By the time Joe Burgos entered his junior year at Mahopac
High School, he had mastered the art of cutting class. He
would duck certain hall monitors, befriend others and take at
least a four-period lunch break every day.
Eventually, he said, the effort of evading authorities
became pointless. He had fallen too far behind his peers and
was ready to drop out. In fact, he would lock himself in the
bathroom at home until his grandmother stopped nagging him to
go to class. Then he would go back to bed. "I was in way over
my head," said Burgos, 16. "I couldn't pay attention, so I
stopped going."
This attitude made Burgos a perfect candidate for the
district's alternative high school at Secor.
The Secor program was born in September for students who
have difficulty managing their emotions in the larger setting
of Mahopac High School, which has more than 1,700 students.
Secor classes are more intimate and informal than those in a
typical high school. The days are shorter and vocational
preparation is emphasized. Fewer than 30 students are
enrolled.
To his own surprise, Burgos admits he actually enjoyed
school at Secor. His grades improved, he got back on track to
graduate and he was finally feeling good about himself. He
said Secor was the greatest thing to ever happen in his life.
But his days at Secor have come to an end. School officials
cut the program from the 2005-06 budget to rein in spending.
Burgos said he hated the idea of attending another school
and said he might just find a job instead, probably in
construction.
He is not alone. John Barker, 16, said he, too, is done
with the classroom. He said Secor was the only school that
ever worked for him because the teachers understood how he
learned and they wouldn't overreact if he occasionally slipped
up. At Mahopac, he said, there was "no hope" for him to
succeed. After making an effort to turn his life around at
Secor this year, he feels betrayed by Secor's closing.
"We do all this work, and now they don't even care about
it. It's all worth nothing," Barker said as he flicked a
crumpled straw wrapper on the table where he sat. "Why should
I care if they don't care about us?"
Schools Superintendent Robert Reidy, who first proposed the
Secor program, said he did not want to cut it but didn't think
it was possible to maintain it.
Yet, the district will lose money in 2005-06 by shutting
down Secor. Some Secor students are being recommended for
Mahopac's other alternative high school, which will move in
September to a contained setting in the high school. Nineteen
are to attend programs through the Board of Cooperative
Educational Services, which charges $50,000 each, or $950,000.
Eliminating the Secor staff, which includes five teachers, a
principal, a psychiatrist and a secretary, saves the district
$410,000.
But the cost of keeping Secor open would rise down the line
because more staff would be needed, Reidy said. "Over time, we
realized we'd have to commit more and more resources to do the
job properly," he said. "I'm not sure we'd be able to sustain
that commitment."
David Zurhellen, hired in July to oversee Secor, said he
disagreed. A 27-year BOCES veteran who has helped set up other
alternative programs, Zurhellen said he didn't want to pick
fights, but he didn't need more staff; in fact, more staff
would be detrimental. For students like those at Secor, whose
"lives are like one huge roller coaster," Zurhellen said,
"It's best to keep school relationships as intimate as
possible."
"My philosophy is that the center of the students' life are
their teachers," said Zurhellen, whose job has been
eliminated. "Once they respect their teachers, you'll find
that their behavior problems go out the window."
Missy Battease, 16, said she respected her Secor teachers
because they respected her. At Mahopac High, she said she had
been notorious for causing trouble. Secor was the only place
she felt comfortable learning. Her grades rose to B's from
F's.
Now, she feels lost. "It's not right," she said. "We go to
that school for a reason. If they close the school, where are
we supposed to go? What are we supposed to do? If I go back to
the high school, I know I'm not going to succeed, so it's not
worth it. It's too hard."
Not everyone thinks this is so bad. Al Bruhn, a former
full-time substitute teacher, said Secor was "ill-conceived"
from the start, and called it "a quick scheme to try to save
money. It's a pipe dream that is just blowing up."
Zurhellen said Secor needed at least two more years to
reach its full potential. He hoped Mahopac will find the
"intestinal fortitude" to once again dedicate itself to the
program. "We were just getting started," he said. "Mahopac
didn't fully understand what's fully required, but no one
does. You have to get to the end of the tunnel before people
realize why they went into the tunnel in the first place."