Bianca Tanis
At their meeting to reorganize for the new school year, school board trustees of the New Paltz district selected Bianca Tanis as their president and Brian Cournoyer to be vice-president. This will be the first time in the center seat next to the superintendent for Tanis, a special education teacher who became a national figure during the height of the opt-out movement in 2015. Cournoyer has been both president and vice-president of the board in the past.
The election of the new leaders takes place after the swearing in of new members. This year Johanna Herget and Heather O’Donnell were seated, and will begin ascending what’s said to be steep learning curve to mastering the nuances of this unpaid elected position. Glenn LaPolt, the outgoing board president, also secured another three-year term, has made it known that another consecutive year of the additional time organizing agendas and the like was not in the cards. It’s more common on this board for the position to be rotated annually, in any case.