TIMES
SOUTHERN
ULSTER
Vol. 12, No 51
3
DECEMBER 23 - 29, 2015
Dukes
win 4th
Page 40
3
ONE DOLLAR
Spreading
holiday
cheer
Page 20
SERVING HIGHLAND, MARLBOROUGH AND PLATTEKILL
Plattekill racetrack seeks to stay open Highland taps
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
Last week the Plattekill Town Board,
for a second time, placed the AK Farms
racetrack on their agenda for discussion.
After a 14-year run the track is scheduled to be shut down on Dec. 31, 2015 as
per a Stipulation and Order of Settlement
that was agreed to between the town and
the track owner in 2001. At that time the
town paid the track owner $85,000 “in
full satisfaction of all claims.” In recent
months the board has publicly stated that
they might consider drawing up a new
agreement that would allow the track to
continue its racing operations.
Attorney Mario DeMarco, who is
representing track owner Anthony
Kalamucki, asked the board to make a
motion to allow the track to continue.
“I think what we’re asking is little bit
more of a limited use,” he said, which
prompted Supervisor Joe Croce to ask
what exactly the attorney is requesting.
Croce added that when DeMarco appeared
in early October the key problems surrounding the track were identified- noise,
dust and overnight camping. The attorney was asked then and again last week
to state what steps the owner would take
to address these issues.
DeMarco clarified: “All we’re asking is
for the terms of the Stipulation and Order
of Settlement just to be extended for a
fixed period of time. I can assure you that
what anything we’re asking is inconsisContinued on page 3
Glad Tidings
Highland Middle School students Wilfred Jones Jr., and Saniya Gonzalez helped bring some holiday cheer to residents at Hudson Valley
Rehabilitation & Extended Care Center in Highland. Story, more photos on page 20.
WWW.SOUTHERNULSTERTIMES.COM
technology
to improve
instruction
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
Recently,
Highland
Assistant
Superintendent Sarah Dudley-Lemek
spoke to the school board about
Curriculum Mapping that the district has
been developing for three years, starting with math and the Common Core at
the elementary level. She said this year
they are focusing on English Language
Arts [ELA]. Dudley-Lemek said mapping
would make it easier for the district to
make changes in the content of how and
what they deliver to the students.
“The goal, overall, is not only to have
our curriculum aligned horizontally
across grade levels or across content
areas but also vertically so that a teacher
in 2nd grade could look at a 4th grade
map and have an understanding of where
their students are going and conversely a
4th grade teacher could look at 2nd grade
and have some understanding of what
they’ve come from and how and what
they’re being taught will help us have a
better understating of even what novels
are being taught at different grade levels,
what subject areas or themes, so it can
help us unify and not repeat an experience for students or if we are going to
repeat an experience for students make
sure it’s deeper and richer.”
Dudley-Lemek said last summer the
district subscribed to New York Learns
that allows the district to store and
review their curriculum maps online.
Continued on page 4