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Letter-to-the-editor / May 11, 2006
Dear Editor; Once again we are faced with another school board election in Saugerties and since the integrity of the school district is incumbent upon the credibility of its Board members, I believe a little bit of history is in order. In the fall of 2002, during the failed $62 million campaign, Board members spent thousands of tax payer dollars hiring a media company in an attempt to convince voters, that all the schools in the district were strained and overcrowded and that enrollments were expected to rise due to a projected growth of new students coming into the district. School Officials said; we need more space. In order to further the illusion of rising enrollments, the Board made up a survey predicting that over the next 5 years, the district could expect pupil enrollments to increase dramatically to 4,100 students. The Daily Freeman published these findings by reporting that: “Driving the building plan is a projected district enrollment increase from 3,450 to 4,100 students over the next 5 years.” (See Freeman, 10/01/02 edition). Historically, even with all of the new housing units built in Saugerties over the last 30 years pupil enrollments have still gone down. An example of this was during the 1972-73 school year, where the district accommodated 4,752 students while at current levels, it appears school officials are struggling to manage 3,350 students district wide. One might say that over the last three decades it seems Saugerties has lost a school district the size of Rhinebeck, within itself. So, why would the majority of Board members go to all of the trouble in deceiving the public just to sell a building project? All of the above suggests, that while the majority of Board members were telling the public that enrollments were going to keep going up, in truth, the enrollments were going down and would continue to keep going down for some time to come. Not a very nice thing to do to your friend’s, neighbors and family whom, have placed their trust in you, is it? In this modern day and age of smart computers and other advanced technologies, how is it possible that school trustees in Saugerties could be off by almost 750 students in a 5- year period and on a project costing $62 million dollars, not including interest? Just imagine, if we did spend the millions and built the buildings, where would we be now? It seems to me, anything less than the truth about the well being of our School District puts the students in jeopardy as well as its employees and shareholders. This is why we need Board members that are credible and can be trusted. Personally, I do not trust as individuals, the majority of those sitting on the Saugerties Board of Education. However, I do trust the three incumbents whom, are running for the Board. So on May 16, please vote for Rich Petramale, Sam Fisco and Don Tucker. Thank you.
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