Highland voters nix budget, oust incumbents in school election
Record-breaking numbers of voters turned out Tuesday night in Highland to reject the proposed $36.88 million budget, while voting in at least two of the three candidates from the grassroots 60 Percenter group that advocated for greater spending on education. Although the “yes” votes outnumbered the “no” votes 1,035 to 994, it wasn’t nearly enough...
Close but no cigar: New Paltz school budget fails by 18 votes
Despite majority support at the polls, New Paltz’s school budget still failed Tuesday night – a mere 18 votes away from getting the 60 percent super majority needed to pass a budget above the state tax cap. When it came to whether or not they supported the $50.31 million budget, 1,726 voters said they did...
Highland incumbents to duke it out with newcomers
Highland voters will see a mix of newcomers and incumbents vying for the three open school board seats this May. Incumbents in the race include board president Vincent Rizzi and vice president Regina Tantillo-Swanson. Challengers include some members of the grassroots 60 Percenters group. Voters will also get to decide if they’re happy with the...
Six challengers vie for New Paltz School Board, incumbents bow out
Election Day for the New Paltz Central School District will bring a lot of choices. Voters will have to decide if they’ll support a tax-cap-busting $50.31 million budget, if they’d like the schools to buy $339,000 worth of buses and they’ll have to pick from a crowded field of hopefuls looking for a school board...
New Paltz High School Mock Trial Team wins county championship
The undefeated New Paltz High School Mock Trial Team flexed its intellectual muscle again last week, winning the county championship in a meet held at the Ulster County Courthouse in Kingston. The team defeated Rondout Valley High School and will now go on to the regional contest to be held in Rockland County this Saturday,...
SUNY New Paltz inaugurates Donald Christian as president
SUNY New Paltz should evolve to meet the challenges of a post-Great Recession America, and it can do so stressing educational quality, selective admissions and cross-disciplinary thinking, newly inaugurated collage President Donald P. Christian told his audience last weekend. “I tip my hat to the seven past presidents of the modern college at New Paltz,”...
Drug charges dropped against former New Paltz School Board president Don Kerr
Hours after an Ulster County Grand Jury dismissed charges against former New Paltz School Board president Donald Kerr for criminal possession of marijuana in the second degree, Kerr held a press conference outside his office at 183 Main Street, where the arrest had originally been made in November 2011. Kerr was part of a joint...
Dr. Donald P. Christian will be sworn in as SUNY New Paltz president next Friday
Former provost and vice president for Academic Affairs Dr. Donald P. Christian has served as interim president of SUNY New Paltz since Steven G. Poskanzer stepped down from the post of president in June 2010. But apparently the trustees of the college saw him as no mere placeholder, since the requisite national search for a...
BREAKING NEWS: Voters reject Lenape land purchase
Unofficial results are in and voters in the New Paltz Central School District said no both to purchasing $798,000 worth of land on Route 32 South and to changing the ground rules for how the capital reserve fund works. To the land purchase question, 1,363 voters said no to buying those 22.4 acres and 382...
Lenape land vote to take place on April 10
On April 10, voters in the New Paltz Central School District will go to the polls to decide if $798,000 worth of land adjacent to Lenape Elementary School should be purchased. Citizens will see two questions on the ballot during that special election. Proposition 1 asks voters if they want to tweak the contract of...
New Paltz School Board member Rob Rich resigns
People hoping to run for the New Paltz School Board just got some good news — another seat is open. Trustee Bob Rich announced March 21 that he’s resigning his seat effective June 30. “I wanted to make that announcement now so that the public, people who might be putting petitions in, will know that...
New Paltz voters confused by land grab question; vote is April 10
The New Paltz Board of Education will hold a special vote on Tuesday, April 10 regarding the purchase of land at 301 Route 32 South, adjacent to the Lenape Elementary School. The board finalized its decision to move forward with the vote at a public meeting on March 14 after reviewing results of a community...