OCS readies for new year; enrollment drop projected

By Jay Braman Jr.
The Onteora Central School District will start the 2010-2011 school year next short one school board member and with an interim superintendent. And, with fewer students than last year.
The Phoenicia Elementary School, which has traditionally had two kindergarten sections, will have only one this year due to a current enrollment of only 18 kids.

Following the departure of former Superintendent Dr. Leslie Ford in June, BOCES Superintendent Marty Ruglis met last week with the OCS Board in a workshop for the purpose of beginning a superintendent search. An informational brochure was fine-tuned to distribute to potential candidates, and the board agreed upon the scope of advertising. The search will cover the Hudson Valley, Upstate New York and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. A classified ad will be place in The New York Times as well as in local and educational newspapers.

The board has targeted October as the deadline for collecting applications. Potent-ially, three finalists will be chosen. As part of the final interview process, the candidates will meet with district administrators, a board-selected shared decision making committee, and the board for final interviews.

In sports news for the coming school year, the Onteora modified and junior varsity soccer teams will share a field on Route 28 on the grounds of the Emerson Resort in Mount Tremper with a Shandaken start-up youth soccer league.

Several years ago the owners of the resort allowed three soccer fields to be built on the 25-acre field that, at the time, was an unused portion of the resort. The fields were built for Shandaken Area Youth Sports, (SAYS) a nonprofit group that had outgrown its facilities in nearby Phoenicia.

Onteora Athletic Director Nick Millas told the school board last week that while he was on vacation, he was notified by the Town of Shandaken that the school would not be allowed to use the fields because they were being used by the youth league. Millas said that was a miscommunication and misunderstanding and a plan was worked out where the Onteora teams will be able to use the large field for games. During practice days the youth league will be using the larger fields and Onteora teams will be able to use the smaller fields.

Millas also reports that Eagle Scouts, community volunteers and members of the school’s cross-country team have worked hard to renovate the three-mile, all-purpose trails around the Boiceville Campus.

The school board continues the search for another member to round out its ranks following the resignation of trustee Donna Flayhan, who left in July. Her term expires on May 17, 2011. Trustees hope to replace Flayhan by September 14.