|
Garrison Students Receive Music Association Awards
Sports mergers with Haldane postponed
by Margaret Sternberg
 | | Garrison's NYS School Music Association and All County award winners |
|
The June 11, 2008 meeting of the Garrison Board of Education was the best attended meeting of the school year. Not only were the regulars there, and the teachers protesting the lack of a contract with the district, but parents had come to see their children receive NYS School Music Association and All County awards, thereby producing an overflow, and welcome, audience.
Immediately following the Pledge of Allegiance, the students sang The Star Spangled Banner, then received their awards while shaking hands with Principal Stephanie Impellittiere and then Music teacher Karen Bresnan.
Students receiving awards in band, orchestra, or chorus included Carly Brief, Sara Labriola, Emma Suits, Micah Adams, Samantha Leigh Ford, Isabella Adler, Alison Clark, Jordan Erickson, Crystal Scala, Siobhan Quigley, Serena Wessely, Kaan Solakoglu, Margaret Dupree, Garret Quigley, Tucker Hine, Megan Scali, Sara Jacoby, John Swartzwelder, Spencer Rundquist, Ramsey Heitmann, Poppy London, Peter Hoffmann, Emma Jacoby, Georgia Dain, Tess Hansler, Tim Suits, Russell Cox, Noah Campbell, Richard Steihl, Matt Chason, Chloe Wareham-Gordon, Olivia Mennillo, Hannah Penner, John Azznara, Lianna Culp, Lindy Labriola, Kady Neill, Justin Voelp, Andre Adams, Jacqui Ferguson, Elle Parkin, Dylan Culp and Liz Richter.
With more than 30 students receiving awards, Superintendent Gloria Colucci said that the number was "amazing for a school of this size," adding that the number represented over 10 percent of the school.
In other business, the Board spent much of the rest of the meeting extensively discussing the possibility of Garrison sports teams' mergers with Haldane. The discussions, which evolved from a report on the Athletic Committee's meeting, eventually resulted in the tabling of a resolution that would have approved a merger with Haldane for Girls' Softball, Track and Lacrosse teams.
Board President Anita Prentice explained that in merging certain sports with Haldane, Garrison wanted to ensure that their students "had the best opportunities to participate on a team." She said the district values team sports in particular because "the middle school years may be the last years a student has to participate fully on a team," making, in the board's view, a "No Cut" policy important.
Prentice said the committee contemplated, and later that evening the school board decided to take action on, extending an invitation to Haldane's Athletic Director, Susan Reid, to attend a meeting in order to discuss the district's priorities.
Trustee Jim Cannon added that another concern Garrison was grappling with was an effort by the Sections to get approval almost a year in advance for particular sports. He said that effort could create "inequities" as the district goes forward. Budgeting for an expected merger that might not take place was just one area of concern. One way of avoiding this type of issue would be to have more certainty about participation numbers, Cannon said, and that could be achieved by deferring approval of mergers until closer to the beginning of the new school year.
Cannon also said there had been some areas in which the combined teams had not worked well with Haldane and that "we need to address those things and realize it's an ongoing issue…we can get an understanding which direction they're [Haldane] going, and which direction we're going, where we can come together, and where we need to go in separate directions."
The Athletic Committee had also discussed a number of issues regarding the field, including use by various groups, moving the backstop to give some depth to the softball field, the proposed fence on Upper Station Road, and whether the now permanent soccer goals can be moved when soccer is not being played so that they are less of an obstacle. Cannon also said the committee discussed crowning the field, noting that rocks had surfaced on the field. Parking on the field and alternatives had also been discussed, but no definitive plan had been made.
That evening Superintendent Colucci also announced that the READ participants (Regional Education Advocacy Districts) had met with Manny Rivera, Deputy Secretary of Education, to talk about the NYS Commission on Property Tax Relief report and its implications. (Please see separate article.)
She said that the READ participants "were pleased to hear that he understood the board members' concerns…[and] the superintendents' concerns in terms of what the property tax cap might mean to school districts, especially if it comes through with no mandate relief." All six districts that participate in READ have done cost analyses and summaries of the state mandates' financial impacts to their districts, Colucci said, and the costs range from 15 - 20 percent of every district's total budget.
The Property Tax Relief Report will be finalized in December and, according to Superintendent Colucci, Deputy Secretary Rivera promised the members of READ they could play a role in many of the additional committees that will be formed between now and when the report is made final in December.
In the St. Basil update, Superintendent Colucci, displaying documents approximately 1.5-feet high, reported that the legal work, including motions and countermotions, "is all in place, and we're just waiting for the judge to render his decision."
The next meeting of the Garrison Board of Education will be Wednesday, June 25, at 7:30 pm.
Providing local news, information and opinions from
Philipstown and Putnam Valley, NY
Encompassing the Villages of Cold Spring and Nelsonville,
and the hamlet of Garrison, Putnam County, NY.
This site is a publication of The Putnam County News and Recorder, the source for news and information of the Philipstown
and Putnam Valley area. The PCN&R is 139
years old, published in hard copy every Wednesday, and circulated throughout Putnam
County, NY.
The PCN&R prints LEGAL NOTICES
for: Putnam County, The Town of Philipstown, The Town of Putnam Valley, Village of Cold Spring, Village of
Nelsonville, the Haldane Union Free School District and the Garrison Union Free School
District.
Deadline for printed press releases, advertisements and classifieds is Monday at noon for
Wednesday publication. This site is updated on an as-needed basis with a minimum update
weekly on Thursdays. For further information or to request a subscription to the paper, please
contact us with your name and mailing address at:
(845) 265-2468 PO Box 185, Cold Spring, NY 10516, or e-mail us at editor@pcnr.com
If you see an advertiser on line, tell them! | Click ads below
for larger version
|
)