Raider Report May 2025

The Red Hook Central School District is proposing a $65 million budget for the 2025-26 school year that would maintain and grow existing programs and staffing without exceeding the tax cap.

The annual district budget vote and school board election will be held Tuesday, May 20. In addition to the budget, resident will be asked to choose two candidates to fill vacant seats on the Board of Education and decide on four propositions, including a proposal to acquire four electric school buses and a $6.09 million capital improvement project.

Red Hook officials are inviting all community members to learn more about the budget and the programs offered throughout the district at its Budget Expo on May 8 at Red Hook High School. The expo will run from 5:30-6:45 p.m. and will be followed by the board’s public budget hearing at 7 p.m. in the school’s Performing Arts Center.

The proposed $64,998,156 2025-26 spending plan was approved by the Board of Education at its April 10 meeting. It represents a 3.43% increase over this year’s approved budget and a tax levy increase of 3.98%. It supports the continued growth of important district initiatives, such as the IB and technology training programs and universal pre-K.

“Since the first day of the school year, we’ve discussed the need to be future-focused in how we adapt to meet the changing needs of students in school and beyond graduation,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Janet Warden said. “We’re pleased to propose a budget that would allow our educational programs and initiatives to continue to grow to meet those needs.”

This year, residents benefitted from a larger than expected tax base growth factor, an element in calculating a tax cap that generally increases with new property development within a school district, which resulted in an increase of less than 1% to the tax bills for many district homeowners. The district again expects the tax growth factor to functionally reduce the amount taxes increase in 2025-26 to some extent.

The proposals come as district officials on April 10 announced the 2022 capital project approved by voters is expected to be completed at least $4 million under its original $22 million budget, reducing the originally expected impact on taxpayers by roughly 18%.

There's more on the ballot than just the budget. Here's a look at what else is included:

School board seats

As part of Proposition 1, voters will elect two people to fill seats on the Board of Education, with terms served by Kelly Borrelle and Charles Kachigian expiring June 30. The two elected will serve three-year terms beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2028. The candidates include:

· Kelly Borrelle

· Patrick Boyd

· Charles Kachigian

· Robert Tynes

Prop 2: Electric school buses

Proposition 2 on the ballot asked residents if they will approve the purchase of four electric school buses. While the proposition specifies the buses cannot cost more than $300,000 individually or $1.2 million cumulatively, officials have assured residents each bus will be acquired at little-to-no cost thanks to grants and state aid reimbursement programs. Read more about the bus proposition and the state aid program and at this link.

Prop 3: Capital improvement project

Proposition 3 is a capital improvement project featuring broad reconstruction of the main athletic field at its high and middle schools utilizing a grass surface. The proposal also includes two interior projects: renovations for some of the Red Hook High School bathrooms and the installation of a kiln room at Linden Avenue Middle School.Though voters will be asked if they will approve spending $6.085 million on the proposal, taxpayers would be responsible for less than $2.2 million of the cost after state aid. The district has sought to fix issues of safety and accessibility at its main field for several years. The field is overly compact, uneven and prone to flooding, the product of severe overuse. In March officials decided to close the field until repairs could be made.

Read more about the proposal and how the renovated field would be used here, and more on why the field was closed in March here.

Props 4 and 5: Library budgets

The final two propositions on the ballot ask voters if they will increase budgets for local libraries and are not tied to the school district’s operations or budget. In Proposition 4, the Red Hook Library asks that its annual appropriation be increased by $10,000 to a total of $234,400. In Proposition 5, the Tivoli Free Library asks that its annual appropriation be increased by $2,701 to a total of $104,487.

Polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20 at the Mill Road Elementary School’s grades 3-5 cafeteria, located at 9 Mill Road in Red Hook. Early mail, absentee and military voting is also available. Visit the district’s voting information page to learn more.

Fittingly, a little bit of Red Hook Central School District history was made on Earth Day. The first of Red Hook’s two electric school buses ran its first routes April 22, transporting students home from the middle and high school and Mill Road Elementary School. Several students stepped aboard at Mill Road with excited faces eager to see what the ride would be like. Tammy Decker drove the inaugural voyages with Director of Transportation Anthony Curcio along for the ride.

Red Hook acquired the buses, approved by voters in a proposition last spring, at virtually no cost thanks to an assistance grant and state aid. The district has another proposition on the May 20 ballot to purchase four more buses in which it would utilize the same grant and aid programs. Red Hook is working toward meeting New York’s mandate for eliminating combustion engine vehicles from school district fleets by 2035.

"The enthusiasm and support from the community were truly heartwarming," Mr. Curcio said after the first runs. "The feedback we received was overwhelmingly favorable, and it reinforces our belief that this initiative is a step in the right direction. With such strong community backing, I am confident that we will continue to meet state mandates and advance our sustainable transportation goals."

Though the Earth Day timing of the trip was mostly coincidental, the district in the past year has made great strides in its focus on energy efficiency. In October it cut the ceremonial ribbon on its $1.7 million solar project, which entails 1,200 solar panels affixed to each of its school buildings. It’s expected each year to generate more than 630-megawatt hours of energy roughly $80,000 in utility credits, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 80 metric tons — the equivalent of consuming nearly 9,000 gallons of gasoline. This summer the district also completed installation of a new HVAC system in Red Hook High School, which is expected to save as much as 12% on energy use in that building, and most of the windows were replaced in the high and elementary schools to improve energy efficiency.

Watch a video with the bus at Mill Road here.

Linden Avenue Middle School held its second annual Latin Culture Fair March 27, which exposed students to a wide variety of Latino traditions and history through authentic foods and art, themed rooms, and guest speakers sharing first-person experiences.

“The building has an energy during this event. I think that’s what learning looks like; learning is hands-on and it’s sensory,” said Liz Lowney, sixth-grade Spanish teacher and adviser for the International Club, which spearheaded the event. “It supplements a lot of what we do in a lot of classes. It was very cross-curricular this year. I was excited at how many people got to be a part of it to make it everything we wanted it to be.” In addition to many building staff members who contributed, the Better World Club and art clubs and classes helped put the fair together and create the art pieces featured.

As it was last year, the fair was broken up into three parts and the grade levels rotated through them. In the cafeteria, students sampled a variety of foods and could visit guests at tables to learn more about specific countries or cultural elements. In the gym, students listened to professional storyteller David Gonzalez, who grew up in the Bronx with a Cuban father and Puerto Rican mother, tell tales from his childhood and family while teaching Spanish words.

The biggest change this year was in the third element. Whereas last year students toured classrooms filled with student-created tri-fold presentations detailing Latin history and culture, this year students rotated through six experiential classrooms with additional guest speakers and two immersive classrooms. One honored Mexico and its Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, holiday with a black light room filled with neon, candles and even live axolotls; the other highlighted the rainforest of Puerto Rico.

Read more about the event at this link and watch a video here.

Ben Posner was born in Quebec, though he moved to the United States with his family at a young age. Otherwise, “I’ve never left the country,” he said. That will soon change after earning a once-in-a-lifetime trip and educational opportunity.

Ben, a Red Hook High School junior and standout tuba player, will tour Japan, China and South Korea as part of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. This year’s edition of the orchestra is composed of nearly 100 musicians ages 16-19 from 29 states and Washington D.C. He’s the only tuba player in the group and one of eight members from New York, with most coming from New York City or its suburbs.

The entire experience will stretch from July 5 to Aug. 7. After two weeks of practice under high-level professional musicians at SUNY Purchase, the orchestra will perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City July 20. They will then begin a tour that includes Tokyo and Osaka in Japan, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong in China, and Seoul in South Korea.

The orchestra, which is run through Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, has been held each summer for more than 10 years, though the destinations are always different. Ben didn’t know where he may be going when he submitted his audition tape late last fall, he simply wanted to be a part of the orchestra he first learned about as a freshman.

“I knew it would be a great tour. Every year they go somewhere incredible,” he said, noting he also is “really lucky” the training weeks are relatively close to home. “It’ll be a good experience. Just playing with a hundred-something other high schoolers who are as serious as I am, I think that will be really inspiring and help me improve.”

Read more about Ben and the planned experience at this link.

Macklin Boyd, a Red Hook High School junior, was inducted into the National Technical Honor Society May 1 when Dutchess BOCES held the society’s annual ceremony. Macklin is a student in Dutchess BOCES’ Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning program.

Macklin has excelled in this program and impressed his teachers and peers alike. He continuously achieves at a high level in this program and his local classes at Red Hook High School. During the program, the speakers commended Macklin for his leadership, positive attitude and impressive work ethic. He embodies the honor society’s motto “Success Favors the Prepared Mind.”

"Macklin is an incredible member of our school community,” said Red Hook principal Kyle Roddey, who attended. “We are not surprised by this honor as Macklin certainly demonstrates all of the attributes associated with this honor society. We would like to congratulate Macklin and his family for this incredible honor."

Mill Road students took a trip down under April 1. Julianna Annunziata’s third grade classroom welcomed parents and families to see the students present their research reports on Australia at the end of the day.

Using a tri-fold presentation the students reported all they learned on the different regions of Australia, its habitats and the animals you’d find there. On April, they, their families and school staff had the opportunity to look at the various works and leave comments. Take a look at a video from the event here.