Webutuck BOE holds organizational meeting for 2022-23 school year

WEBUTUCK — With school out for summer, the Webutuck Board of Education (BOE) wasted no time in preparing for the upcoming 2022-23 school year at its annual reorganization meeting on Tuesday, July 5.

Starting at 7 p.m., the meeting was held in the Webutuck High School library. In addition to attending the meeting in-person, members of the public were invited to tune in via Zoom.

After the meeting was called to order, Webutuck District Clerk Tracy Trotter administered the oath of office to newly elected BOE members Nichole Reyes and Anthony Robustelli.

Current BOE President Judy Moran was re-elected president for the 2022-23 school year with Rick Keller-Coffey as vice president. Trotter administered the oath of office to both Moran and Keller-Coffey, as well as to Superintendent of Schools Raymond Castellani.

Turning its attention to appointments for the coming school year, the BOE appointed Trotter as district clerk; Gabriella Lejeune as treasurer; Mary Clinton as deputy treasurer; Kim Coon as visitor/security badge system administrator; Louise Giewont as claims auditor/property control manager; and Dawn Marie Klingner as tax collector.

Girvin & Ferlazzo was appointed legal advisor for the North East (Webutuck) Central School District (WCSD) while The Workplace was appointed as the school physician. The Workplace was later appointed as the transportation department physician and school physician as needed. It will also run the new, in-house school clinic for the WCSD (for more on that story, go to www.tricornernews.com).

Barclay and Damon LLP (formerly Hiscock & Barclay) was appointed as bond counsel while Fiscal Advisors, Inc. was appointed as the district’s fiscal advisors; the firm Sicker, Torchia, Allen & Churchill was appointed as independent auditor.

The BOE authorized Castellani to participate in the New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal (NYSIR) and Moran to sign the agreement so Webutuck would become a subscriber and be afforded the coverage underwritten by NYSIR for the policy period that began Friday, July 1.

Tammy Nethercott was appointed director of special education and Committee on Special Education (CSE) chairperson; Cara Tomasetti was appointed alternate CSE chairperson, alternate chairperson for the Committee on Pre-School Special Education (CPSE) and as school psychologist.

Webutuck Elementary School Principal Jennifer Hengen was appointed Random Moment Time Study coordinator.

After assigning BOE members to standing committees and making emergency planning committee appointments, the BOE authorized Castellani to employ Complete OT/PT/SLP Services, PLLC as the district’s consultant for the coming school year.

For the Dutchess Educational Health Insurance Consortium representative designations, Business Administrator Robert Farrier was designated as DEHIC trustee, with Castellani as the DEHIC trustee alternate.

The BOE authorized Castellani to designate M&T Bank, Bank of Millbrook, Key Bank, Fleet Bank, Citizens Bank, Bank of New York, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase and M&T Bank (NYLAF New York Liquid Asset Fund) and Salisbury Bank as official bank depositories. The Millerton News and Poughkeepsie Journal were named the official newspapers.

Latest News

Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less