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Wallkill Valley Times , Wednesday , November 2 , 2016

PUBLIC AGENDA

THURSDAY , NOVEMBER 3 Montgomery Town Board , 7 p . m . Town Government Center , 110 Bracken Road , Montgomery . Shawangunk Town Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 14 Central Ave ., Wallkill . Village of Walden ZBA , 7:30 p . m . Village Hall , 1 Municipal Square .

MONDAY , NOVEMBER 7

Village of Walden Planning Board work session , 7:30 p . m . Village Hall , 1 Municipal Square .

TUESDAY , NOVEMBER 8 Pine Bush Board of Education . 7 p . m . Pine Bush High School , Route 302 , Pine Bush .

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The Wallkill Valley Times , ( USPS 699-490 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , N . Y . 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . . Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , N . Y . POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Wallkill Valley Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . 12550

By TED REMSNYDER

A new transportation contract for the Valley Central School District could be on the horizon , as the school board announced at its meeting on Oct . 24 that the district has received its Request For Proposal agreement with the Wallkill Central School District . Valley Central ’ s attorney and insurance company have reviewed the 165-page document , which will allow the district to go out for bid for a joint bus contract with Wallkill .

The districts hope to obtain a favorable bus deal by teaming up , but the compact will also give local transportation companies the option to bid on the districts individually if they choose . “ When we decided to work with Wallkill , one of the things we spoke about us was that when the project goes out on the street people can bid on both districts together , or if they ’ re not interested they could just do Valley Central or just do Wallkill ,” Superintendent John Xanthis said . “ The whole point of that is not to preclude anybody from wanting to bid . If they think two districts is too big , they could do Valley Central separate or Wallkill . So it gives a lot of different options . Hopefully that will bring more people to put a bid in and makes it more competitive .”

The existing Valley Central bus contract dates back 36 years , and with both districts currently looking for new deals the timing was right to combine forces and to find out if a joint deal makes economic sense . Bids could start rolling in by the end of the year for the potential new contract .

Last Monday ’ s meeting began with a presentation of seventh grade classes from the middle school who took part in this year ’ s Day in the Life of the Hudson River event . The students traveled to the Beacon Landing on Oct . 20 to participate in the statewide program , which gives kids an educational look at the mighty river . “ Every year the science department goes on the trip , I remember my daughter going to the Hudson River ,” Board of Education President Sheila Schwartz said . “ They have a good time . They do the pH balance and they collect the data throughout the year . Then they use that for all of their science projects and labs throughout the year . They come back and use the data compared to the textbooks .”

The students got an up-close look at the aquatic habitat by catching fish and determining their species . Seventh graders Jenna Mohr and Elizabeth Nalley

Seventh Graders Jenna Mohr and Elizabeth Nalley took part in a Day in the Life of the Hudson River event .

arrived at the board presentation decked out in their fishing gear , and the older students explained that they took on a leadership role with the younger class after getting their feet wet in the program last fall . “ The eighth graders who got to do it last year felt a lot more confident this year ,” Xanthis said . “ I think one of the big buzzwords in education is cooperative learning . So they ’ re out there , and they ’ re mentoring the seventh graders . Just being out there , and seeing science and how it works , it ’ s a great day for our kids . I ’ m really appreciative of the middle school teachers taking the opportunity and the time out to take these kids down there . It ’ s a great experience .”

The Hudson River estuary program attracts more than 3,000 students each year to 80 locations up and down the river , as kids from New York City to the Albany region get a chance to share a common purpose for a day through nature . “ It ’ s a fabulous opportunity for the kids to get out and get real life experience ,” Board Vice President Sonia Lewis said .

District pupils will soon have a new platform to show off their performance skills , as the Village of Montgomery is opening up its bandstand to host a slew of potential student activities . The village board has invited the district to utilize the bandstand for plays , choral presentations , art shows , science fairs or any inventive way school groups can dream up to use the public space . “ Jane Samuelson informed us that they would like to expand the use of the bandstand and would like to get the school district involved ,” Xanthis said . “ That was the offer , and we got the information out to all the buildings , so hopefully now they ’ ll be having conversations . It ’ s not just for the holiday season , it ’ ll be all year . We have some creative people here in the district , so I ’ m sure people will come up with ways for the kids to perform or show off their work outside of what normally happens in a school district .”

In September , the district teamed with the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council of Orange County to present a Hidden Mischief drug awareness event about the possible hiding places a drug-addicted teen could conceal narcotics . The district has now announced two more parent workshops that will take place in the next six weeks , with a program entitled Medicine Cabinet up next on Nov . 16 at 6 p . m . in the middle school cafeteria .

The presentation will include ADAC Executive Director Jim Conklin and reps from the Assistant District Attorney ’ s Office and Orange County Chemical Dependency Services , as the panel will explain how students become addicted to drugs such as heroin after initially getting hooked on prescription pills . The second session , Parents who Host Lose the Most , will be held on Dec . 14 at the same location and time , and will focus on the dangers of underage drinking and the perils of parents allowing teens to hold underage drinking parties in their homes . All of the drug prevention programs are free and residents from any district are welcome to attend .