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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Valley Central welcomes
11 new staff members
By TED REMSNYDER
With the start of another school year
bearing down, the Valley Central Board
of Education held a special meeting last
Monday at its district office to approve a
host of new teachers and staff members
that will begin working for the district
in September. The board certified the
appointments of 11 new instructors on
August 15, and the newly hired educators
will cover a wide range of subjects when
classes commence next month.
Helen Menendez was hired as a high
school English teacher, while Kayleigh
Guercio will teach biology to the district’s
upperclassmen. Nicole Speranzo and
Michelle Sheerer were appointed to
Students with Disabilities positions at
the high school, and Christopher Colella
will teach literacy to elementary school
children. Andrew Boland was granted
a three-year term in the elementary
education tenure area and Rebecca
Hoag was hired as a special education
substitute teacher. Rounding out the new
hires are school media specialist Mary
Beth Reed, special education elementary
instructor Amanda Quinn and childhood
education teacher Leayn Darley.
The board times the hirings each year
to make sure the staff is set for the kickoff
of the fall semester. “Every August we
run into this situation where we’re hiring,
and for our new staff to start they have
to be board approved,” Valley Central
Deputy Superintendent Sheila LeaseMurphy said. “If we waited, there’s a
possibility that they might not be able to
start by the beginning of the school year.
We also have a teacher induction program
that begins next week, so we want our
new staff to participate in that program.”
Valley Central also has to take into
consideration the fact that some
instructors are making the leap from
other school systems to join the district.
“Teachers that we hire, if they’re coming
from another school district, they have
to give 30 days notice to the district that
they’re leaving,” Lease-Murphy said. “So
it was timely for us to do it at this stage.”
At the meeting, the board also
confirmed the appointments