The Wine Hutch’s Megan Wiacek, right, celebrates with teammate and mom Dawn Wiacek after Megan’s first-ever inside-the-park home run. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Kingston Recreation Softball Men’s A division could come down to the wire. Just two games separate the division’s top two teams, and Hometown Discount Beverage (10-4) and Deuire’s Trophies (8-6) will wrap the regular slate against each other on Thursday, Aug. 9.

The teams last met on Thursday, July 5, when Deuire’s won 6-3 with Ed Sickler on the mound. Matt Connors led Deuire’s with a home run, a double and a pair of runs batted in.

In the most recent round of A Division games, Deuire’s crushed Aero Star Petroleum 18-4 on Thursday, July 26, with Mikey Chang smashing a pair of homers and driving in seven runs. Jack Fortner and Luke Stauble helped the cause with three hits apiece, each hitting a homer in the process.

In other recent A action, Paramount Pirates inched by Aero Star Petroleum 15-11, with Mark Signore a homer shy of the cycle. Jae Redmond (double, two singles) and Dan Steers (double, three RBI) hit well, and Ryan Hamm, Bob James and Keith Berger all had two-baggers in the win.

Chris Bowers led Aero Star in a losing effort with a homer, a triple and three RBI. Mat Ryan (three singles, two RBI), Kyle Naccarato (triple), Ryan Naccarato (double, two RBI) and Jalen Palmer (triple, two RBI) also contributed.

With both teams swinging heavy bats, G-Squad just inched past the Paramount Pirates 18-17 in a recent A Division game. Kyle Petramale (two home runs, four RBI), Ryan McElrath (double, three RBI), Brandon Hamilton (three RBI) and Eric Molinaro (double, two singles, two RBI) combined to lead G-Squad.

As it is in A, two teams atop the B/C Division are separated by just two games, though Brinnier & Larios Wolfpack (11-2) and Al’s Smokin’ BBQ (9-4) won’t play each other again during the regular season.

Brinnier & Larios looked unlikely to take their collective foot off the gas in a recent 23-6 win over Copy Hut, with big offensive games from Pete Contredy (home run, triple, single, four RBI), Paul Larios (triple, two singles, two RBI), Shea Policastro (home run, triple, single, three RBI), Chris Ferraro (home run, two singles, three RBI), Riley Gogg (three singles, three RBI) and Ryan LaConture (three singles, three RBI).

The Men’s Upper D Division had three regular season games remaining as of press time, with just two games separating the top two teams. At 9-1, R&M sit atop the eight-team division, with Adam’s two games back at 7-3.

Both teams had big wins in recent games, with R&M cruising past Savona’s 15-5, and Adam’s trouncing Essential Fitness 17-5.

R&M’s Drew Baxter won the game on the mound, with offensive contributions from Ronnie Burns (double, two singles), Cat Bowens (double, two singles), Jared Mayr (home run, two RBI), Matt Moon (home run, three RBI) and Paul Renick (two RBI) all contributing.

Dave Wirhowski earned the win over Essential Fitness for Adam’s, helping his own cause with a double and an RBI. Joel Benicase (triple, RBI) and Kyle Chambers (triple) also made an impact on offense.

Now, this is a slugfest

In another wild result, Everett Motors beat Bowery Dugout 37-36 in recent Middle D action. The two teams combined for 55 hits. Everett was down 10-2 heading into the third before peeling off 12 runs of their own. Bowery pushed back in front with an eight-run top of the seventh before Everett again fought back, scoring two in the home half of the inning for the win.

Everett was led by Lenny Van Dyke and Lay Dee, who each drove in four runs in the win. J.R. Barnes homered twice, tripled, and singled four times, amassing seven RBI in a losing effort for Bowery.

Exciting finish in store for women’s Upper B

With a month remaining in the Kingston Recreation Women’s Upper B softball regular season, how the standings look heading into the playoffs is still very much a mystery. As of press time, five of the division’s nine teams are mathematically still in the mix for the top spot, with just 2 1/2 games separating first place Diamond Vets (9-2) and fifth place Lady Legends (6-4).

In recent action, Lady Legends stayed the course with a 20-6 win over AFCO. Stacey Franklin earned the win on the mound, giving herself a boost on offense with a double and a pair of RBI. Fallon Spriggs, who had four RBI, was also a double away from hitting for the cycle, while Farmatia Franklin (two RBI), Jen Esposito (double), Kelly Cherry (three singles) and Jen Crespino (three singles) also pitched in.

Second-place Hickory BBQ also won big, overwhelming VFW 19-7, with Red Fowler pitching and smacking three singles. Heather Swartz (triple, two doubles, four RBI), Jen Checksfield (home run, double, four RBI), Marissa Dolland (triple, three singles, four RBI), Shanee Lara (two doubles, two RBI), Tiffany Fowler-Watel (two RBI) and Angelina Fagerstrom (double) also contributed.

Spinnenweber’s offense stayed stuck on the 18-run mark in a pair of recent wins, with an 18-3 victory over Ridgeview Landscaping and an 18-6 result over VFW. Marie Sickler picked up the win on the mound in both games. Over two games, Gabby Waterman (four home runs, two doubles, single, 11 RBI) provided the hot bat for Spinnenweber.

In other Upper B action, Wine Hutch just edged AFCO 10-9, with Kathy Klosterman earning the win on the mound. Becky Konjas (double) helped propel the team’s offense.

Paramount Pirates’ Matt Ryan takes a cut. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)

For grownups, the all-American sport of softball takes on many guises, apparent to anyone who’s spent time in a public park in the Hudson Valley in the summertime. It ranges from loose and fun to increasingly competitive, to the Men’s A Division in the City of Kingston’s Parks and Recreation Softball League.

“It’s the competition,” said John Lowe, Jr., captain and multi-positional player of Deuire’s Trophies. “That’s what it is.”

There are five different divisions in Kingston Rec softball, with 35 different teams. The A Division, the most competitive, has just five teams. As of Tuesday, Aug. 7, Hometown Discount Beverage is in first place with a 12-4 record, followed by G-Squad (11-6), Deuire’s Trophies (8-9), Paramount Pirates (8-9) and Aero Star Petroleum (3-14). As befitting a division built upon competitiveness, the only advantage of finishing atop the regular season heap beyond bragging rights is the chance to open the postseason against the winner of a single game played between the fourth- and fifth-place teams. The first round of the playoffs is set to begin on Thursday, August 16 at Kingston Point Field.

Steven McCardle is the captain of G-Squad, a team that has at worst locked up the A Division’s second-place slot.

“A Division is everything you would think it is,” said McCardle. “Great games, athletic plays, home runs, great defense. The competitiveness of each team to go out and fight to win is great to see and be around on softball nights.”

There are rivalries, McCardle said, and each opponent brings something unique to the diamond, with each team having its own collective personality.

“Hometown has the knowledge of the game down,” said McCardle. “They have a great mix of seasoned vets and youth to power the lineup. Their captain might have been on the first Kingston softball team ever. Paramount has some really good talent from baseball players that transferred perfectly into softball. Same with Deuire’s Trophies, the balance of young guns and athletic veterans, makes for a dangerous lineup. Aerostar has guys in their lineup that know the game and can really play. They go out and give 110 percent every night even though they aren’t at the top of the standings, and they still make games interesting. And then you have us: A group of young know-it-alls that are just trying to win games, talk smack and have some fun. Of course when you combine all this with the will and drive to win, you get some very good softball. And at the end of the night, we all sit back and laugh together like one big happy family.”

Lowe, a 2007 Kingston High graduate who played college ball and coached at the University of Brockport, also mentioned family — Family Matters is the name of the co-ed team he’s played with in an annual tournament in Lake George — but there’s also an internal drive he sees in A Division players.

“Coming from a high level of ball that I played, being around a lot of great players coming up, it really defined me as a ballplayer,” he said. “I’m almost 30. Giving up baseball was a big thing for me. Coming out of high school every kid’s dream was to become a professional baseball player. And now I get to play against guys that played Division I ball, Division II and III ball. As we get older we play in A divisions, and it brings a lot of that back.”

McCardle, also a KHS alum, has followed a different trajectory with G-Squad, climbing through the ranks as the team has improved.

“Technically this is our second year in A Division,” he said. “Three years ago when A and B were combined, we were technically in B. Even though we pulled off wins against a couple of A teams, we still opted for B Division. As a team we said we wanted to win every letter division. We did it all the way up to B, and by staying in B, we got that title. Now the only one we’re still chasing is that A crown. Even though the other four championships are only ‘JV’ titles, we still fought for them. But we’re not done.”

All five men’s divisions in Kingston Rec softball have playoffs, though it’s perhaps befitting of the whirling intensity around A Division that theirs is the only postseason that doesn’t extend into the first week of September. Their championship, as with most rounds in the playoffs, is settled in a three-game series, scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 30 at Kingston Point.

Though he acknowledges his team’s drive to win, McCardle said even in the A Division it’s most important to enjoy the game.

“For me, the best part about softball is the joy that comes of it,” he said.“The smiles and laughs seen and heard around the field is great. Between players, officials and people hanging out at the field, it usually makes for a good night. I’m convinced that ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ is all about good ol’ Block Park.”

Elementary-school students in Saugerties have joined kids across the state in the summer library reading program, an initiative sponsored by the New York State Education Department and digital book library. 

Stephanie McElrath is the children’s librarian at the Saugerties Public Library, which is working with nearly 200 students from Mt. Marion, Grant D. Morse, Lawrence M. Cahill, and C.M. Riccardi elementary schools. Kids not enrolled in public school are also welcome, said McElrath. 

The program, dubbed Libraries Rock! With myON, allows students to participate whether they’re near their local library or not. Digital books are counted in a student’s summer reading total. In an effort to bring kids into the village library, however, students are offered prizes at the beginning of the school year. The library has children fill out a raffle ticket each time they visit the library, which is put into a tub representing their school. Each school will draw names for prizes in September.

Keeping track of reading time

“They get a reading record when they register, and they keep track of the minutes that they read,” explained McElrath. “This year, the summer reading program theme is Libraries Rock. For every 15 minutes they read they’re coloring in a musical instrument which borders the card. We punch it. The older independent readers, which would be elementary-age children, then get to bang a cool gong once for every 15 minutes they read. It’s cool.”

Younger kids in pre-K and kindergarten fall into the “Read With Me” group. Those kids are also keeping track in 15-minute increments of how much they read. They get to pick out a prize from a box each time they visit the public library. If they’ve been reading they get to fill in a punch card — this one turtle-themed. It’s part of a much larger turtle-themed art exhibited in the library. 

“They get pieces of paper that they are gluing onto really cool turtles,” said McElrath. “We are covering our third turtle.”

Local schools want to get kids into the public library, too. Dawn Scannapieco is principal at Cahill Elementary, literally just steps away from the library. She says Cahill kids will grow up loving the library. “Students become familiar with the public library and we hope become lifelong library users,” said Scannapieco.

Summer reading keeps the kids engaged. No matter where they’re spending their summer vacation, they can be taken on journeys of the imagination. “Continuing to read all summer allows students to maintain reading levels, expand vocabulary, and improve comprehension,” said Scannapieco. “Students can travel anywhere through a book, and the summer reading program allows for children to do just that.”

No ‘summer slide’ for readers

Carole Kelder, principal at Mt. Marion Elementary, agreed. “I think the students that participate remain engaged all summer,” she said. “These students don’t experience what is known as ‘summer slide’ that students who don’t continue to read during the summer months often do. Students [who read] get enrichment and continue to develop a love of reading. They get to socialize with their friends, and make new friends.”

At Mt. Marion between 60 and 80 students most from kindergarten through third grade, participate in the summer reading program through the public library.

In addition the raffle ticket, Kelder said, students keep track of their visits to the library on a task card and can receive prizes when they fill up. “When the students come back to school, we recognize those students that participated in the summer reading program at our back to school assembly,” said Kelder. 

Students can keep reading when the library is closed through the myON digital book library, which contains thousands of enhanced and age-appropriate eBook titles for kids in all grades. Kids can receive book recommendations based on their interests, grade and reading level.

Children’s librarian McElrath counts 157 independent readers, primarily those in elementary school, as registered in the library’s summer reading program, with a further 81 “Read With Me” kids. 

An end-of-summer family fun night is scheduled at the library next Wednesday, August 15 starting at 6:30 p.m. The celebration which will include “Reptile Encounters with Mark Perpetua.” 

Kelder said there were other summertime activities for kids at Mt. Marion as well, including a Battle of the Books trivia night, Maker Days, Lego Club, Chess Club, and a weekly Gaming Day for fifth and sixth graders. 

Readers, McElrath said, are getting a lot more from an activity they enjoy. “With recreational reading, they gain in vocabulary, comprehension,” she said. “And they’re reading for fun, getting to select what they want to read.”

Lawn signs stand at the ready. (Photos by Phyllis McCabe)

Opponents of a proposed power plant in the Town of Ulster aren’t waiting around for the results of the developer’s environmental review. Billed as a community forum and barbecue, “Living in the ‘G’ Zone’” was held on Friday, August 10 at the pavilion in Robert Post Park.

Presented by local advocacy groups KingstonCitizens.org and TownOfUlsterCitizens.org, the forum included opening remarks from Ulster County Executive Mike Hein, and presentations by energy analyst and economist Evelyn Wright of Citizens for Local Power, and Hayley Carlock, Scenic Hudson’s environmental advocacy director.

“This is what a community is all about, coming together, learning collectively, and having your voices be heard,” said Hein, who has openly opposed the Lincoln Park Grid Support Center for months.

The GlidePath-run power plant, which would run on natural gas and feed power into a 20-megawatt lithium ion battery array, would operate on a small parcel of a 121-acre site off Frank Sottile Boulevard. It’s intended to be a “peaker” plant, which would fire up at times of peak electricity use to feed electricity into the greater grid.

The Town of Ulster is serving as lead agency on the project, with developers currently preparing a draft environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to respond to question by municipal leaders and members of the public. That document is expected to be completed by the end of the year, but opponents have already made their minds up about the project and are hoping to convince town officials it’s not a good fit for the community.

In a letter dated Aug. 13 sent to Town Supervisor James Quigley III, a coalition of advocacy groups asked that officials address questions about the clarity of town zoning code as it relates to regulation of gas-fired power plants. The proposed plant would be built in the Town’s Office and Manufacturing (OM) District, which developers read as allowing for “utility company structures” like the Lincoln Park Grid Support Center.

“Our interpretation of the Town’s Zoning Code differs, and we do not read the Code

to permit gas-fired power plants as-of-right within any zone in the Town,” reads the letter. “We ask the Town Board and Building Department to clarify whether the Code regulates gas-fired power plants such as the Lincoln Park Grid Support Center, and if so, whether such power plants are permitted as-of-right in the OM District.”

Carlock said the Town’s Zoning Code is too vague.

“What is a utility company structure? There is no definition in the zoning code, unfortunately,” she said, adding that GlidePath is unlike “service retail companies” like Central Hudson, Verizon or AT&T in that they don’t provide a direct service to the community. “[GlidePath is] a company that is simply selling wholesale power onto the grid.”

Carlock also said the town’s zoning code is vague as it relates to what is permissible in most other zones within Ulster.

“Within the Town of Ulster zoning code, these utility company structures are permitted in every single zone within the town with the sole exception of the traditional neighborhood design overlay district,” Carlock said. “In the most restrictive residential zone within the town, you could build one of these power plants if they were considered to be utility company structures. And we think that’s absurd. That couldn’t possibly have been what the town meant when they said ‘utility company structures.’ They couldn’t possibly have thought that power plants would be appropriate for even the most restrictive residential zones in the town.”

Contacted this week, Supervisor Quigley declined to comment on Friday’s event, and noted the topic is not currently on the agenda for the next town board meeting.

Opponents of the proposed plant are hoping the town will adopt a similarly thoughtful approach to questions about plants like they did last year when they considered how best to regulate ground-mounted solar energy facilities.

“Solar facilities are not currently regulated by the town’s zoning code,” Carlock said. “Therefore, the town does not consider commercial solar facilities to be utility company structures, and it should interpret fossil-fuel power plants the same way.”

Carlock added that although a comprehensive plan prepared by the town in 2007 was never adopted, existing zoning should be interpreted consistently within that plan. As such, the recommendation of the adoption of a Ridge Protection Overlay District that encompasses the proposed Lincoln Park site to preserve natural resources and scenic vistas should be respected.

Wright said the GlidePath project might face less opposition if they’d consider amending their plans to include fossil fuels. “We don’t have a problem with the battery part,” Wright said. “That makes a lot of sense to me. We have a problem with the gas plant part of it. So one of the questions is how fast are things changing in the battery landscape to get them to do a battery-only project?”

According to GlidePath, those changes aren’t happening quickly enough. But Wright said the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), the sole operator of the state’s power grid, will have new federal battery regulations in place by late 2019 or early 2020. She added that the developer’s haste in getting ahead of the new regulations may be due to a variety of factors, including the relatively inexpensive land when compared to property further downstate. It also helps, she said, that the air in the Hudson Valley is cleaner than it is closer to New York City.

“It’s easier to get an air permit up here where our air is cleaner,” Wright said. “When you go to apply for a state [Department of Environmental Conservation] air permit, which you have to do anytime you’re going to create a new combustion source, you get classified as either minor or major. Major sources have more complex permitting requirements and ongoing reporting requirements, and are federally enforceable. The thresholds for being classified as minor or major are different if you’re in an area that’s got clean air.”

The Hudson Valley is marked by NYISO as the G-Zone, one of the closest zones to New York City.

“To refer to it as the G-Zone probably isn’t correct,” Hein said. “We should refer to it as the bulls-eye. Because that’s what it is. It was created with an idea that we didn’t matter. It’s just those people in upstate New York. They don’t count. It is unbelievably disrespectful.”

County Executive Mike Hein speaks at the August 10 event.

Hein said the county’s continued push to become more environmentally responsible is in jeopardy with projects like the Lincoln Park Grid Support Center.

“When I hear about things like the GlidePath project, I get extraordinarily frustrated,” he said. “It’s more than just the fact that it’s environmentally wrong. And it is. It’s that it is perpetuating a fossil-fuel economy that is unsustainable. It doesn’t work. Worse yet, it pays an enormous amount of disrespect to the people who live nearby. If you live in this neighborhood you’re saying to yourself, ‘How can this be?’ Is any of this energy going to help you? No. Are your bills going to go down as a direct result? No.”

Hein added that while he opposes the GlidePath project, he isn’t against growth in either the town or county of Ulster. 

“I am not opposed to development,” Hein said. “Smart, thoughtful development in the community is critical for its growth. Key word: Sustainable. Key word: Thoughtful. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. Blocking this is not just blocking a single project that might not be good for our community. Pushing back here is about understanding that it might not be the only one.”

After the developer submits its DEIS, the town has to approve it as complete and ready for public review. It will then undergo a minimum of 30 days of public comment. Opponents of the Lincoln Park Grid Support Center in its current incarnation are hoping the developer will change course by then.

“I’d like to think that there’s a chance that they’re going to look at this and say, ‘This is not working, let’s come up with something that will,’” said Wright. “I hope that if we keep putting the pressure on they’ll get to that point.”

(Photo by Dion Ogust)

The Saugerties school board held a special meeting this week to discuss the parameters of its search for a new superintendent to replace Seth Turner, who will leave at the end of September for a similar job on Long Island. Discussed was whether the district should use Ulster Boces to help conduct the search at cost of $8900. A new superintendent isn’t likely to join the district until June 2019.

Some trustees hadn’t had an opportunity to review the search process. The trustees tabled the matter until their next meeting on August 28. Trustees are likely to enlist the aid of Ulster Boces in the superintendent search at that meeting.

Recently, Ulster Boces superintendent Charles Khoury went through the various steps in the process of searching for and hiring a new superintendent. None of the current members of the school board were in place when Turner was hired in 2009 to replace former superintendent Richard Rhau. Board president Robert Thomann said a planned talk with the New York State School Boards Association would have been too close to Turner’s late-September departure date to be helpful.

In late June, Turner announced that he was leaving Saugerties to serve as the superintendent of the Amagansett Union Free School District for the 2018-19 school year. Amagansett is a single-school district with fewer than 100 students in grades K-5. Amagansett students move into the East Hampton Union Free School District for middle and high school.

Previously a teacher with Boces in Plattsburgh, Turner came to Saugerties in 1997 as a special education teacher in the alternative education program at the high school. In 2000 he became an assistant principal before becoming principal at Grant D. Morse Elementary in 2003. Turner’s current contract, approved in 2015, runs through 2020.

Thomann declined to offer specifics about whether the school board had already identified potential interim candidates. The SCSD is also seeking to replace business manager Lissa Jilek, who will leave Saugerties in late September for the same role in Highland.

With the superintendent search likely to stretch well into 2019, the school board will likely hire an interim superintendent to bridge the gap between Turner’s departure and the arrival of a permanent district steward.

The board’s president made it clear that the public’s point of view will be crucial. “There would be meetings with the community to get their input on the qualities that they would like to see in a superintendent,” Thomann said. “Realistically we would be looking at hiring a candidate in June 2019.”

– Crispin Kott

An image from a recent picnic held by TownofUlsterCitizens.org to organize resistance to the plant plan. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)

Though foes of the proposed Lincoln Park Grid Support Center (LPGSC) “peaker plant” proposal couldn’t get discussion of a potential utility project moratorium officially added to the agenda of last week’s Ulster Town Board meeting, they did have a chance to talk about it during a sometimes-contentious public comment period.

Arguments went back and forth, with one side calling for a timeout while the town’s zoning code is looked at and possibly amended, and current and former town officials saying the process should be allowed to play out.

At the opening of the Aug. 16’s meeting’s public comment period, Laura Hartmann of TownOfUlsterCitizens.org delivered a petition signed by 177 people asking the town board to put a temporary moratorium on approving power plants while officials clarify how they’re regulated in town zoning code.

“I moved into this area 11 years ago,” said Hartmann. “The morning I woke up after moving here 11 years ago, I took a huge, deep breath and felt refreshed and like I was able to breathe for the first time in a long time. We stand to lose all of that with the building of this power plant if it happens. And that’s not just my quality of life; it’s everybody’s in this area.”

The town is serving as lead agency on the project’s state environmental quality review, with developers presently preparing a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) to respond to questions by municipal leaders and members of the public. That document is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Many, though, are trying to convince town officials it’s not a good fit for the community.

The GlidePath-run power plant would operate on a small parcel of a 121-acre site off Frank Sottile Boulevard. The GlidePath-run power plant, which would run on natural gas (with diesel as a backup) and feed power into a 20-megawatt lithium ion battery array, would operate on a small parcel of a 121-acre site off Frank Sottile Boulevard. It’s intended to be a “peaker” plant, which would fire up at times of peak electricity use to feed electricity into the greater grid.

Regis Obijiski, also with TownOfUlsterCitizens.org, said a lack of clarity in how power plants and utility companies are regulated could leave the town open to incongruous development beyond the plant in question.

“The town’s zoning code, updated in 2014, defines neither utility company structure nor various kinds of electric-generating facilities such as win, solar, hydro, fossil fuel, etc. … that may or may not qualify as utility companies,” said Obijiski. “Let’s get this right on every single level. Please take our request for a moratorium on fossil fuel plants seriously, educate yourselves, and embrace citizen input throughout your deliberations.”

Scenic Hudson Land Use Director Jeffrey Anzevino said that the current zoning code as it pertains to utility company structures differs from what GlidePath is proposing.

“It is extremely unlikely that the town intends to permit power plants, with their heavily industrial character and significant health, environmental and quality-of-life impacts, within even the most restrictive residential district in the town,” Anzevino said. “We believe that ‘utility company structures’ are facilities like electric distribution lines, substations, and other similar local infrastructure, not commercial power plants.”

Town Attorney Jason Kovacs said the town disagreed with the assertion that the proposed power plant was misclassified, but even if they had it was also too late in the process to shift gears. 

“We are deep into the environmental review process,” said Kovacs. “It’s really a null moment … We need to let the process play out. For us to all of a sudden change our position now would put this town in danger of being sued by the developer. We’re not taking any side … We’re going to let the process play out. Let’s see what the result is.”

Town Supervisor James Quigley III agreed.

“There is case law that supports an applicant’s lawsuit against the town if the town should change the rules in the middle of the game.”

But Obijiski disagreed. “This is not new news,” he said. “This is old news made better, and really sharpened. I really think you ought to consider that and give better advice to the town. The way you put it, and I’m not trying to demean you, it made it seem like a fait accompli. A done deal. ‘We’ve gone this far, and this is not a moment.’ That’s what you said. And that is not true. The process still continues, the DEIS has not been issued…GlidePath has said this on numerous occasions, that when new information emerges, we must consider it, particularly information by experts….This is new information, so don’t say we’ve got to continue because we’re afraid of being sued, because that’s the message you gave. So be careful, gentlemen [of the town board], as you receive legal advice.”

Fred Wadnola, former town supervisor and current chairman of the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency, agreed with Town officials that the process should be allowed to play out.

“I don’t know that much about GlidePath but the process is in motion,” Wadnola said. “The final approval of this project, I understand, is not the Town of Ulster Town Board, but it’s DEC Region 3, which is the toughest regulatory agency in New York State. I know that from experience having dealt with them for a number of years. So I can’t imagine the DEC is not taking everything into consideration.”

Anzevino disagreed with Wadnola’s take on the DEC’s power.

“The DEC does not have the land use authority over the plan, it’s really the town board as lead agency,” Anzevino said. “While the DEC may have some authority over the air permits, the town board is really the ultimate say over this project.”

The next meeting of the Ulster Town Board is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 6. 

Local school districts are grappling with how to respond to the New York State Education Department’s continued push to fight the opt-out movement against standardized testing, which encourages students in grades three through eight to avoid government-mandated standardized tests. Earlier this year, NYSED unveiled its plan to comply with federal testing regulations which, critics say, would unfairly punish schools and students.

Some of the possibilities being considered are severe — schools could be ordered to use federal Title I funding to lower the opt-out rates instead of other programs. Schools could also be closed or converted to charter schools under the changes.

Federal law requires schools to have a 95 percent participation rate in federally mandated math and English tests in grades three through eight. That figure has been closer to 80 percent in New York. The movement was in part due to a plan to use test scores to evaluate teachers. While the teacher evaluation link is presently on hold, schools in many districts are still coming in below the federal participation threshold. As a response, the state is considering an escalating run of penalties for schools testing fewer than 95 percent in each student subgroup.

The SED changes are expected to be voted on next month during a meeting of the Board of Regents. Following a contentious meeting on June 11, Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia claimed the weight given to students opting out of tests was being incorrectly interpreted. “The assertion that schools could face financial penalties for low participation rates is patently false,” Elia said in a prepared statement.

Ira Rosenblum, executive director of Education Trust-NY, wrote in a letter that the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the statewide teachers’ union, was also misreading the impact a school’s opt-out rates would have on calculations determining their overall ranking. “NYSUT is refusing to take ‘yes’ for an answer,” wrote Rosenblum.

Among the groups fighting against the punitive changes is the activist group Alliance for Quality Education (AQE), which sent out an open call for parents to have their voices heard. “The New York State Education Department is seeking to punish schools where parents and students exercise their right to opt out,” wrote Jasmine Gripper, AQE’s legislative director and statewide education advocate. “We strongly encourage SED to remove this provision from the draft regulations and respect parents and students rights to opt out. Parents have the right to opt their children out of state tests and schools must inform parents of those rights.”

Locally, school districts have struggled with how to respond to the proposed changes at the state level. Kingston school board Trustee Suzanne Jordan expressed concern that opt-out numbers are giving a false impression of how well each school is doing in educating its students. “We have to understand that a ‘focus’ school is not necessarily defining the achievement at the school if we don’t have a true picture of students who are participating in the tests,” said Jordan at a school board meeting earlier this month. “I do support the parents who make that decision.”

Saugerties school board President Robert Thomann said this week that penalizing schools for students opting out of tests creates more problems than it solves. “It’s unfair,” Thomann said. “You don’t have any control over what parents choose to do with their kids as far as not having them participate in tests. If you’re penalizing them by taking away Title I money, you’re hurting those kids who benefit from Title I funds, programs that help them read, programs that would help them be successful in education.”

Thomann contended that NYSED’s approach to standardized testing would remain contentious and flawed as long as it didn’t take into account the reasons why the opt-out movement is still happening. “We’re not satisfied with the state’s response to its testing program,” he said, “When you have approximately 20 percent of parents statewide pulling out of the testing, I think you need to listen to what people in the school system are saying. From the beginning, Commissioner Elia has put the burden on school districts to try cheerleading families into participating. But we don’t really have any incentive to do that.”

New Paltz Deputy Superintendent Michelle Martoni this week said the state hasn’t gone far enough in ensuring standardized tests weren’t being used in teacher evaluations. “In our district, most of the opt-out movement occurred because these tests were coupled with teacher evaluations, and the math behind that coupling was flimsy,” said Martoni. “When the state had the opportunity to decouple the tests, they did not. On the one hand they want school districts to encourage more students to take a test, but on the other hand they’re not doing the very thing that would possibly have people think that if it’s not as high-stakes as a teacher evaluation maybe we would consider it. They’ve kind of put us between a rock and a hard place.” 

Martoni added that the punitive nature of the NYSED plan goes beyond the potential loss of Title I funding in schools where the money is most needed. It also pulls focus away from where it’s most needed, the students, she said.

“I’m still wrapping my head around it,” Martoni said. “If you are below a 95 percent participation rate, you will immediately have to do a corrective action plan. In our district, our board is not punitive to us in terms of students opting out. To do that plan is going to take a lot of time for a lot of people away from things where we could be focusing on teaching and learning. It’s bureaucracy and paperwork.”

Kathleen Sickles, new principal at Crosby.

John A. Coleman Catholic High School announced earlier this month that Principal James Lyons will be retiring effective Tuesday, Sept. 4. Lyons will be replaced by a pair of interim principals while the school conducts a search for a permanent replacement.

Lyons, who came to Coleman six years ago, notified the Board of Trustees of his decision to retire at the end of the 2017-18 school year.

“The board of trustees extends their best wishes for an enjoyable retirement and wishes to thank Jim for his fulfilling service to the students, parents and faculty of the school over the last six years,” read a press release from the board’s chairman, Bryan M. Smith.

In a letter to Coleman parents, students and faculty dated Aug. 1, Smith noted that Lyons had agreed to stay on to the beginning of the 2018-19 school year to allow for a smooth transition for interim co-principals Marie Anderson and Ellen Anderson, who will officially take over on Lyons’ last day with the school.

Marie Anderson previously served as principal at Kingston High School, and most recently as the principal at Edward R. Crosby Elementary, from which she retired at the end of the 2017-18 school year. Marie Anderson is no stranger to Coleman, having taught there as well as serving as dean of students prior to her departure to the Kingston City School District.

Ellen Anderson most recently served as the dean of faculty at Coleman, and has also been a principal at St. Mary Mother of the Church in Fishkill, an assistant principal and dean of students at Our Lady of Lourdes in Poughkeepsie, and a teacher at the St. Martin De Porres School in Poughkeepsie.

“Collectively, Ellen and Marie bring over 75 years of educator and administrator knowledge and experience with them to Coleman, and I know I can speak on behalf of the Board in saying how excited and fortunate we are to have them in the capacity of co-principals at Coleman for the upcoming school year,” wrote Smith in his letter to parents, students and faculty. 

In a separate letter from the interim co-principals, Marie Anderson and Ellen Anderson acknowledged that the situation was unique, but they pledged to maintain what Coleman is all about during a transitional school year.

“Together, we will use our experience and skills to assume the leadership role at Coleman,” said the letter. “The co-principal concept is quite unique. It will be new to the entire school community and it may present a few challenges that we believe we are prepared to face with your prayerful support. Coleman Catholic High School has a rich tradition of providing a rigorous curriculum and caring environment for students to learn and grow. We are committed to maintaining the valued traditions and nurturing the spiritual mission of our school …We are privileged and delighted to be here serving as your new co-principals and we look forward to meeting our Coleman family in the coming weeks.”

In the letter to Coleman parents, students and faculty, Smith was identified as the chairman of the eight-member search committee tasked with finding a permanent principal for the school. 

“The expertise and professionalism of Ellen Anderson and Marie Anderson will allow the search committee to move forward in the quest of finding a permanent principal knowing that the school is in very capable hands,” wrote Smith. “Obviously, this is a major step for the future of the school and the Board is extremely confident in this new leadership team.”

Marie Anderson and Ellen Anderson will undertake their first official act as co-principals at Coleman’s Back-to-School BBQ on Tuesday, Sept. 4. 

Sickles taking over at Crosby

Edward R. Crosby Elementary School will open its doors for the 2018-19 school year next week, the first under new Principal Kathleen Sickles.

Sickles grew up in Kingston and was a student at her new school when Edward Crosby was still its principal. After attending M. Clifford Miller Middle School and Kingston High School, Sickles moved on to SUNY New Paltz, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and her master’s in math, science and technology in education. Sickles has also earned a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, picking up certifications as a school building leader and school district leader.

Professionally, Sickles served as a third-grade teacher at St. Joseph’s School, now known as Kingston Catholic School, for 11 years, before becoming the assistant principal at Highland Elementary School for the past four years.

“I feel like I’m home,” said Sickles in a KCSD press release, which included a Q&A. “I do have a true love for kids and I want to see them all be successful. I want to foster a positive school culture where teachers flourish as professionals. I feel like we already have that here. I am really excited to be here.”

Sickles takes over as principal for Marie Anderson, who retired from the district at the end of the 2017-18 school year and is currently serving as interim co-principal at Coleman.

Asked in the district’s Q&A if she had any advice for her students, Sickles said she hoped students will be mindful of themselves and one another.

“Be kind, do your best, watch out for and take care of each other,” she said. “And play outside!”

Students will head back to class for the first day of the 2018-19 school year on Wednesday, Sept. 5.

SHS junior Jared Podmaersky and sophomore Juan Erazo vie for the ball with a Monticello player. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)

The merged Saugerties High School and John A. Coleman Catholic High School boys varsity soccer team is off to a stellar 2-0 start to their 2018 campaign, a season that was never guaranteed at all.

“These kids, they didn’t really know each other,” said Coach Michael Riley. “We have kind of a Franken-team, with kids coming from all different places.”

Three players, all seniors, comprise the Coleman side of the Sawyers this season, including defender Henry Anderson; and co-captains Jax Mautone, a goalkeeper; and Brandon Davenport, a midfielder. Josue Martinez, a senior midfielder from Saugerties, is the third captain. 

Three is a recurring number for the team, which after receiving merger approval for this season from the Mid-Hudson Athletic League, saw not just a trio come over from Coleman, but also just three returning players from last year’s Saugerties squad.

“Saugerties is not what I would call a soccer town,” Riley said. “And in high school soccer, you get what you get and you don’t get upset. It’s a unique animal, and it’s literally sometimes year-to-year you have no idea what you’re going to get. A lot of the schools we play have travel programs and despite the massive number of kids that play at the recreational level we do not have a travel program. So we rely on luck, we rely on kids who decide they want to play last minute.”

In spite of the difficulty in filling the roster, Riley said the quality of this year’s squad is undeniable.

“We were able to convince some really strong soccer players who are Saugerties students to come out,” said Riley of a roster that currently includes 16 players, only around half of whom are upperclassmen. The team also has four sophomores, two freshmen, and an eighth-grader, midfielder Shaan Sekhon. After two games, sophomore forward Axel Gomez leads the team with six goals.

It began with a visit from Red Hook on Thursday, Aug. 30, a 6-4 Saugerties win that likely took the perennial powerhouse by surprise. Gomez led the charge with three goals, with Davenport (two goals) and Sekhon (goal) also contributing to the offensive explosion. Mautone helped preserve the win on a busy afternoon with six saves. If Red Hook was surprised, so too were the Sawyers.

“To get that first win against Red Hook, we all kind of looked around at each other and said, ‘I think that just happened,’” said Riley. “It felt good. It was ugly, we gave up a lot of goals, but we can score goals. The fact that we put in more goals in our first two games than we did … I don’t know, but it took forever to do that last year.”

Monticello leveled

If there was any concern about the win being an anomaly, Saugerties hosted non-league Orange County opponent Monticello on Tuesday, September 4 and won in pretty much the same way, a 5-3 result that saw them jump out to an early lead that was substantial enough to hold down the stretch. Even the offense was similar, with Gomez (three goals), Davenport (goal, three assists) and Sekhon (goal) all hitting the back of the net. Mautone, who earned player of the match honors, recorded seven saves in goal.

“Both games were really high-scoring, which is rare,” said Riley. “It was a great result both times. Ugly, but they don’t ask how, they ask how many.”

Riley credited the players with the team’s explosive offense, which has shown remarkable fluidity given how little many of the players knew about one another before practices began in mid-August.

“That’s entirely the focus of the kids,” Riley said. “They just clicked from the moment they met each other. The chemistry is theirs, and the approach I’ve taken with this team is let them have fun, let them be creative and experiment, and try not to be a puppeteer. And they’re figuring it out on their own.”

Defensively, though, Riley admitted they could use a bit of work and a bit of direction.

“That is the biggest focus of our next few days and in the weeks going forward,” he said. “We’re very young, and they just need to see reps. They need to get in game situations often enough to be able to read defensively. We have a couple of kids who are experienced enough where we can put them back so they can help. But every game is a chess match for us. It’s moving experience around to help the inexperienced.”

The goal in the short term is to continue coming together, said Riley, with the distant goal making the sectional playoffs. But first they’ll have to keep hot on offense and tighten up on the defensive end.

Next up for Saugerties-Coleman is a visit from FDR on Thursday, Sept. 6, followed one week later by a visit to New Paltz. They may not surprise any teams from here on in, but they may do enough in training to make up the difference.

Avayah Rodriguez, 5, entering kindergarten at Edson. (Photos by Phyllis McCabe)

Jibril Blain, 5½, is being walked to Edson for his first day of kindergarten by his mother, Victoria, and his sister, Mariam, 2½.

Students across the Kingston City School District returned to class this week, and even though summer weather seems determined to hang on just a bit longer, the start of the 2018-19 school year is here.

In Kingston schools, the new school year may feel a bit like the one which ended nearly three months ago, but school officials say a little continuity can go a long way.

“What the kids want more than anything, kids and faculty, is consistency,” said Superintendent Paul Padalino on Tuesday during a brief pause in the final preparations for the first day of school. “We’ve got a couple of new principals [at Crosby and JFK], but we didn’t have a huge turnover in teachers this year. A couple of years ago we had a lot of retirements, but we didn’t have that this year, and that’s good. Students will be coming in and seeing familiar faces in buildings they’re used to, most of which have a little bit of improvement here and there. We’re hoping kids will come in and we’ll do our usual opening day stuff and move on with the year.”

Kathleen Sickles is the new principal at Crosby, moving into the role after serving as an assistant principal at Highland Elementary School since October 2014. Prior to her move to Highland, Sickles was an assistant principal and third-grade teacher at the St. Joseph School in Kingston. Sickles has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from SUNY New Paltz, and a certificate of advanced graduate study from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. 

Melissa Jamieson has taken over at JFK, moving upstate from Brooklyn, where she most recently served as assistant principal at P.S. 164 Caesar Rodney in the Borough Park neighborhood.

Elsewhere, there was little turnover, and if students don’t have the same teachers from one year to the next, they may still find comfort in seeing familiar faces in the hallways said Padalino.

“I think it’s going to be a pretty standard opening day,” Padalino said. “There’s been a lot of work done in a lot of buildings. Today we have our teachers in, and they’re getting settled. A lot of them weren’t able to get into their rooms before.”

Friends Imani Rogers, 12, and Vaishnavi Shah, 11, both in seventh-grade at J. Watson Bailey, catch up after having not seen each other over the summer.

But for the district’s youngest students, there’s often very little that familiar about the first day of school, and that may lead to delays getting to and from school.

“We’re always asking parents for patience that first day of school with the buses on pickup and delivery,” Padalino said. “A bus route for an elementary school might have a kindergartner at every stop, there’s 10 stops, and there’s a hug from mom and a sad kid getting on the bus, that’s an extra two or three minutes, which means 30 minutes late. Those are the things we always hope people are conscious of and they give us a little leeway the first 10 days of school or so.”

Arrival and dismissal is also new at Kingston High, which this summer saw the completion of the first phase of the $137.5 million Second Century project, which has seen much of the campus footprint change through renovation and construction. Students are being asked to arrive wither through the Broadway Main entrance of the new Salzmann Building entrance between 7:15-7:45 a.m., with bus dropoff and pickup in the new circle at Salzmann only.

Class schedules were also slightly adjusted to meet new requirements from the State Education Department, which added an hourly component to the previous daily educational requirements districts must offer students. Classes at Kingston High are 43 minutes long, with students having four minutes between the end of one and the start of another to navigate the sprawling campus. Padalino said the changes, which see first period begin at 7:50 a.m. and eighth period end at 2:12 p.m., were adopted to allow for the least amount of impact on how students and teachers approach their day.

“It shouldn’t have a huge impact on our students,” Padalino said. “A couple of minutes here and there on dismissal and arrival, so no big deal.”

Adriana Corona takes a picture of her son, Adrian Castillo, 7, who is entering second-grade at Edson.

In a letter to students, parents and teachers, KHS Principal Kirk Reinhardt addressed the academic changes that are coming with the newly remodeled school. Though the concept of smaller learning communities has been in the works for some time and will not be fully realized until the Second Century project is completed around 2022, the district is already moving in that direction.

“This fall we will embark on an exciting phase of matching the structural setting of our high school to the needs of our students,” wrote Reinhardt. “We will provide smaller learning communities to help all students achieve their highest potential. Our staff continually works to find new and exciting ways to engage our students and best prepare them for a challenging post-high school global world and education.”

For the past month or so, teachers have been preparing their classrooms for the influx of students this week, and while capital projects have touched nearly every building in the district, nowhere are the changes more apparent than at Kingston High.

“It’s just a totally different environment,” Padalino said. “The stark contrast when you walk from the Main building into the new Salzmann wings, it really punctuates the newness. Teachers are ready and raring to go. I walked the high school with the principal [Reinhardt], and teachers were saying how they’re looking forward to meeting with their teams and they’re raring to go.”

Padalino said he looked forward to visiting schools on the first day of the new year, especially at Kingston High where kids may be overwhelmed by the renovations.

“I’ll be there to see the kids arrive and see how they feel about it,” Padalino said. “It’s going to be an exciting morning there. And the first day of school is exciting for a lot of people. And depressing for a lot of people too. Unfortunately the temperature doesn’t want summer to be over. It’s always hard when the first couple of days of school are those hot, humid days. But we’ll get through them. It’s nice to have the climate control when we have this kind of weather.” 

In a tradition that students say their parents remember from their senior years in high school, seniors gathered at the Simmons Plaza parking lot on Route 9W before school wearing blue and white tie-dyed T shirts. (Photos by David Gordon)

Students across the Saugerties Central School District returned to the classroom this week to begin the 2018-19 school year, an annual rite of passage as old as time immemorial. Lingering summer weather may have smudged the lines a bit, but in Saugerties schools it might as well be autumn. 

While the district is seemingly in a state of flux with the departure later this month of longtime Superintendent Seth Turner, school officials are touting the new school year as one which enhances the educational experience without losing anything in the process. 

“We were able to maintain existing programs and look at new offerings,” said the district’s Business Manager Lissa Jilek on Tuesday, September 4, one day before the doors were opened to students at all four elementary schools as well as the Jr./Sr. High School. “We’re off to a great start. We had our opening day agenda today. We had a motivational speaker. It was a nice way to kick off the school year. It was very positive, and folks are very pleased with the changes in the facility itself.”

While the district didn’t undergo any major capital projects over the summer, each school building had at least some work done. But one area where the SCSD is looking to continue moving forward is technology. 

“There will be more technology available to the students, and staff as well,” said Jilek. “There will be more Chromebooks available throughout the district. I think there will be at least five in each elementary classroom, and at least two carts in every department, and there will also be some at the library. Technology is always improving, ever growing, so we always embrace more technology. And we will in the future.”

Another change in the district is the arrival of an athletic trainer, Nate Reynaud. 

“That is a huge benefit to students and also to staff,” said Jilek. “He will be working with kids in sports. He will be working with gym teachers and making recommendations. And obviously he will be working under the direction of the Athletic Director (Dom Zarella).”

Mrs. Monroe’s kindergarten class lines up ready to go to their first regular day of school.

One new item that may take some getting used to is the new hourly regulation put in place by the New York State Education Department. Public schools will still be required to provide 180 days of education, but that has also been broken down as 990 minutes over the course of the school year. Districts failing to hit both thresholds could lose a percentage of their foundation aid the following year. 

“It’s complicated,” said Jilek. “It’s very complicated. It [caused us], in the Jr./Sr. High, to look at the minutes in the day in the schedule, and basically reconfigure the schedule to meet those attendance requirements.”

In order to give themselves flexibility in a region where snow days and delays are commonplace, the Jr./Sr. High School has eliminated homeroom, with students expected to report to their first period class at the beginning of the school day. Furthermore, two minutes have been added to each period, increasing the time from 43 to 45 minutes. First period begins at 7:45 a.m., while eighth period ends at 2:08 p.m. School officials said the schedule was arranged not only with new NYSED regulations in mind, but also the complex bus schedules at both the elementary and secondary levels, both of which depend upon one another to function fluidly. 

While the district is looking ahead to snow days, the hot and humid summer weather is still blanketing the Hudson Valley. Jilek said each school in the district is working to minimize the impact in the classroom, with educators asking students to speak up if the heat is too much to bear. 

“It sure is hot, isn’t it?” Jilek said. “All measures are being taken to make sure facilities are safe, and that concerns regarding the heat are being taken seriously. We encourage students to tell their teacher, see the school nurse. Blinds will be drawn, fans are running and air-conditioning where available is working.”

In late June, Turner announced that he was leaving Saugerties in late September to serve as the superintendent of the Amagansett Union Free School District for the 2018-19 school year. Amagansett is a single-school district with fewer than 100 students in grades K-5. Amagansett students move into the East Hampton Union Free School District for middle and high school. 

Previously a teacher with BOCES in Plattsburgh, Turner came to Saugerties in 1997 as a special education teacher in the alternative education program at the high school. In 2000 he became an assistant principal before becoming principal at Grant D. Morse Elementary in 2003. Turner’s current contract was approved in 2015 and runs through 2020. 

Jilek is also leaving in late September to become the business manager in the Highland Central School District. Jilek’s resignation letter was submitted on June 18, the same day that Turner was formally offered the job of superintendent in Amagansett.

Jilek has been the district’s business manager since 2013, having previously served in the same position in both the Cairo-Durham (2007-13) and Catskill (2000-07) central school districts.

The Board of Education is currently exploring its options to fill both administrative positions, but interim officials are likely to bridge the gap until candidates for permanent positions can be properly vetted. The next meeting of the School Board is scheduled for Tuesday, September 11.

The Saugerties High School varsity football team mounted a thrilling comeback in their Section IX, Class A home opener on Saturday, but they came up short in a 40-30 loss to Goshen. The defeat dropped the Sawyers to 1-1.

Saugerties was down 34-8 to a Gladiators team that rolled over Kingston High one week earlier, but they fought their way back under the steady hand of senior quarterback Matt Bucci. Bucci amassed 388 passing yards and a pair of touchdown tosses, along with 96 yards on 11 rushes and a rushing touchdown.

But while the Sawyers looked sharp down the stretch, it was an early fumble that may have set the wheels in motion for the loss. After pulling to within 14-8 on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Heinlein capped by a 2-point conversion run by Caleb Edwards, Saugerties looked set to tie the game on their next possession before fumbling the ball away on the Goshen 2-yard line. The Gladiators marched the ball back 98 yards on the ensuing possession capped by a quarterback sneak by Matt Giordano. Giordano connected with Jake Kunis twice and both Jordan Weaver and Jared Cassel to give Goshen a commanding lead.

Saugerties’ late comeback included rushing scores by both Bucci and Edwards, along with a touchdown pass to Graeme Knisell, who led the Sawyers with 120 yards on four catches. Another touchdown by the home team was called back because of a holding penalty.

The Sawyers were led defensively by Anthony Owen (10 tackles, sack), Edwards (nine tackles, two sacks), Craig Laurey (nine tackles, sack) and Heinlein (six tackles, interception).

The Sawyers fared better in their non-league season opener on Friday, August 31, when they beat O’Neill 26-14 under the lights at Highland Falls. Bucci went 6-for-7 in the air for 182 yards and two touchdowns, adding 83 yards on the ground. Knisell picked up 76 rushing yards on three tries, adding a touchdown to his tally; he also caught a 65-yard touchdown toss by Bucci. Sean Costello amassed 69 yards on two catches, one of which was a touchdown.

Defensively, Owen led the Sawyers with 11 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. Edwards (11 tackles), Colden Staccio (seven tackles) and Laurey (seven tackles) also contributed.

Expectations are high for the Sawyers under first-year head coach Drew Carpino, who served as the program’s defensive coordinator under Dom Zarella last season. Zarella, the district’s athletic director, will coach the Sawyers’ modified team this year. Orrin Logan and Lee Meisinger joined Carpino’s staff for 2018.

Saugerties boasts 21 seniors this season, looking to build upon their successes over the second half of last year. After dropping four of their first five games in 2017, the Sawyers went 3-1 to close out the year.

To improve upon last season, the Sawyers will face numerous hurdles from within the league and beyond. Joining them in Class A’s Division 2 is New Paltz, Wallkill, Goshen and Monticello. Division 1 includes Cornwall, FDR, Warwick and Minisink Valley. While the road will be tough, Saugerties must only finish among the top three teams in their division to make the postseason.

The Sawyers will host Cornwall on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 1:30 p.m. before playing their next two — at New Paltz and FDR — on the road. They’re back home against Monticello on Saturday, Oct. 6 before closing out the regular season at Wallkill on Friday, Oct. 12.

(Photo by Dion Ogust)

Town of Ulster officials have agreed to take into consideration concerns by local fire companies as they enter into negotiations with Ulster County on the development of a new regional fire training center on Ulster Landing Road. The town’s fire companies already train on a facility on the property, and they’re hoping they’ll be allowed to continue to do so as the new training center is built.

Jerry McDonough, chief of the Spring Lake Fire Department, said a recent meeting between town officials, county officials, representatives from town fire companies and the Ulster Fire Training Center board appeared to put all parties on the same page.

McDonough summarized the draft agreement during a meeting of the Ulster Town Board held on Thursday, Sept. 6, revealing that in addition to having access to the current classroom and burn building while the new facility is built, town fire companies would also be given exclusive access to the new burn building after completion for 18 Monday evenings per year, along with additional 30 days of access to training facilities each year. In addition to Spring Lake, other fire departments in the town include Ulster Hose, Bloomington, East Kingston, Ruby and Sawkill.

“This goes a long way to ensure that fire departments in our town continue to have access to fire training facilities that our personnel need,” said McDonough. “And it will prevent or at least delay the need for town fire departments to seek or build additional fire training center facilities in the town to carry out our individual fire departments’ training missions.”

The draft agreement includes a provision for the county to provide $30,000 over three years to maintain the current facility, with another $30,000 available should the new facility not be completed within that timeframe.

“This ensures that the Town of Ulster is protected from a project that fails to happen after the town signs away its interest in the Ulster Landing Road property,” McDonough said.

Town officials voted to begin negotiations for the new facility, which would require the granting of an easement to Ulster County.

The current fire training facility includes a two-story burn building, a two-story training tower, and a 2,100-square-foot administrative building, around half the size proposed in the new plans.

Jared Mance, a first assistant chief with Spring Lake who also sits on the Ulster Fire Training Center board, credited town officials with helping keep local needs in the greater conversation.

“I want to publicly thank the supervisor and the other members of the town board for the support in the matter of developing the Ulster Fire Training Center to a county training facility,” Mance said. “We very much appreciate your support and guidance in this matter, and hopefully it’s a successful project.”

McDonough, though, stressed that the town should ensure anything agreed to is put in writing every step of the way.

“Discussions about a county training center have been occurring for 40 years,” he said. “I would caution the town board that agreed upon the terms between all parties involved should be memorialized in writing and be part of any easement or other document where the Town of Ulster is signing away their rights and interest in the Ulster Landing Road property. This is absolutely needed since the last year has shown us that misunderstandings can lead to such an important project falling apart before our very eyes.”

Town Supervisor James Quigley III said that the matter was raised in part to put it on the clock for further discussion soon.

“I’m making the presentation tonight so that the board members may have the opportunity to study the matter, and I’m going to ask for consideration at a future meeting,” he said.

The Ulster town board last week approved the posting of “No Littering” signs along Glenerie Boulevard in an effort to quell an uptick in illegal dumping. Town Supervisor James Quigley III said that he’d been contacted by numerous local residents about the issue.

“It is my recommendation that the town board authorize the posting of a section of Glenerie Boulevard at the discretion of the town highway superintendent, with ‘No Littering’ signs,” Quigley said during a town board meeting held on Thursday, Sept. 5.

Councilman Rocco Secreto said that even after a recent cleanup effort, the roughly half-mile stretch of Glenerie Boulevard north of Northern Boulevard was in rough shape.

“I took a ride out to Glenerie today, and a lot of the garbage was picked up but even overnight people are throwing bags of garbage out on the road, and furniture,” Secreto said. “It’s just an easy way to get rid of something without having to pay. We should go over our fines for littering in the town and bring them up to date and find a way that we can enforce them a little better.”

Town code clearly identifies various forms of garbage and other debris as being subject to fine if illegally dumped. Among them are bulky waste, including furniture, mattresses, major household appliances, tires and carpets; construction or demolition debris; organic waste, such as meat, fat, bones, fish, fruit, vegetables, and other products used or leftover after consumption; various plastics; and general rubbish, including cardboard, paper or other household materials. Violation is a misdemeanor punishable by fines of no more than $500. The code was last amended on Dec. 18, 2014.

“I’m all for putting the signs up out there,” said Secreto, who identified other areas like East Kingston where there are similar issues. “We need to look at this littering problem. It’s getting out of hand now.”

Councilman Eric Kitchen said that illegal dumpers could be tracked down if readily identifiable household trash was reviewed.

“A lot of times people will put letters and mailings in there and maybe we can identify them, maybe,” Kitchen said.

Secreto said the town police had undergone a similar initiative nearly a decade ago. “They brought gloves in the trunk of their cars and they did go through the garbage and we did catch people,” he said, adding that it might not sit well with the police to have to dig through the garbage again. “They’re not too happy about that.”

Quigley said it was worth pursuing the matter beyond the “No Littering” signs. “We will have a discussion with the police chief.”

Deputy Superintendent Lawrence Mautone

The Saugerties Central School District’s Board of Education opted for consistency in filling the role of interim superintendent last week, with Deputy Superintendent Lawrence Mautone taking on the role. Mautone will also remain deputy superintendent during the district’s search for a permanent replacement for outgoing Superintendent Seth Turner.  “I’m very honored that the Board has the trust in me, and the staff has the trust in me to get us through as we do the superintendent search to transition to a new superintendent,” said Mautone. 

Trustees approved Mautone as interim superintendent, which will pay him $100 per day on top of his annual deputy superintendent’s salary of $153,000. 

Mautone came to the SCSD in 1999 as a social studies teacher at Saugerties High School, also serving as the principal at Mt. Marion Elementary School from 2008-13, when he was hired as the district’s assistant superintendent. Mautone’s title changed heading into the 2016-17 school year when the district created the position of assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction, assessment and data, a position currently held by Darlene Westinghouse.

But while Mautone is technically serving in two different positions, the district is looking into bringing someone in to temporarily help with some of his duties as deputy superintendent, with an eye on making the transition as seamless as possible. 

“We’re looking into backfilling my position not with a deputy, but with someone to help out with the day-to-day human resources,” Mautone said. “I’ll be doing some of the deputy roles still as I’m interim superintendent, but we’re going to try to fill out some of that.”

In late June, Turner announced that he was leaving Saugerties to serve as the superintendent of the Amagansett Union Free School District for the 2018-19 school year. Amagansett is a single-school district with fewer than 100 students in grades K-5. Amagansett students move into the East Hampton Union Free School District for middle and high school. 

Previously a teacher with BOCES in Plattsburgh, Turner came to Saugerties in 1997 as a special education teacher in the alternative education program at the high school. In 2000 he became an assistant principal before becoming principal at Grant D. Morse Elementary in 2003. Turner’s current contract was approved in 2015 and would have run through 2020. 

The School Board recently approved paying Ulster BOCES $8,900 to help conduct the search for a full-time superintendent, a process they’ve said they plan on doing with great care and attention. Ulster BOCES Superintendent Charles Khoury recently took trustees through the various steps in the process. None of the current members of the School Board were in place when Turner was hired in 2009 to replace former Superintendent Richard Rhau. In addition to relying on the guidance of Ulster BOCES, they’re also planning on holding community forums and surveys, as well as checking in with staff and students. 

Mautone said he plans to formally announce his interest in serving as superintendent once the process becomes clearer. In the meantime, he said, he’ll bring familiarity to a district in the midst of administrative change. 

“What I offer is consistency in having been a teacher, a principal and a deputy superintendent,” Mautone said. “I think I have a good perspective, and I’ve created a good rapport with the staff and community of Saugerties. It puts me in a position to maintain consistency. And at the same time if there’s something we need to move forward or change, I think I have that trust having been here since 1999.”

The SCSD is also seeking to replace Business Manager Lissa Jilek, who will leave Saugerties in late September for the same role in the Highland Central School District. Jilek’s resignation letter was submitted on June 18, the same day that Turner was formally offered the job of superintendent in Amagansett.

Jilek has been the district’s business manager since 2013, having previously served in the same position in both the Cairo-Durham (2007-13) and Catskill (2000-07) central school districts. 

The district is looking to hire an interim business manager while a permanent candidate search is undertaken. Prior hopes of filling with role with a shared services arrangement through Ulster BOCES have been dashed by a lack of availability. 

For his part as interim superintendent, Mautone is eager to get rolling. 

“I’m very excited to be working with such a great staff, with the community and with the Board,” he said. “I’m going to work very hard in the position while we find a new superintendent.”

(File photo by Will Dendis)

The Kingston City School District is continuing its efforts to bring greater diversity into the classroom, both as a reflection of the student population and to provide a more varied experience for all students in the district.

“It’s something I think every school district is looking for, diversity in their faculty and staff, a faculty and staff that looks like the makeup of the student body,” said Superintendent Paul Padalino in a week he included diversity hiring among other goals he’ll be reporting on during 2018-19 that are aligned with the district’s Comprehensive Improvement Plan.

At a meeting of the Board of Education on Aug. 29, Padalino said he plans on reporting on the new mental health curriculum (Sept. 12), anti-bullying (Nov. 14), grant-funded programs (Nov. 28), annual professional performance reviews (April 1, 2019), and the State Education Department’s basic education data system (April 24, 2019). Quarterly reports on the implementation of the Restorative Justice Program and student suspensions are also in the works.

Padalino said he also expects to have frequent updates on the progress of renovations at the former Frank L. Meagher Elementary School, which will be converted into a district-wide pre-kindergarten hub and district headquarters ahead of the 2019-20 school year.

As for diversity hiring, the district has been making a greater effort over the past few years to hire top-quality teachers to reflect the diversity in its student body, which is 20 percent Latino and 15 percent African-American.

“It would be beautiful if it was close to or equal to our student population,” Padalino said. “If we could have a faculty and staff that mirrored that, that would be fantastic. I think that’s the goal. It’s a lofty goal, it really is. But it’s a matter of working with colleges and universities, who are also trying to get diverse student bodies into the education fields.”

Among the groups the district is working with is Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Teachers (TSTT), which was founded in 1994 with a goal of giving minorities a career path into education. While the two largest minority groups in the district total around 35 percent of the student population, TSTT estimates that just 15 percent of teachers across the country are either African American or Hispanic.

“We’ve got a long way to go, no doubt,” said Padalino. “The percentages from our student body to our staff is way off. And we want to make sure that we’re doing that while hiring the top-quality teachers for our kids.”

In addition to working with TSTT, Padalino said the district has contacted colleges to sell teachers in training on Kingston.

“We reached out to CUNY last year and hosted a full day where we brought in Latino potential educators to show them Kingston and what we do here and encourage them to apply here,” Padalino said. “That’s our fastest growing subgroup, Latino students. They’ve outpaced our African-American students by a few percentage points now, which is something a lot of people didn’t expect. We want to continue to make sure people know we really do want a diverse faculty and staff, so we want to encourage people who are thinking about getting into education who may be part of those underrepresented groups to apply here.”

Padalino said that the district’s diversity hiring efforts have even brought some new teachers back into the district where they themselves were educated.

“There are some kids who think teaching isn’t an accessible profession for them, and I think we need to make sure they know it is accessible, and we are hiring with diversity in mind,” Padalino said. “We were lucky this year that we had a couple of local kids who look like our kids and come from where our kids come from. … We’ve been lucky to grab some homegrown people, and I think it’s really important to have people here that know our community.”

Seth Turner (file photo by Dion Ogust)

Years after it began and months after the hourglass was turned over, Seth Turner’s time as superintendent of the Saugerties Central School District has come to an end.

At the stroke of midnight on Tuesday, September 25, Turner was officially no longer the superintendent of the SCSD. Though he’d been out of his office since late August using his remaining vacation days, he was still technically in charge. And since he doesn’t officially begin his new job as superintendent of the Amagansett Union Free School District until Monday, October 1, Turner has time to catch his breath and look back. 

“I have no responsibilities for about four or five days,” he said. It was a bit of levity in an uncertain time, because in spite of deliberate and careful consideration, deciding to leave the district where he’d spent most of his professional career for another, to uproot his family and move out to Long Island, was something of a leap of faith. 

“I began in Saugerties in 1997,” Turner said. “I was 24 years old. I walk out 21 years later. But it’s exciting to be alive, to go try to do something that scares you. It’s exciting to embark on something new and different. But it’s also very scary and frightening. And that’s part of being alive.” 

Previously a teacher with BOCES in Plattsburgh, Turner came to Saugerties in 1997 as a special education teacher in the alternative education program at the high school. In 2000 he became an assistant principal before becoming principal at Grant D. Morse Elementary in 2003. Turner was hired as superintendent in the SCSD in 2009 following the retirement of Richard Rhau. Turner’s most recent contract with the district was approved in 2015 and would have run through 2020. Instead, he’ll start fresh in another district, another town. 

Amagansett students, all of them in grades kindergarten-5, move into the East Hampton Union Free School District for middle and high school, and for Turner the idea of being able to work more closely with younger students in a district with fewer than 100 kids was worth exploring. Even if it meant leaving Saugerties behind. 

“I’m extremely proud of all of the accomplishments that have taken place in the district,” said Turner this week. “It was a period of time of creativity and innovation in which we saw so many improvements in a vast array of areas. Whether it be higher-end courses and advanced placement offerings growing, or providing support to those who need it for ESL or remediation, to what we were doing with STEAM initiatives. It was an exciting time. It was great to be a part of it.”

Asked if he felt he was leaving the district in better shape than when he arrived, Turner without hesitation said he was. 

“That can be demonstrated in a lot of different areas,” he said. “First, academically, you see graduation rates are higher than they had been. The performance on Regents exams and other test scores have continued to go up. But it’s also seen in things like labor negotiations, where we used collaborative and cooperative methods as opposed to standard industrial methods. Where we worked together sitting at the table. That allowed us to focus on the academics because we could address other types of issues, whether it was facility improvement…we put a new boiler in at Cahill in the winter. These are things that had to be done, but were just Herculean. Putting a new roof on a building during the winter because it needed to be done. We pulled these things off.”

Turner added that he was pleased to have helped grow athletics and other extracurricular offerings in the district during his time as superintendent. 

But now that’s over, and the SCSD enters a period of measured uncertainty. Deputy Superintendent Lawrence Mautone will add to his duties the role of interim superintendent while the Board of Education works with Ulster BOCES to identify and eventually hire a permanent district leader. 

“Larry Mautone is a great guy,” Turner said of the appointment. “A very smart individual. A very intelligent person, very hardworking and committed to the community. He’s worked in the district for several decades at this point. I wish them well with whatever it is they choose to do.”

As a final message for the district he led since 2009 and worked in for over a decade before that, Turner’s message was primarily about the children.  

“Saugerties is just an outstanding community, and I’m proud to have been part of the leadership of the school district for as long as I was,” he said. “Certainly everyone who worked with me knows that I was child-centered, and that all decisions were made with the best decisions of children at heart. I’m so glad I was able to grow personally and professionally in the Saugerties Central School District and I wish them well. I want the best for the students in that community.”

Jamal Lis-Simmons in action back in 2017. (Photo by Nicole Terpening)

Days after announcing the departure of two-year head coach David Lindholm due to professional obligations, Kingston Stockade FC this week announced a name familiar to fans of the franchise as his replacement: The Jamal Lis-Simmons era is officially under way.

Three-year team captain and defensive stalwart Lis-Simmons is no stranger to coaching, having been at the helm of SUNY Ulster men’s soccer team since 2016. He was an assistant coach at SUNY New Paltz under Gene Ventriglia from 2012-15, and compiled a 40-14-1 record as the boys varsity head coach at his alma mater Highland High School from 2004-06.

But Lis-Simmons has served as an unofficial on-field coach for Stockade from the very beginning, directing the defense and inspiring grit and dedication from teammates through word and deed since the team’s inaugural season in 2016. They’re qualities Club Chairman Dennis Crowley said Stockade officials saw from the very beginning. 

“The first time we met Jamal was at the very first tryout that we ever held,” Crowley said. “You could just tell that he brought people together and held them together. We had a conversation at the time and said, ‘That’s our captain. I wonder if he’ll coach for us some time.’ It might have happened sooner than we expected, but we are honored to have Jamal. … I think he’s going to do a great job. I expect great things and we’re looking forward to a great season.”

Lis-Simmons is the third head coach in club history, preceded by Lindholm, who held the post for the last two seasons, and Hall-of-Fame coach George Vizvary, who was Stockade’s coach in its first season.

Kingston announced last week that Lindholm, who has been the associate athletic director at Bard College since April 2017, was stepping down as coach, but would likely stay with the club in an advisory role. In 2017, Lindholm’s first season with Stockade, the club went 7-4-1 overall, winning the Atlantic White Conference of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), helping the team to a 2-1 victory over Boston City FC in the conference finals on July 15 of that year, and ensuring Kingston earned its first-ever trip to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. In 2018 the club dropped to a 3-5-2 overall record, though their season included highlights like a 5-1 home win over Boston and a thrilling come-from-behind 4-4 tie against the NPSL’s defending champs, Elm City Express.

“He’ll be helping in the front office,” said Crowley. “And I expect he and Jamal will be close, but I don’t expect David will be active as a coach.”

Crowley said Vizvary and Lindholm created a culture of winning that’s appealing to prospective players, who Lis-Simmons will begin recruiting almost immediately along with his soon-to-be-named coaching staff. He’ll also have the help of Dan Hoffay, who last week took on the newly created job of technical director after serving in a range of roles since the team’s inception. 

Though he played significantly fewer minutes in 2018 than he had in the previous two seasons, there were moments where Lis-Simmons looked like he could run forever. But barring a change of heart, the new Stockade coach says he’s ready to hang up his boots.

“I’ve just been so grateful to be a part of this club from the very beginning, and I knew I only had so many years left to be able to keep up with all these young guys,” Lis-Simmons said. “Knowing that I wanted to be involved with this club going into the future I was hopeful that this opportunity might present itself. The fact that it’s here now is just really exciting … it felt like a natural transition at this point.”

For fans of the franchise, no player best exemplified the heart and soul of Stockade FC like Lis-Simmons, who hopes how he carried himself on the pitch will serve him every bit as well on the sidelines. 

“I feel like I’ve been able to have a good relationship with the coaching staff and also the players, and I’m definitely hoping that helps this be a smooth transition for sure,” Lis-Simmons said. “This club has done some amazing things in a short period of time. I’ve been honored since day one to be a part of this program. I’m from the Hudson Valley. I’ve been around here my whole life. To see what this team has done and the potential for the future is really exciting. I feel blessed with this opportunity, and I’m just looking to make the most of it.”

How Lis-Simmons injects his own coaching style into the mix remains to be seen. “I just want to continue moving this team in the right direction,” he said. “Every coach has a bit of their own philosophy and is going to be slightly different from other coaches. But the message and the goal of this team doesn’t change. We want to continue to offer a platform for local talent to be able to be seen and to be a unifying force within our community. We just want to keep it rolling.”

.

The Cioni Building (photo by Phyllis McCabe)

It’s been more than a year since the Kingston City School District approved the sale of its Cioni Building headquarters in an open bidding process, and after starting work on converting the former Frank L. Meagher Elementary School into a pre-kindergarten hub and new district office, that sale could finally be imminent.

“The lawyers are just working back and forth on an exact date,” said Superintendent Paul Padalino of the Crown Street edifice this week. “But it looks like we’re ready to go, and the signs are pointing to the first 10 days of October.”

In July 2017, the school board approved selling its current administrative headquarters to 61 Crown Street LLC, which is led by New York City-based developer Neil Bender and filed a bid as BRE Properties. The $4.25 million bid, with an eye on turning the property into a boutique hotel and spa, came during an open bidding session on the highly coveted property in booming Uptown Kingston. The next highest bid was for $1.8 million. Trustees later agreed to cut the price to $3.47 million, after an environmental review found a variety of structural issues that needed to be addressed.

This week, Padalino said that the impending closing is a relief. “It really is,” Padalino said. “And anxiety causing. But we’ve had no concerns. Mr. Bender has purchased several other buildings in the area. I’m assuming he has a plan … So I’m confident and not worried.”

In April, the district received the first review of architectural plans for Meagher from the State Education Department, giving school officials hope that they’ll be able to break ground on the project this summer and move their headquarters there from Cioni by the beginning of the 2019-20 school year, though the terms of the sale of their Crown Street headquarters gives them up to two years to fully vacate.

This week, Padalino said the first phase of the Meagher work is already underway.  “We’ve got all the contracts executed, contractors are on site right now,” he said. “Asbestos abatement started this week, so that’s one of those issues you never like to deal with because it’s expensive and takes awhile, but that’s where they have to start. That’s underway and then the real construction will get going.”

Bender could not be reached for comment.

The Kingston City School District last month sent students home with a letter affirming its commitment to protecting the rights of the community’s immigrant and undocumented students, philosophically aligning the district with the state’s policies.

“Protecting the rights of Kingston’s immigrant and undocumented students is very important to me and our district’s beliefs and values,” read the letter signed by Superintendent Paul Padalino. “We received guidance on this issue from the NYS Attorney General’s Office and from the NYS Commissioner of Education. The messages conveyed reaffirms that New York ‘schools will remain safe havens where all students can learn.’”

The letter, addressed to the community, cites state education law that, “Undocumented children, like U.S. citizen children, have the right to attend school full-time as long as they meet the age and residency requirement established by state law.” 

The letter further cites laws like the New York Family Court Act (NYFCA), the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), which covers the rights of undocumented students.

“In accordance with guidance provided by the State, Kingston will not allow immigration officials to interview students at school,” reads Padalino’s letter. “It has long been SED’s position that law enforcement officers may not remove a student from school property or interrogate a student without the consent of the student’s parent or person in parental relation, except in very limited situations (e.g., when law enforcement officers have a valid warrant or when a crime has been committed on school property). In addition, requests to access student records and personally identifiable information are protected under FERPA and the District will deny such requests.”

The district’s message follows a joint statement in February 2017 by then-state attorney general Eric Schneiderman and state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia.

“Recent immigration-related actions by federal officials have created fear and confusion across the country,” read the Schneiderman/Elia statement. “New York State residents, whom both of our agencies and the New York State Board of Regents have pledged to serve, have communicated directly with our agencies about the anxiety and questions these actions raised. The New York State Office of the Attorney General and the New York State Education Department write today to reaffirm to students, schools, families, and communities across the State of New York that our schools will remain safe havens where all students can learn.”

Padalino said the KCSD began drafting its own statement of support last spring, but didn’t complete it until just prior to summer break. They waited to release it at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year to ensure it reached the community at a time when school is foremost on everyone’s minds.
“It’s really important that our kids, no matter where they come from, whether they’re undocumented or not, whatever, feel safe when they come to our buildings,” Padalino said this week in an interview with the Kingston Times. “This is our job. As it says in the letter, they have the right to this whether the current political climate says they do or no, the law says they do. We are going to protect them, make sure we can do everything we can to keep them safe and get them educated. These are their rights and this is how we feel.”

The district’s letter is also available on the official KCSD website (https://www.kingstoncityschools.org/Page/4463), and includes links to the Ulster Immigrant Defense Network, State Education Department guidance on how to combat immigration-related harassment and bullying, and a separate link to DASA resources in 20 different languages. A link to the Schneiderman/Elia statement is also available, which Padalino says is crucial in bringing everyone together.

“It’s very good to have the commissioner to come out with a statement, to have the state come out with a statement, and then to have the case law backing it up,” he said this week. “We’re not just saying it. This is established. This is law, and everybody in a position of responsibility and authority agrees. It’s nice for us all to be on the same page. It’s heartening to know that when it comes to the safety of our kids, regardless of what our disagreements might be when it comes to other things related to education, the commissioner, the state, and school districts are all on the same page.”

 ‘Totally not political’

Padalino rejected the notion that the district is taking sides in a larger national political debate. He said he looks at it as an issue of doing what’s right.

“This is totally not political as far as we’re concerned,” he said. “Every day, 6,586 kids get dropped off or take a bus to our school buildings. When those parents hand those kids over to us, they’re entrusting me with the safety, welfare, health and education of those kids. I’m responsible as soon as they cross the property line onto our schools. If something were to happen where laws were broken and student rights are violated in this manner, I’m responsible. We take that very seriously. I take that very seriously. When you’re working with kids you do everything you can to protect them no matter where they’re from, what gender they identify as, what race they are, what religion they are. We choose to work with kids for a reason. And it’s to make sure that they grow up to be healthy, smart, well-adjusted, safe adults.”

Padalino said that while he’s sure there’s chatter on both sides of the debate, he’s only ever heard from people who are pleased with the stance the district has taken. He added that there’s plenty of support across the community as well.

“We get a lot of thanks,” he said. “Our Latino population is outpacing our African-American population, which is something we wouldn’t have thought would happen in the past. Here in Kingston there are a lot of groups helping those families get adjusted to the community, helping those families find resources for work or school or other services of some kind. There’s a lot of support for the schools to be supportive of kids.”

The superintendent added that the debate has also been instructive for many of Kingston’s students.

“One of the things we do as an education institution, especially at the high school level, is bring things to the surface that are thought-provoking to help our kids think critically about current events, whether they be immigration or protests, any of those kinds of things,” Padalino said. “It’s our job to, for high school kids especially, to let them dive in and express those opinions.”