TIMES
WALLKILL VALLEY
Vol. 33, No 46 3 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015
3
ONE DOLLAR
Girls on
the Run
Page 54
www.WallkillValleyTimes.net
Absentee vote tally gives Montgomery race to Hayes
By RACHEL COLEMAN
After two weeks of uncertainty, the results are in:
Town of Montgomery Supervisor Mike Hayes has been
Unfinished
business
re-elected for another term, together with Councilmen
Dan Dempsey and Mark Hoyt.
The town supervisor race came down to just 35 votes,
with the candidates watching as 121 absentee ballots and
ten affidavits were opened and counted by the Orange
County Board of Elections on Friday. The candidates
Continued on page 2
Bound for the big dance
Maybrook
considers
longer terms
Pine Bush’s state test
results show much
improvement is needed
By RACHEL COLEMAN
By JANE ANDERSON
Pine Bush School District administrators and teachers are responding to
so-so state-test results with initiatives to
both improve student performance and
encourage fewer opt-outs, according to a
presentation at the Board of Education’s
regular meeting last Tuesday.
Donna Geidel, assistant superintendent for instruction, presented the numbers via PowerPoint at the start of the
board meeting at the high school. As a
whole, English/Language Arts (ELA) and
Math test results for grades 3 through 8
were slightly better this spring compared
to 2014, Geidel said, and the percentage
of students at levels 3 and 4 (with 4 being
the highest level) increased over the past
three years in both tests.
Students’ performance on the ELA
test was similar to countywide and statewide performance; however, those numbers aren’t spectacular: only about a third
of students who took the test received a
Level 3 or 4 result. Level 3 means the stuContinued on page 4
Bond Brungard
The Pine Bush volleyball team has earned a spot in the New York State Semifinals this weekend in Glens Falls. Story on page 56.
“I think maybe we should look at four
years instead of two,” said Village Trustee
James Barnett.
Barnett raised the notion at the
Maybrook Village Board meeting last
week, as the board approved the terms for
the positions of the mayor and two trustees for next year’s election. He explained
that before the board voted “automatically” on it, they should consider whether
the village should change the terms to
reflect those in the other two villages and
the town.
“Everyone else in the town but us [is at
four],” said Barnett, who added that the
village would see a small savings if they
made the change.
It was pointed out by other members
of the board that the idea was shot down
by residents a few years ago and Mayor
Dennis Leahy suggested that the question
be put to referendum if the board was to
move forward on it, which would allow
the residents to decide the issue themselves.
“I said years ago that I agree with it.
I don’t mind going to four years,” said
Trustee Kevin Greany, adding that sometimes big projects take more than two
years to complete.
Continued on page 4
SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL