Kiryas Joel school board approves border change to conform to enlarged village

KIRYAS JOEL – The Kiryas Joel Board of Education has voted to alter the boundaries of the Union Free School District to be the same as the enlarged village.

A 164-acre annexation from the Town of Monroe into the village was approved months ago and Kiryas Joel Superintendent of Schools Joel Petlin said it makes sense to have the village and school district borders conform.

“There is no reason that we have to be different than the Village of Kiryas Joel,” Petlin said. “We want to keep our borders the same and we believe we have a good handle on the needs of that community. We are able to provide them with the services that they require and this border change will help all of the residents who are concerned about what might happen to the area if it became part of the Village of Kiryas Joel but was still part of the Monroe-Woodbury school district.”

The Monroe-Woodbury Board of Education must also approve the boundary change. The issue was analyzed by an advisory committee comprised of officials of the Village of Kiryas Joel, Town of Monroe, school boards of both districts and Orange County Government.

Orange County has set March 1, 2017 as the deadline for the boundary alteration in order to be established for tax collection for the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Originally published by www.midhudsonnews.com