One incumbent, one newcomer run for two open BOE seats

MILLBROOK — Voting on the 2020-21 Millbrook Central School District budget and on the election of two candidates to  the Millbrook Board of Education (BOE) will take place on Tuesday, June 9. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, voting will be done remotely. Each qualified voter will receive a mail-in ballot from the district. No in-person voting will be allowed. Voters who are not registered can register with the Dutchess County Board of Elections by mail or remotely through the Department of Motor Vehicles website at www.dmv.ny.gov/more+info/electronic-voter-registration-application.

Howard Shapiro

Two seats are open on the Millbrook BOE, and two candidates have thrown their hats into the ring. The incumbent, Howard Shapiro, is currently the vice president of the board. He ran for the first time in the 2017 election; he won and proved to be a tireless worker for the board. Having enjoyed success on the BOE has whetted his appetite for another term.

“I request your vote to return me for another three-year term on the Millbrook school board,” said Shapiro. “During my first term on the board I have saved the district over $30,000. I was able to locate these savings by my in-depth review of district contracts. These savings to our taxpayers were able to be used to further the education of our students. In September, my fellow board members elected me to the position of school board vice president.”

Early in May, Shapiro was presented with the Board Mastery Award by the New York State School Boards Association. He said he believes in thinking outside the box, approaching problems by being innovative and squeezing every penny out of tax dollars to provide an excellent education for the children.

Shapiro has lived in the Millbrook district for close to 35 years and has a son who is a student in the district. He attended school board meetings before running for a seat in 2017 and decided to run because he had a diverse background that he believed would allow him to work well with BOE. He also believes that creativity has a role in bureaucracy; he doesn’t like to hear that something can’t be done, and likes to see creativity and innovation in action.

Chris Rosenbergen

The other candidate, Chris Rosenbergen, a newcomer to the board may still be known to many in the district because of his work on the Millbrook Educational Foundation (MEF), where he served as chairman for the past few years. 

“This has been such a rewarding experience being able to give back to a district that has given my two beautiful daughters so much,” he said. “As I’ve built relationships throughout the district and learned more about what’s needed, I’ve decided to run for the BOE.”

Rosenbergen believes that education should be “not only for the mind but also for the hands and heart. The students of Millbrook are amazing and deserve the best learning options, best safety available, a great support system and top-notch educators.”

Rosenbergen has worked in the financial field for the past 25 years and is currently the first vice president of retail lending and financial services at Ulster Savings Bank. Aside from the MEF, he has served on the boards of United Way and the American Bankers Association. He said he feels that his past experiences have taught him how to work well with others to get things done, and his past successes have been due to having an open mind and to being a good listener.

“I enjoy being a father,” he said. “I made a commitment early in my children’s lives to be as involved as I could get so that they would have the best education they could possibly have. I believe I could bring great value to the BOE or I would not be running. I hope you will grant me this wonderful opportunity to join the board so I can use my background to fix what’s broken and enhance what is not.”