GARRISON – When residents go to the polls to vote on the Garrison School District’s 2026-27 budget in May, they will be asked to approve a $650,000 item to renovate the school’s original 1908 building and a forest classroom.
Superintendent Greg Stowell said students and teachers would access the classroom from a gravel path connected to a parking lot to be constructed on Route 403. Currently, the entrance is through a small parking area on Snake Hill Road near Philipse Brook Road.
The property is part of a 181-acre forest, donated to the district in 1956 for environmental education by the Osborne, Gunther and Sloane families.
According to that agreement, the district cannot construct permanent buildings in the forest, but it can build “open lean-tos” or “open shelters.”
Engineers Dave Hunsberger and Jeana Fletcher have estimated the project would cost about $500,000, including the classroom, gravel trail, toilet and parking lot, plus design, site preparation, landscaping and furnishings.
Bounded by Snake Hill Road and Routes 403, 9 and 9D, the forest has been underutilized because there are no bathrooms or places for students to work.
Comments