Pine Plains BOE finishes up summer work

PINE PLAINS — Several issues wrapped up the last Board of Education (BOE) meeting of the summer, held on Aug. 26.

District Superintendent Linda Kaumeyer gave a brief update to the board on the July and August summer activities in the district. Administrators have spent two days updating the districtwide safety plan, which Board of Education President Helene McQuade explained is a routine part of the school’s polices and procedures.

“Part of the administration’s annual routine,†McQuade said during a follow-up interview, “is to review and make recommendations to update  [the plan] so it’s current with present day needs and requirements.â€

The Stanford Historical Society was scheduled to make a presentation at the Sept. 9 board meeting regarding the acquisition of the Attlebury School House building.

Discussion of the district establishing an educational foundation to help fund activities and extracurricular events continued, and the board created an ad-hoc committee with McQuade and Trustee JoAnn Wolfe as members, to look into how neighboring districts have funded and operated their foundations.

“We could look to them to learn from their experiences,†McQuade said. “We do have very effective fundraising organizations, like the Stissing Theatre Guild and the Bomber Boosters. We’re working to see if there’s something we can do to complement those efforts.â€

The board adopted its 2009-10 goals, which are now located on the district’s Web site, ppcsd.org. The goals are based on ideas gathered through the district’s Vision 2012 Initiative.

Meanwhile, secondary social studies teacher Michael Stewart has resigned from his position on the high school faculty. He has moved out of the district to be nearer to his family. The board appointed Brendan LoBrutto to replace Stewart.

Finally, the board authorized the setting of the school tax levy for the upcoming school year. The tax levy increase is 5.97 percent over last year and totals $18,146,500. The board appropriated $800,000 from fund balance to reduce the levy. The full value tax rate is $9.76 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The next Board of Education meeting was held on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Stissing Mountain Middle/High School library.

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