Boarding school moves closer to official approval after public support

MILLERTON — A local boarding school’s efforts to receive current formal approval for its buildings received support from neighbors and faculty of the institution at the first public hearing in the Planning Board approval process.

Olivet Academy, which took over the former Kildonan School campus in 2020, is seeking a special use permit, certificates of occupancy for all campus buildings, and approval of its existing septic systems to satisfy current state Department of Education requirements for private boarding schools.

Architect Ray Nelson, representing the school, told the Planning Board on Wednesday, July 22, that the state now requires schools to provide current certificates of occupancy for all campus buildings under the operating institution’s name. Because the campus predates modern permitting requirements, many of its buildings were never issued formal permits or certificates of occupancy.

The campus has operated as a school since it was built in 1940, first as the Barlow School and later as the Kildonan School from 1980 until the institution closed in 2019. Nelson said the current application is intended to formally document and legalize longstanding uses of the property rather than expand or substantially alter the campus.

Wednesday night’s meeting marked the first public hearing on the application, marking a step toward approval that will bring the historic school into formal legal compliance for the first time since its construction over 80 years ago.

Betsy Strauss, a longtime neighbor of the property, and her husband, Julian, spoke in support of the school and its efforts to obtain formal approval. She said Olivet has been a good neighbor and she’s delighted to live in a neighborhood surrounded by schools on both sides.

Strauss’s property is bordered on the west by Olivet Academy and on the east by the Webutuck Central School District campus.

“It’s very nice to know that we’ve got people who are serious about their work and are good neighbors,” Strauss said.

Milo Tsukroff — a Pleasant Valley, New York, resident and math instructor at the school — said he has taught at the school for five years and loves the community.

He said Olivet students excel in and out of school, and that the presence of the boarding school and Webutuck’s campus in such close proximity qualifies that section of town around Morse Hill Road and Haight Road as a de facto education district.

“Graduates return to this school and tell us they’re college math classes are too easy because they learned math at Olivet,” Tsukroff said.

Planning Board members opted to keep the public hearing open pending approvals from outside agencies for outstanding issues such as approval of an existing septic system and building department certification. The next public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 7:35 p.m. at the North East Town Hall on Maple Avenue.