Summer lunch program, pre-k, graduation addressed by BOE

MILLBROOK — With the 2021 school year drawing to a close, the Millbrook Central School District (MCSD) Board of Education (BOE) met on Tuesday, June 1, to discuss the upcoming summer lunch program, hires and resignations, and the first-ever start of pre-k classes. 

Following the opening of the meeting by BOE President Perry Hartswick,  an application for a charter school, Little Water Prep School, was opposed to by Superintendent Laura Mitchell.

School Nurse Allison Wuster was approved for a probationary period of 26 weeks, starting Sept. 1. Also approved, for a period of four years, from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, 2025, was living environment teacher Samantha Cassata. Collette Alonge-Watz was approved for required summer training.

Letters of resignation were accepted from part-time teacher aide Giovanna Mugrace-Taylor, effective May 31. Also accepted was a letter of resignation from middle school teacher Dana Bo, who is leaving this area.

Plans are moving forward for the start of the pre-k program starting in fall. Elm Drive Elementary School will have two pre-k classes with 15 children in each, with one teacher and one para-professional assistant. Elm Drive special area teachers will also teach pre-k students. If more than 30 students register, a lottery will be used to choose the students.

The district is moving forward with the moving-up processes, and while not back to pre-pandemic mode, it’s making progress. The fifth grade plans to visit the Millbrook Middle School.  

The assistant superintendent for business, finance & operations stated that the cafeteria operated well this year and was in the black by $40,000. He congratulated Cafeteria Manager Holly Heady and her staff for their hard work. 

He also discussed the summer lunch program, which was very successful last summer, in the middle of the pandemic. This ensures that students are being adequately fed while school is not in session, he said. 

Hartswick said he wasn’t sure if the program would be something that would come to be expected of the district regularly, and asked what if at some time in the future meals could no longer be provided yet students depended on them. The BOE said it would discuss the issue in the future, and continue the program for now.

Board members were reminded that high school graduation will be on Friday, June 25, at 7 p.m. at the Athletic Field with a rain date of Saturday, June 26.

The Moving-Up Ceremony for the middle school will be on Thursday, June 24, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the middle school.

Hartswick congratulated new BOE members David LaVarnway and Chris LaBelle, inviting them to sit in at the board’s next meeting, held on Tuesday, June 15, the day this paper went to press; look for coverage of what happened at that meeting in a future issue of The Millerton News.