No one from the public had any comment on the Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District’s proposed 2023-24 budget at last week’s annual mandated public hearing.
It’s a $39,036,276 spending plan which Assistant Super-intendent for Business Chris Carballo reviewed for the last time before the May 16 vote on it. The only audience at the meeting were several dozen teachers, a candidate for the Board of Education, and district administrators.
The teachers were on hand to support the Town of Highlands Teachers Association (THTA) president, Heather Evangelista, as she made a presentation to the board. She spoke with the board about what she called “the state of our union”, noting that “it is strong”.
Evangelista spoke about the importance of “quality in our public education”, touching on matters of safety, academic integrity, collaboration between the teachers and administrators (recent ones have been “greatly appreciated’, she said) and salary — the union is currently in negotiations for the next teachers’ contract.
“The goal of the THTA is to make sure our teachers feel valued and supported, so they can take that into the classroom,” Evangelista said. She asked for the “simple inclusion of teachers in the decision making process” in the year ahead.
In other matters from the meeting:
— Superintendent Michael McElduff said that there have been 60+ applicants for the Highland Falls Intermediate School assistant principal job. “Our goal is to have the candidate appointed on June 8 with a start date of July 1,” he said. He added that final interviews for the Fort Montgomery Elementary School principal position were conducted earlier that week. Board member Ned Kopald said he “objected to the board not being part of the interview process”.
— Deputy Superintendent Dr. Frank Sheboy spoke briefly about Impact Aid as it relates to the federal discussions about the country’s debt ceiling. Should legislators decide to return federal spending to the 2022 level, as he said has been discussed, “that could mean 15 to 20% cuts” in Impact Aid. “That is concerning,” Sheboy said.
— Athletic Director Bryan Wilson reported that the new softball dugouts are in place, and said O’Neill High School has been selected to hold two Section 9 championship football games next fall — the Class B game and eight-man game.
— HFIS Interim Assistant Principal Nancy Noonan reported that state testing has been going well in her building and that the National Junior Honor Society induction ceremony was to take place on May 10.
— O’Neill High School Assistant Principal Tom Breitfeller announced several events at the high school, including the May 12 ‘senior sunrise’.
— From the Fort Montgomery Elementary School, Principal Rachel Adelstein spoke about both teachers’ and nurses’ appreciation weeks. She also updated the board on the 2023-24 pre-kindergarten class, saying that there are just four spots remaining in the 40-student program. After they are filled a wait-list is created.
— Two resignations were accepted. The first was of Allison DellaPorte, the district’s senior payroll clerk, effective May 19. The second was of Brian Weir, district treasurer, effective June 30.
— The board approved a certiorari settlement, with Kopald voting no. He said the case, with USAA, should have gone to trial, because agreeing to a “$758,790 reduction in assessment will be used in the future by all other commercial entities in support of their request for reductions”.
