BOE prepares for the new school year at organization meeting

PINE PLAINS — In preparation for the 2022-23 school year, the Pine Plains Central School District (PPCSD) Board of Education (BOE) gathered on Wednesday, July 6, to address the many appointments, authorizations and designations featured on its agenda for its annual organizational meeting.

The BOE met in the Stissing Mountain Junior/Senior High School library at 7 p.m. and live-steamed the meeting through its website, www.ppcsd.org.

District Clerk Julia Tomaine administered the oath of office to newly re-elected BOE members Amie Fredericks and Chip Couse, as well as to Brian Timm, who officially took office as superintendent of schools on Friday, July 1.

“I am really looking forward to the school year and it is with a lot of enthusiasm that I’m looking forward to working with all of you as a Board of Education, and to try to do everything we possibly can for our students, our faculty and staff and our community as a whole,” Timm said.

BOE President Anne Arent was re-elected to her position while Fredericks was re-elected vice president.

After appointing district officers and their respective stipends and fees for the upcoming school year, the BOE appointed several individuals to the district-wide safety team, with Timm acting as district chief school safety officer. A number of district faculty and staff members were also appointed to the district’s Committee on Special Education, Committee on Pre-School Special Education and Subcommittee on Special Education.

Tara Grieb was appointed acting principal for Stissing Mountain Junior/Senior High School while Julie Roberts was appointed acting principal for Seymour Smith Intermediate Learning Center and Kristin Fischetti was appointed acting principal for Cold Spring Early Learning Center (see this week’s front page for the full story on Fischetti joining the new administrative team in the PPCSD).

Following the approval of various authorizations, the BOE designated Bank of Millbrook, Key Bank, NY Liquid Asset Fund and Metropolitan Commercial Bank as the district’s official depositories for the 2022-23 school year. The Poughkeepsie Journal and Kingston Daily Freeman were designated as the district’s official newspapers.

The BOE finished the organizational meeting with district committee appointments for next year. Couse, Jean Stapf and Anne Arent were appointed to the Audit Committee, while Fredericks was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Dutchess County School Board Association. Couse, Fredericks and Stapf were all appointed to the Compensation Committee, while Joe Kiernan and Jim Griffin were appointed as New York State School Boards Association legislative advocate and alternate, respectively.

Kiernan, Heidi Johnson and James Griffin were all appointed to the Policy Committee, followed by the appointment of Couse and Griffin to the PPCSD School Artifact Committee.

The board promptly moved into its regular meeting after adjourning the organizational meeting. BOE member Chip Couse noted on a later date that Monica LaClair resigned as the district’s assistant superintendent for business to return to the Onteora school district.

“The board is saddened by her departure and will begin the search for a replacement immediately,” Couse said.