end of the lease Clarkstown will start moving into Hillcrest school.

"The building is completely empty," Keller-Cogan said of Hillcrest school, which she noted is the only available school facility in Rockland County that's large enough to meet the needs of the Laurel Plains students and staff.

Once the district gets formal approval from East Ramapo, Keller-Cogan said the district will need from five to seven days to move everything students and staff will need at Hillcrest school. Once the move is completed, Keller-Cogan said the district expects the students will be in the school for four weeks.

"Everything will be move-in ready when the students and teachers from Laurel Plains walk in the door at Hillcrest," Keller-Cogan said.

The lease will cost the Clarkstown school district $16,000 per month, with the plan calling for Clarkstown to have access to the school for up to two months. Keller-Cogan said the district's plan is to return students to Laurel Plains within about four weeks after the move.

In addition to expenses for the move, Clarkstown will need to pay for utility costs at Hillcrest school as the environmental testing and clean up continues at Laurel Plains Elementary. Keller-Cogan said the lease arrangement was made possible with the cooperation of East Ramapo superintendent Ira E. Oustatcher and school board president Nathan Rothschild. Additionally, Keller-Cogan said the Village of New Square agreed to postpone its own needs to lease Hillcrest school from East Ramapo so Clarkstown could utilize the building to help cope with the environmental problems at Laurel Plains.

Clarkstown school board president Phillip DeGaetano said the move to Hillcrest school will allow the district to ensure Laurel Plains is safe for everyone to return and it will ensure students have better conditions for learning than their temporary setting at Clarkstown South.

"The parents have asked us to find a place where the students can learn," DeGaetano said. "The kids will be in an environment of learning."

Keller-Cogan said the state Education Department is supporting the move and has informed the district the lease will get state approval immediately once both districts have signed the deal. Keller-Cogan said state part of the costs of the lease can be covered by state education aid, and that the state is currently looking into additional funding that will help the district pay for the environmental investigation and clean up at Laurel Plains.

Keller-Cogan estimates the district has spent about $85,000 on the Laurel Plains problem so far. The school board has so far authorized up to $150,000 in spending from the district's facilities budget for the Laurel Plains situation.

For nearly a month, school officials have been trying to determine the cause of odors that have made students and staff at Laurel Plains elementary ill. The district had hoped to move students and staff back into the school on Wednesday from their temporary home at Clarkstown South, but the findings of a new round of tests at the school led Keller-Cogan to delay that return.

Additionally, when the 64 members of the Laurel Plains teaching staff returned to the school on Tuesday in anticipation of re-opening the building, 20 of them reported symptoms of illness and one teacher left the building due to illness. This came after the district spent more than two weeks cleaning the building – inside and out – and making environmental fixes throughout the building.

 The latest issues discovered at Laurel Plains include the detection of chemicals in the soil of a traffic island in front of the school and a small natural gas leak in the utility line that services the school. Environmental consultants working the school district say the chemicals they detected – including butane and propane – were found to be a very low levels and are not considered a health hazard. However, the consultants say the chemicals should not be on the school property and recommended digging out and replacing the soil.

Keller-Cogan said Thursday that a report from Orange and Rockland Utilities confirmed a very small gas leak about 60 feet from the school – a leak so small that the utility would normally not even fix. However, Keller-Cogan said O&R has agreed to fix the leak and has even committed to replacing the 550 feet of utility line that services Laurel Plains if that is deemed necessary.

The leak is expected to be fixed by the end of the weekend.

As part its actions Thursday night, the school board also approved hiring an environmental consultant who was brought in by Laurel Plains parents to review the tests and clean up efforts that have taken place so far. Keller-Cogan said the district is covering the cost of the consultant, up to $2,000, so parents don't have to pay his bill.

When students move to Hillcrest school, students who normally walk to school at Laure Plains will be shuttled to Hillcrest school. The district has also assigned the security officer who normally works at the administrative offices in New City to work at Hillcrest school to ensure student safety in the new setting.

"Our number one priority is the children's safety," said school board vice president Doug Katz.

As consultants continue tests inside and outside Laurel Plains, Keller-Cogan said the Rockland County Health Department is conducting a review of the tests that have been performed and the results. Aside from the chemicals detected in the soil at the school traffic island this week, the investigation has not uncovered any health hazards at Laurel Plains.

Rodents nests found beneath an air conditioner are believed to have been responsible for some odors noticed at the school principal's office, and stagnant water in a drain pipe outside the school was also suspected as another possible source of odors.