President's Letter

Welcome and thank you for your interest in the Spackenkill Union Free School District. Spackenkill School District enjoys a strong productive working relationship among the dedicated administrators, teachers, support staff and Board of Education. Also, it thrives on a great community support. Parental involvement through the PTA, Site-Based teams, various committees, classroom volunteers and trip chaperones is essential to our success.

The Board of Education is committed to delivering the best possible education to every student in our community. It serves as the policy making body for the district. It reviews and adopts policies on almost every aspect of the school district. The Board cherishes a productive relationship with the superintendent and acts on his recommendations.

The Board is comprised of five elected representatives, each serving a five-year term. Each year, at the May budget vote, one available seat is voted on. We usually hold two meetings per month during the school year. At the regular meeting, we normally have a presentation item on our agenda and schedule teachers, staff, or students to share with us what is happening in the classroom. This is also the meeting where we open the floor to the community to address the Board directly. The second meeting is a long-range planning meeting. This meeting is done in a workshop style and allows us to explore new ideas in a less formal setting. Also, some of the meetings are dedicated to the development of the annual budget and allow for community and staff input before adoption by the Board and being voted on by our residents. All meetings are open to the public.

The Board is a member of the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA), Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) and Dutchess County School Boards Association. These organizations provide training and a wide range of information and services to help the Board guide the district. Board members are encouraged to attend training, seminars, and meetings to further their expertise in school board matters. We closely follow the results of the state and local testing programs to insure that our students are learning to their full potential. We frequently communicate with our elected representatives on legislative mandates and funding. We are careful to make efficient use of the tax dollars and state funding we receive.

We hope to see you at our meetings and in our classrooms sharing whatever time and talents you have. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact any board member.

Board of Education President