QUEENSBURY — While a student-organized petition against a registered sex offender has garnered nearly 1,000 signatures at SUNY Adirondack, college administrators say they are unable to do what students are asking for.

After the college sent out an email on Sept. 8 alerting students that a Level 3 registered sex offender would be attending the college this fall, a student named Destiny Rose started a petition.

The online petition, which has gained 967 signatures as of Monday evening, is calling on the administration to switch Timothy Philmon, 50, of Glens Falls, the sex offender, from on-campus classes to virtual learning.

The president of the college, Kristine Duffy, said Monday that she is aware of the petition but that it would be illegal for the college to switch the student to virtual learning.

“We’re following the law. We appreciate people’s opinions, but at this point he is allowed to be here,” Duffy said.

In an email to a concerned resident, the college administration said: “By law, a sex offender has protected rights to pursue an education. The Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act of 2000 guarantees sex offenders the right to attend classes, as long as they notify certain authorities (which the student in question did).”

Rose said that she and others frequently see Philmon using the gym in the dorm building.

“There are no cameras inside the dorm building. He could go up to someone’s door. I know some people who are carrying pepper spray with them at all times now,” Rose said. “Everyone I have spoken to is feeling uncomfortable about it.”

Attempts by The Post-Star to reach to Philmon were unsuccessful.

Rose is a sophomore from Saratoga Springs and lives in the dorm. She is studying education and wants to eventually be a teacher. She said she is very concerned because there’s a day care center very close to the dorms.

Rose spoke to the dean for student affairs, Kathryn O’Sick, who said it was a good idea to start a petition, but there’s nothing the college can do as it is a law enforcement issue.

Philmon was convicted of second-degree sodomy in 1997, involving three male victims, aged 12, 13 and 15, according to the New York State Sex Offender Registry.

A resident whose partner is an adult-learner at the college, and who did not want to be identified, said that it is a huge issue because Philmon wrote on his Instagram page: “I am the High Priest of the International Church of Homosexual Pedophilia.” Late Monday, it appeared the page was no longer available. There are some high school students who are taking college level classes on campus, and are now using the “buddy system” when traveling across campus, according to Rose.