On Tuesday, May 21, residents across New York State will weigh in not only on local school district budgets for the 2024-25 school year, but will also vote for candidates for boards of education.
New York State’s fiscal year 2025 budget has finally been settled, and the good news for local school districts is that Governor Kathy Hochul’s plans to cut foundation aid and eliminate the “Hold Harmless” provision that prevents districts with decreasing student population from seeing funding cuts has been kicked down the road another year.
Overall, the state budget increases school aid to $35.9 billion, including $24.9 billion in foundation aid. School aid has risen by $6.5 billion in the three years since Hochul has been governor. Both the governor and legislature agree that the foundation aid formula needs to be modified, and the state has engaged a Rockefeller Institute study to examine what that might look like. In the meantime, the budget lowers the inflation factor from 3.4 percent to 2.8 percent in an effort to “right-size” funding for the 2024-25 school year. State aid runs have not been released as of press time.
For the latest information on polling times and locations, visit the official school district website.
Each school board candidate was sent the same brief questionnaire, and their responses appear in the order.
Also included are the budget highlights that will put before voters for approval on Tuesday, May 21.
New Paltz Central School District
(Six running for four open seats)
Jane Farrell
Occupation: English teacher for Kingston High School
Prior school board experience: No school board experience.
What made you want to run for school board? I began going to school board meetings for New Paltz when they were conducting several meetings on improving our athletic facilities, including possibly building an aquatic’s facility. It was fascinating to watch and listen to everyone’s input. After that, I just knew I wanted to be involved.
What are the most pressing issues facing the school district? The most pressing issue would be updating the facilities, safety and academic rigor.
Christopher Bravo
Occupation: Senior software engineer at Optum
Do you have prior School Board experience? No, though I was a student at New Paltz Central School District for each year preceding my tertiary education. I believe my experiences serving in facilitating roles in both professional and personal contexts position me well to address the concerns of those with differing opinions on the approach to how we can best serve the community and the education of its student population. I am eager to continue to learn how the role and responsibility of the school board and its members exists today and how it could evolve with time.
What made you want to run for School Board? I want to give back to my community and help find ways to make improvements on the board where possible. I would like to see alignment and a common goal among the school board, students, the teachers’ union, the district, parents of students and taxpayers. In finding common ground, it becomes significantly easier to fiercely advocate for our district’s needs to the relevant representatives with influence at the state level. Coincidentally, I learned about the school board openings this year from former teachers of mine.
What are the most pressing issues facing the school district?
1. Modernized community engagement and collaboration
Several members of the community have expressed disconnection from the board’s process of decision making. It might be a useful consideration to create and promote endorsed avenues and forums (digital or otherwise) under which members of the public would be able to convey their thoughts amongst one another in greater depth than that of public comment. In doing so, ideas yielded by the public can see greater engagement, development and discussion. I understand historically there have been avenues for discourse and the context and laws surrounding the public nature of meetings with board members in quorum are rather restrictive, so I will continue to research and iterate on how we could address this sense of a lack of connection to the School Board’s processes.
2. Student well being and support
It is necessary to continue to ensure that every student feels valued and part of a strong school community. Holistic well being (physical, mental, social and emotional health) of our students must be a priority. I understand student life has been considerably impacted by lockdown as a result of the pandemic, and I expect we are still recovering from how education has changed before and after the events of the last several years. Furthermore, should a student have a niche interest, perhaps there ought to be means to secure grant-style funding to support their goals such that no student finds themself in a position where their educational needs (and ideally educational wants as well) are not met.
3. Budgetary challenges
The priorities of various parties within the community put the board and the community in the difficult position of making budgetary choices that have distinct outcomes with costs and benefits. While reviewing recent school board meetings and being in attendance where possible, it has become quite clear that effective allocation of funds is something that requires active listening and precise collaboration at a high level. I will advocate for efficiency and cost savings without loss to the quality of the educational experience at New Paltz.
Olivia Treubig
Occupation: Teacher
Do you have prior School Board experience? No. Currently serving on the district wellness committee.
What made you want to run for School Board? As a mother and teacher, I understand that my reach is limited on issues that I care deeply about. These are the issues that affect our children who attend our schools. To reference Roosevelt, I want to be the “(wo)man in the arena.” Our schools need a leader who is well-versed in educational issues and parenting methods. We need a leader who is bold enough to speak from the heart regarding the needs of our students and can identify those needs. I am that person. We need a representative wise enough to cultivate the right answers to very tough questions through inquiry and research but also by listening ideas of those they represent. I am that person. I recognize that this is a position that requires difficult conversations, passion and a grounded mentality that the process of change is slow and requires deliberation, respect, patience and grit. I am ready for that. As a mother of four children in our schools and a teacher with a master’s degree in education, I am dedicated to giving voice from the classroom, voice from the sidelines and hearing voices from the community. I am focused on moving past the division between stakeholders and bringing people together through effective communication strategies enabling solution-oriented conversations and promoting change.
What are the most pressing issues facing the school district? I believe that communication needs to be enhanced. This effort has begun and I’m happy to see improvement. I will ensure there is space and opportunity for many voices to be heard and respected, from parents to teachers and students. I will utilize my undergraduate degree in interpersonal and intercultural communications to bridge the current divide. We are part of a vibrant community with diverse perspectives. To honor each position and move toward clarity is the goal. My goal is effective forward progress. I will work diligently to help identify important enhancements to the health, safety and academic needs of our children. We have a school system that is facing new paradigms such as post-pandemic trauma, an increase in the neurodiverse student population, budget constraints and shifting power differentials. Schools will improve when moving out of antiquated systems and adopt current research-based practices. I am focused on modernizing our educational system to accommodate current needs such as safety proceedings, mental health care and curriculum review.
Jason Clark (incumbent)
Occupation: Self employed contractor/carpenter
Do you have prior School Board experience? Yes.
What made you want to run for school board? Initially it was an invitation from the superintendent for community members to run for the board that gave me the idea that this was something I could do. I have done volunteer work in the past. A reading program in college, habitat for humanity, New Paltz clean sweep and climate action advocacy with the Guenthers. This is a big step in responsibility and commitment. As a New Paltz alumni, and with one former and another current child in the district, I wanted to serve the district and the district community at large. With the challenges of the previous years, my hope is to provide a steady and collaborative voice so the district can continue all the great work that it does.
What are the most pressing issues facing the school district? As with many school districts, the increasing costs to run a district combined with decreasing enrollment is a challenge. This was born out this budget season with the governor’s attempt to eliminate Hold Harmless. With so many districts facing a dire budget situation, Hold Harmless was preserved with the state endeavoring to find a different formula to determine aid.
Specifically, New Paltz is in need of facility upgrades. This includes basic infrastructure and infrastructure to support all the great extracurricular activities New Paltz offers. Currently the district is working on a capital project to address these needs. While it is an exciting venture, as with any community investment, finding the right balance of finance, responsibility, staff and student support is a challenge.
In my opinion, technology is and will continue to be a major topic of discussion and challenge. While the board does not set curriculum, it does reflect on the 30,000 foot view of education. With the seachange of using digital devices to teach, and the rapid emergence and development of software systems such as AI, technology offers some amazing potential along with an equal amount of concerns.
Glenn LaPolt (incumbent)
Occupation: I am a high school social studies teacher of 31 years.
Prior School Board experience: I have been a BOE trustee for the past six years. I have been board president and board vice president for several of these years. President during the pandemic. For the past three years, I have been the chair of the policy committee and a member of the facilities for six years. I was also chair of the legislative action committee for three years.
What made you want to run for School Board? I grew up in New Paltz. I went to these schools. I love this community. I have never been the “complain from the sidelines type of person.”
What are the most pressing issues facing the school district? The most pressing things in NPCSD in my opinion are:
1. The escalating costs of running the schools while at the same time providing a top-tier learning experience for every student, at all grade levels.
2. Stability and climate. There has been a lot of turnover with senior administrators and also with the school board. As a result, we spend valuable time relearning things. We have made slow progress and we need to make more. When you need to relearn things, it sometimes causes problems and dissension with 20-year employees. Let’s get our New Paltz pride back. Where is it? We need to build people up and not tear people down.
3. We are in the middle of an educational revolution. We need to spend more time focusing on issues with kids than on adult issues. Everything always seems to be more complicated than it needs to be in New Paltz. Whether it’s hiring security guards, more subs, negotiations, assigning lunch detention, monitoring the hallways, bus routes and pick-up times, fixing the score boards, getting to school on time etc., it’s all so difficult here. We need to stop spinning our wheels. We need to collectively come to the realization that we are on the same team and that only working together can we shape this revolution we are now in.
Edwin Justin Seweryn
Occupation: High school science teacher
Do you have prior School Board experience? No
What made you want to run for School Board? I worked at New Paltz High School for seven years, and I know firsthand some of the challenges the district faces. I will bring a unique perspective to the board, considering this work experience and my relationship with many of the district’s teachers. I am a father, and I want to ensure that my children and the children of this district get the highest-quality education that we can offer them.
What are the most pressing issues facing the school district?
1. The district needs a long-term financial plan to ensure that we retain critical teaching staff, keep teacher/student ratios at an optimal level, ensure proper class scheduling and support academic programs.
2. There are critical security issues that need to be addressed.
3. Our teachers are our greatest strength, and we need to utilize their knowledge and abilities more in the district’s operations.
New Paltz Central School District budget and propositions on the ballot
The NPCSD will present voters with a proposed $73,520,671 spending plan, an increase of $2.092 million over the current school year’s budget.
The district’s plan includes the use of $2.315 million of the district’s fund balance to offset revenue shortfalls, as well as reductions totaling $1,875,968. Those reductions preserve programs while eliminating over a dozen positions, more than half of those through attrition. The lost positions include a floating nurse, a pre-K teacher and aide, two social workers, a substance abuse counselor, a librarian, an athletic trainer, and others.
The school board did pull back one social worker position from the list of recommended eliminations, which school officials said will cost around $110,000. Keeping the social worker position followed pleas from several members of the public — including students — at meetings several weeks ago.
With the restoration of the district’s $116,000 foundation aid, the budget would allocate $88,000 for out of district special education placements, and would earmark the remaining $28,000 to replace some eliminated items.
Also up for voter approval is a capital project resolution for the spending of up to $2 million from the district’s fund balance, $1.5 million of which would come from the retirement reserve, and the remaining $500,000 from the workman’s compensation reserve.
The facilities project would replace the elevator in New Paltz High School and middle school, replace existing fire alarms in the high school and both Duzine and Lenape elementary schools to meet state code, and the possibility of addressing other high priority items identified in the district’s building conditions survey, including original equipment, machinery and other ancillary costs.
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