Rice chosen to lead Hudson school board

HUDSON– In the first Board of Education meeting since classes began this school year the Board of Education this week selected a new president, Peter A. Rice, Jr.

Also at the September 8 meeting the board presented Ian McCormick, the new associate principal of both the intermediate and junior high schools and heard how student participation in state tests affects the district’s efforts to improve its standing.

Mr. Rice has been on the School Board for three years. His term lasts until 2016. He drove tractor-trailers until an injury required him to explore other career paths. Now he is a full-time student at Columbia-Greene Community College, studying education. His wife teaches in the district at the John L. Edwards Primary School.

Board member Derrick Smart nominated Mr. Rice to replace Kelly Frank, who resigned last month to take a job in Texas. Mr. Rice is the board’s third president in 17 months. Tiffany Martin Hamilton remains vice president.

Ms. Frank’s departure left the Board one member short of its required seven members. At Monday’s meeting, two candidates presented themselves for the spot: Jay Carlisle, a lawyer, and Sage Marie Carter, a freelance video designer. The board decided to consider them further and wait until the next meeting before choosing one, citing the importance of the decision.

The meeting also included the introduction of Mr. McCormick, the new associate principal of both the Junior High School and the Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School. In addition, Superintendent Maria Suttmeier announced that Jacob Hoffman of the Hudson Police Department has started his duties as a school resource officer. He joins Wendy Guntert, the part-time school resource deputy from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.

Kimberly Shannon, a communications specialist from Questar III, has been assigned to the district Tuesdays and Thursdays. She presented a vision for the district’s presence on Facebook, Twitter and the district’s website. Later, during public comments, Nicky Genito noted that High School Principal Antonio Abitabile has been doing the same thing.

On another topic, the board heard that students opting out of standard state exams for grades 3-12 in the last school year adversely affected the district’s efforts to improve its standing, according to Superintendent Suttmeier and Coordinator of School Improvement April Prestipino. Ms. Suttmeier said that although the tests seem compulsory, parents can “send a letter to the district saying they want their children to refuse to take the test.” And in 2013-14, only 89% of the junior high’s white students took the math tests.

If the district had been in good standing, said Ms. Prestipino, this would not have been a problem. But Hudson is a “focused district,” and in order to improve its academic performance, at least 95% of the students–overall and by designated groups–must take the tests. Race is one of the designations used in the evaluation of test scores. Other group designations include economic status and disability.

Ms. Suttmeier said that parents are feeling “their children are over tested” and need more preparation to meet the standards of the Common Core curriculum.

Board member David Kisselbaugh asked what should be done. Mr. Suttmeier said the district sends out letters and principals call parents who want their children to opt out. Mr. Smart suggested the letters show how “all the other kids pay” for those who do not take the tests. Thirteen white junior high students opted out of the math tests.

“The thing that really bothers me,” Ms. Suttmeier said, “is that districts in good standing suffer no consequences” for students opting out of standardized tests. The superintendent attributed the problem to a movement based on the notion that current the state’s standardized tests are “harming students.”

Also at the meeting:

Principal Abitabile announced that a room has been set aside with 16 computers for APAX online learning for High School students. He sees APAX for both Regents preparation and credit recovery. Students who failed one quarter of a course last year would give up a study hall period this year to retake that quarter via APAX. Passing the quarter on APAX will both increase the course grade on their official transcript and exempt them from repeating the whole course. And Mr. Abitabile envisioned students who fail an early quarter of a course being able to repeat it through APAX immediately, while going on to the next quarter of the course with their regular class
Ms. Suttmeier said that the new development planned for the Greenport School site has an issue with access. Currently access is through the Dollar General parking lot. Access from Route 66 could involve another individual’s property where “there was an encroachment years ago”
Principals Steven Spicer (primary school), Mark Brenneman (intermediate school) and Derek Reardon (junior high) reported that the school year in their buildings has gotten off to a good start. Associate Principal Robert LaCasse (high school) expressed satisfaction with the single-period lunch, saying, “We’re feeding the entire school in 15 to 18 minutes”
Mr Abitabile noted the district’s graduation goal for this year is 73%, and to achieve that, the graduation rate for students currently in the high school building must reach 78%.

The next Board meeting will be Monday, September 22 in the Hudson High School library.

THROUGH THE WOODS: The importance of clouds

In Communities - Columbia, The Columbia Paper

July 11, 2024

By NANCY JANE KERN

SUMMER AND GOOD WEATHER meant lots of work and hectic times on our 1950s farms. Farmers always have an eye on the weather, which was instilled in us at a young age. When work was done, and we had playtime, we often took a rest and lay on our backs in the grass and looked up at the sky.

Up there is an ever-changing scene and on a clear day with big puffy clouds, it was irresistible not to search for animals, people, or other shapes lurking in those clouds. We debated whether it was a horse, a cow, or a dog, and it would transform and the whole thing was gone. Our imaginations went wild, and it was always a fun form of entertainment. My grandfather kept our attention with his sayings and ways of predicting weather, and he constantly said them until we were sure to know them. We learned the high, wispy mare’s tails clouds that predicted rain within about a day. A mackerel sky had slightly lower clouds that looked spotty, meaning it would rain in less than 24 hours, particularly if the cows were lying in the field. If there was a “red sky in the morning, sailors take warning” and if there was a “red sky at night, sailors delight”. Those red skies in the morning often brought bad storms by late afternoon. During the day we watched the sky and checked the wind direction to see if thunderheads were building up or if a sudden change in wind might clue us to coming rain. Then we would be racing to cover the loads of hay with heavy canvas tarps and tie them down tight to the wagon posts. At the same time, the men would be baling up dry hay and trying to get it into the wagons and the barn.

We all had a job at these times. I usually got to climb the wagons and tie the canvasses. As I got older, I might have been raking the hay for the person baling or hauling hay back to the barns. During this, we always watched the sky. We had to fill the barns with hay each year so there would be enough hay for the cattle during the winter. It was vital to our existence. Wet hay would turn black and mold making it inedible for the livestock or could make us and the stock sick to breathe it. Damp or green hay could spontaneously combust and burn down a barn. Black ruined hay left on the field would smother the grass for the next cutting.

Back then things were more primitive and our ability to cut hay was limited, so if we lost some it wasn’t a huge amount, usually just part of a field. There are tractors and machinery today that can mow a whole farm in one day. It is processed much easier and faster, but it still makes me nervous to see it. It is still a reflex to check those clouds. We had a TV in the 1950s and usually listened to the weather reports. I never understood how they made their predictions, because my grandfather was much better at it. I once told my grandfather he should apply for a job as a weatherman on Channel 6 since he was so good at it. He laughed, smiled down at me, and told me to look at the corn leaves pointing up to the sky. When they dried a little and curled up, then sure enough it would rain. He would point out that the robins were singing a special song. They were looking up at the sky and “calling for rain.” I still remember my grandfather, and what he taught me still works. The robins have been looking up and singing that special song again. I think I will put the spare umbrella in the car tonight.

Rice chosen to lead Hudson school board

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