Seeing Catskill school election

Seeing Greene blog breaks down the Catskill school elections:

That result attests to influence exerted by local teachers. The victorious newcomers were endorsed by the Catskill Teachers Association (along with Francesca Daisernia, who finished fifth). Thus, no sitting trustee evoked CTA approval, and the CTA-endorsed candidates presented themselves as agents of “change” in board operations, change in the directions of greater “transparency and accountability” of district operations, of economizing chiefly by curbing administrative costs, and of fostering greater freedom of expression for teachers and other staff under the administration of Superintendent Kathleen Farrell. The top vote-getter, however, did not dwell on those themes. Mr Bulich presented himself as a hard-headed “very conservative” trustee, sensitive to economic “tough times,” concerned about nurturing “a healthy private sector,” skeptical of non-traditional programs, keen to imbue students with firm “discipline” along with “understanding…of the true meaning of what it is to be an American,” calling for more rigorous evaluations of district employees, and condemning contracts give employees “never-ending rise[s] of salaries and benefits.” Read the entire story in Seeing Greene.

School election results

Cairo-Durham school election results: School Budget Passed 551-527; Library Appropriation Failed 477-581; Biomass heating system Failed 433-625. Board Member results: Greg Koerner-Fox – 584; Thomas Plank – 564; Beatrice Clappin – 537; Pat Ublacker – 512; Nicole Maggio – 472; Dean Pectal – 456; Sam Mozzillo – 338. The Daily Mail reports Catskill results:

Catskill Central School District’s $36.6 million budget package for 2010-11 was approved by district voters Tuesday night in a 2-1 margin of 712-375. The Catskill Public Library budget was also passed with an approximate 2-1 margin, 701-368. Elected to the Board of Education for three-year terms were incumbent Michael Bulich, who was returned to the board for his second term with 579 votes, and first-timers Christopher Van Loan and Tracy Powell, who drew 439 and 408 votes, respectively. Elected to a two-year term — the unserved balance of an existing seat from a former BOE member — was first-timer Matthew Leipman, who received 402 votes.

The Daily Mail also has Coxsackie-Athens results:

The 2010-2011 budget for the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District was adopted by voters by a margin of 738 votes to 521. Three Board of Education seats were also up for grabs in the vote held yesterday – incumbents Mark Gerrain, Russell Nadler and Beth Tailleur were all up for re-election. Gerrain and Tailleur had easy victories, but Nadler was unseated by opponent Stephen Oliveira, who won 575 votes to Nadler’s 404.

In Hudson, Register-Star reports:

The Hudson City School District budget for 2010-2011 squeaked by Tuesday by a margin of a little more than 100 votes. District voters also reelected Mary Daly (663 votes) to the School Board and brought aboard Peter Merante Sr. (717), Justin Cukerstein, 593 votes. He may still may get a board seat. Patricia Abitabile, currently in the second year of her second five-year term, is resigning from the board as of June 30. There has yet to be a resolution on how Abitabile will be replaced, but a discussion at a recent BOE meeting seemed to indicate the candidate with the third highest number of votes could garner her seat. Carrie Haddad received 422 votes and Peter Rice Jr., garnered 263.

In Taconic Hills, Register-Star reports:

The 2010-2011 budget for the Taconic Hills Central School District passed Tuesday after polls closed, with 604 yes and 377 no votes….Joseph Costa (552), a Claverack automotive business owner who said he would encourage attendance at board meetings, and Kevin Maisenbacher (511), a branch manager at Key Corp/N.A. Licensed Investment, who hopes to involve the community more deeply in board decisions, won the district’s two open school board seats, replacing incumbent board members Scott Decker and Tom Bailey.

The story does not report the other vote totals. Also: Chatham Central School District voters passed the 2010-11 budget of $26,614,687 Tuesday by a margin of 441 for and 260 against. Incumbent candidate Melony Spock, 473 votes, Gail Day, 463, elected. A $13.6 million Germantown Central School District Budget passed easily Tuesday with 274 votes for the budget and 171 against. Eric Mortenson, 327; Theresa Repko, 320; Cynthia Smith, 304.

Vote Tuesday in school board races

Voting for school board members and issues takes place Tuesday in both counties. From The Daily Freeman:

Greene County

Cairo-Durham
(Polls are open noon to 9 p.m.)
Cairo-Durham Middle School cafeteria.

Catskill
(Polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.)
Catskill High School gymnasium.

Coxsackie-Athens
(Polls are open 1 to 9 p.m.)
District elementary schools.

Hunter-Tannersville
(Polls are open 1 to 9 p.m.)
Hunter Elementary School.

Columbia County

Germantown
(Polls are open noon to 9 p.m.)
Germantown Central School office lobby on Main Street.

Nearly all local school districts planning job cuts

Kyle Wind in The Daily Freeman:

More than 250 jobs will be eliminated in the region if voters approve school district budgets as proposed Tuesday. All the districts in the area with except Hunter-Tannersville, in Greene County, plan to cut faculty and staff members in response to projected reductions in state aid, and, in some districts, declining enrollment.

GREENE COUNTY

Cairo-Durham school officials are planning to cut 7.2 teaching positions — half at the elementary level and half at middle and high schools — along with a psychologist and a teaching assistant. Catskill school officials are planning to cut three teachers — an art teacher, a librarian and a foreign language teacher — as well as a secondary school administrator, an assistant principal at the elementary school and 1.4 support staff positions. The district plans to reduce the assistant director of special education from a 12-month to 10-month position. In Coxsackie-Athens, planned cuts include a kindergarten class, a teacher’s aide, a high school teacher’s aide, a part-time high school Spanish teacher, an elementary special education teacher, high school academic intervention teaching assistants in science, English and the computer lab, a middle school enrichment teacher, an elementary school librarian, a middle school reading teacher, a high school special education teacher, a part-time high school math teacher, a fifth-grade section and a sixth-grade section. Hunter-Tannersville is the only district in the region not planning to cut any positions.

COLUMBIA COUNTY

In Germantown, the district is planning to cut 1.5 high school teachers, an elementary teacher, a teaching assistant, a custodian and a part-time Spanish teacher. Read the entire story in The Daily Freeman.

Hudson school notes

Lynn Sloneker’s Unmuffled keeps the closest eye on the Hudson school system. Several recent items:

From “Rumor Patrol: Rees running?: Board member Patricia Abitabile – re-elected to a second term in 2009 – submitted a letter of resignation from the board, effective June 30, during a closed door session, April 27. Abitabile’s decision to quit was announced to the public in the Saturday edition of the Register-Star. The matter will be discussed at the meeting of the full board 7 p.m., May 10 in the cafeteria of Hudson High School.

From “On the agenda…”: The Claverack building and the former Greenport School were concurrently declared surplus property by the BoE on March 31, 2009, and a proposal to sell the buildings was approved by taxpayers in May 2009. Despite the 2009 voter directive, the board continues to approve funding for the renovation and repair of the Claverack building, as well as for instructional use.

From “Rumor Patrol: Rees running?: Former Hudson City School District Board of Education President Frank Rees may be a last-minute addition to the field of candidates vying for two open board seats in the district’s annual election set for next week….According to several sources, Mrs. Rees was actively soliciting signatures in support of her husband’s candidacy from school faculty and staff last week.

Catskill school candidates meet tonight

Catskill School Board candidates Michael Bulich, Catskill; Carthette Burnett, Catskill; Francesca Daisernia, Leeds; Ronald Frascello, Palenville; Randall Griffin, Leeds; Matthew Leipman, Catskill; Tracy Powell, Palenville; Carol Schilansky, Leeds; Christopher Van Loan, Catskill; and Lisa Warner, Catskill will answer questions at 7 p.m. tonight at Catskill High media center, according to The Daily Mail’s Jim Planck. The ten candidates compete for three three-year terms to the three highest vote-getters, and the fourth place seat is a two-year unexpired term of a seat vacated by resignation. The Catskill School District website says, “The candidate forum will be streamed ‘live’ on the Catskill website.”

Hatala drops out of Hudson school board race

Joshua Hatala

Lynn Sloneker at Unmuffled reports Hudson City School District Board of Education candidate Josh Hatala notified Superintendent John Howe that he was withdrawing his name as a candidate for election to a seat on the Board of Education at the May 18, 2010 Annual Budget and Election Vote. Hatala wrote on his candidate Facebook page, “Due to scheduling conflicts in the fall I will not be able to continue running for school board. I hope to take up the opportunity to run in the next election. I would like to suggest you think about voting for Justin Cuckerstein, a Hudson High School teacher who is losing his job due to budget cuts. He knows the inner workings of the school and truly cares about the kids and community.” Sloneker reports New York State Education Law requires that the deadline for submitting nominating petitions be extended to Tuesday, May 11, 2010 until 5 p.m., due to Hatala’s withdraw. “Official absentee and Election Day ballots will not be finalized until after the nominating petition deadline on May 11, 2010. In the event additional nominating petitions are submitted to the Board of Education Clerk by the deadline, another drawing must be conducted for the candidates’ positions on the ballot. The drawing will be held in the Hudson City School District Central Office on May 11, 2010 at 5:15 p.m. if necessary. Nominating petitions are available from the Clerk of the Board at the District Office at 215 Harry Howard Avenue, Hudson,” Sloneker reports. Carrie Haddad, Cukerstein, Peter Merante, and Mary Daly remain in the May 18 election for two seats.

WGXC at Hudson Children’s Book Festival

WGXC's Kaya Weidman records NY State Senate candidate Didi Barrett at Hudson Children's Book Festival.

Just as WGXC’s Kaya Weidman was about to sit down and interview Fidel Mareno, who was going to talk about Native American rights and the American Indian Pow Wow Aug. 14 in Stephentown, Didi Barrett showed up. We had asked the Democratic candidate for New York State Senate representing Columbia and much of Dutchess counties (a seat held by Republican Steve Saland) to stop by our table in Hudson High’s gym, but everyone arrived at the same moment, and then a recorder failed. Indeed, it was a whirlwind day with so many folks stopping by the WGXC table at the festival, which was even busier then in its first year. Eventually we got another recorder working, and a conversation between Barrett, Mareno, and WGXC staff ensued about absentee voting, Native American rights, and other issues.

Fidel Mareno speaks with Didi Barrett at the Hudson Children's Book Festival.

WGXC's Kaya Weidman records Robert Yellow Fox at Hudson Children's Book Festival.

Later Weidman sat down with Robert Yellow Fox, and spoke about Eagleton School, a private year-round residential, psycho-educational treatment facility for boys and young men ages nine (9) to twenty-two (22) years, with Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, Pervasive Development Disorder, Communication and Cognitive Delays, Behavioral Disorders, Emotional Disorders, and Learning Disabilities. Listen to their discussion here or paste this link:
http://archive.free103point9.org/2010/05
/RobertYellowFox_HCBF_WGXC_050110.mp3

WGXC’s Emily Bennison also made recordings of children’s authors during the event. Click on the author’s name to listen to mp3 audio interview.

Anne Broyles
Ann Jonas
Barbara Slate
Danielle Joseph
Donald Crews
Ellen Jensen
Gail Carson Levine
Zetta Elliott

Five candidates for two Hudson school board seats

Five candidates are vying for two seats for the Hudson City School District, Board of Education: Carrie Haddad, Joshua Hatala, Justin Cukerstein, Peter Merante, and Mary Daly. Unmuffled says:

Daly is the only incumbent in the field. This is her third run for the board. Her first attempt, in 2004, was unsuccessful; she was subsequently elected in 2005. One vacancy is the seat formerly held by Jack Mabb, who resigned from the board following his election as Stockport Town Justice in November 2009. That opening is for a one-year term, and the winner will be seated immediately following the election. The second opening — Daly’s current seat — is for the standard five-year term, effective July 1. In addition to electing two members of the BoE on May 18, voters will also be asked to approve the district’s $41 million spending plan for the 2010-11 school year and approve a $6 million bond referendum to finance a major roof replacement on four of the district’s five buildings. Read the entire story at Unmuffled.

Hudson schools need new board members to finish the race

Unmuffled has two items today about the Hudson School District:

Nominating petitions for two open seats on the Hudson City School District Board of Education are now circulating. One vacancy is for a one-year unexpired term and the other for a five-year term. The first seat has been vacant since Nov. 2009, following the election of Jack Mabb as Stockport Town Justice and his subsequent resignation from the board. The second seat is currently held by Mary Keeler Daly. “Three or four” petitions have been picked up from the district office, according to Frieda Van Deusen, Clerk of the Board. But there could be more than four in circulation, she said last week. “Not everyone gets a petition from me,” Van Deusen said. At least two petitions are in the hands of Hudson City Democratic Committee Chairman Victor Mendolia. Working in partnership with board member Peter Meyer and Columbia County Democratic Committee First Vice Chair Cyndy Hall (a retired HCSD teacher), Mendolia is fielding Hudson residents Carrie Haddad and Joshua Hatala as candidates. Mendolia has been soliciting signatures on behalf of both candidates throughout the district.

Maybe the new board members could do something about this:

The Hudson High School track team went down to defeat Tuesday, but not because opponent Taconic Hills High School out-performed the Bluehawks on the track. Instead, the team was beaten by its home venue, when officials declared portions of the facility dangerous for competition. Despite an almost clean sweep of the running events, the HHS varsity team lost overall after officials awarded THHS the top three spots in the shot put and discus when the areas used for field events were deemed unsafe by the referees. The meet Tuesday was the first of only two home meets for Hudson scheduled during the 2010 season. Over the past three to four years, an increasing number of Patroon Conference schools have refused to compete at John Barrett stadium. Varsity boys track coach Sean Mulvey is expected to request that the one remaining home meet be relocated to the Emma Willard campus, located in Troy, 40 miles from Hudson.

Read the entire article at Unmuffled.