2021-2022 Budget Vote & Board of Education Election

2021-2022 Property Tax Report Card                                    2021-2022 Proposed Budget

Budget Newsletter

Proposition #1:  $58,786,143 Expenditure Budget

Proposition #2:  Allow the District to establish a 2021 Capital Reserve Fund in the ultimate amount of $10 million over a period not to exceed 10 years

Voting for 2 Open Board Seats:  4 people vying for 2 open seats for 3 year terms starting July 1, 2021

Board of Education Candidates
(in the order they will appear on the ballot)
Joseph-Daniel Letendre, REGISTERED NURSE Lives in West Hurley • Resident of District for four years Letendre, a registered nurse at Hudson Valley Hospice, previously worked as a paraprofessional aide with the Special Education Department at Darien High School (where he assisted two disabled students during school hours), a retail manager, and a home health aide. He also served as
a chaplain in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps. The winner of an Excellence in Nursing Award from Hudson Valley Magazine in 2019, Letendre also received Hudson Valley Hospice’s Heart of Hospice Award in 2018, and the Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing in 2008. His community activities include serving on the board of the West Hurley Library and as a member of the Kingston Food Coop. Letendre holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with a minor in Psychology from Sacred Heart University, an Associate of Science in Business Management and Accounting from Norwalk Community College, a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, and a Master of Divinity in Theology from St. Mary’s Seminary.

David Alterio, SALES MANAGER
Lives in West Hurley • Resident of District from 1987-2000 & since 2020 Alterio, a sales manager with Fehr Brothers in Saugerties, graduated from Onteora in 1992 and has a son who is currently attending Onteora High School. He previously worked for Lith-Art Press in Woodstock, where he was vice president and then president. He was Onteora’s Varsity Football coach from 1994-2002, and Assistant Varsity Track coach from 2000-2001. He also served as commissioner, coach, and board member for the Mountain Valley Flag Football League, president and coach for the Mountain Valley Little League, and coach for the Kingston Area Soccer League. Currently, Alterio is a coach with Hudson Valley Mountaineers Adult Amateur Football.

Valerie Storey, HOMEMAKER
Lives in Glenford (Hurley) • Resident of District for 42 years Storey, who graduated with Onteora’s Class of 1996, is running for reelection to the Board of Education. A school board trustee for six years, she is a member of the Health and Safety Committee and the co-chair of the Facilities Committee, where she has served for a total of six years. Storey has a son who is in Grade 9 at Onteora High School (OHS) as well as a daughter who graduated from OHS in 2019. Her husband is also an OHS graduate. She earned an associate’s degree from SUNY Ulster. Storey was honored with a New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) Level 4 Board Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021. 

Cynthia (Cindy) Bishop, DIRECTOR OF PUPIL PERSONNEL SERVICES
Lives in Hurley • Resident of District for seven and a half years Bishop, who has been Onteora’s Director of Pupil Personnel Services since May 2012, will be retiring in June 2021. Her previous work experience includes serving as a general education teacher, special education teacher, and summer school principal for the Monticello Central School District; a special education training and resource center coordinator for Ulster BOCES; and the director of special education for the Hyde Park Central School District. Bishop holds a master’s degree in Special Education for Kindergarten through Grade 12, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education for Pre-K through Grade 6, both issued by SUNY New Paltz. She also earned an associate’s degree in Business from SUNY Orange
and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Educational Leadership from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Bishop has a granddaughter who attended Onteora’s Universal PreK program at Beginnings Preschool before moving on to Woodstock Elementary School, where she is in Grade 3. Her community service includes being a member of Woodstock Immigrant Support and the Ulster Immigrant Defense Network, and serving as a volunteer Ashokan Rail Trail Steward.

Am I registered to vote? Check here! -> List of Ulster & Greene County Registered Voters in the Onteora District 

If you can't find your name in the above list, you may not be registered to vote in the General Elections:

• If you are a qualified voter of the Onteora Central School District and would like to vote in the School District Budget Vote and School Board Election, but have not registered with the County Board of Elections for the general election, You can register here. The Ulster County Board of Elections must receive your registration by May 11 in order to be included in this year's vote list.

Qualification requirements for voters:
·         Citizen of the United States
·         Are at least eighteen years old
·         Have been a resident of the school district for the past 30 days
·         Not otherwise ineligible to vote

In 2019 we eliminated West Hurley as a voting location and eliminated the elections districts, so voter can voter in any of the three (3) Elementary Schools: Woodstock, Bennett or Phoenicia.

Voting hours are 2:00 pm - 9:00 pm. You do not need identification to vote.

NOTE: Absentee Ballots are automatically sent to those registered as permanently disabled with the Ulster County Board of Elections and those towns in Greene County which are part of the Onteora Central School District. These ballots will be mailed the last week of April.

If you would like to vote in the May 18, 2021 Budget Vote and Election by Absentee ballot because:

• you will be out of the county,  have a temporary illness or physical disability (including fear of COVID)
• a permanent illness or physical disability* 
• duties related to primary care of the physically disabled
• resident or patient of Veterans Health Administration hospital,
• detention in jail/prison, awaiting trial, awaiting action by a grand jury, or in prison for conviction of a crime or offense which was not a felony

Click here to get a PDF of the Absentee Ballot Application
Please return Absentee Ballot Application to:
District Clerk
by email: districtclerk@onteora.k12.ny.us (scanned file)
by mail: Onteora Central School District, PO Box 300, Boiceville, NY 12412

Application for an absentee ballot needs to be received by  5:00 pm Tuesday, May 18, 2021 for a ballot to be mailed to you. (NYS Ed. Law §§ 2018-a(8), 2018-b(9))

Applications may also be picked up at the Central administration office at 4166 State Route 28, Boiceville, NY between 8am and 4pm. You may complete the application and then be given an Absentee Ballot to complete while you are here. If you need special arrangements to complete the absentee ballot process please call 845-657-6383 ext. 1010.

* Information for voters with an illness or disability:
If you check the box indicating your illness or disability is permanent, and you are identified as a permanently disabled voter by the county board of elections, once your application is approved you will automatically receive a ballot for each school district election in which you are eligible to vote, without having to apply again. You may sign the absentee ballot application yourself, or you may make your mark and have your mark witnessed in the spaces provided on the bottom of the application. Please note that a power of attorney or printed name stamp is not allowed for any voting purpose.

Who is a qualified voter?
You are qualified to vote in your school district if you are:
• a citizen of the United States;
• at least 18 years of age; and
• a resident of the school district for a period of at least 30 days preceding the meeting or election at which you seek to vote.
No person shall have the right to register for or vote at any school meeting or election who would not be qualified to register for or vote at an election in accordance with the provisions of Election Law §5-106.

Where and when to return this application:
If you request that the absentee ballot be mailed to you, your application must be received by the district clerk for your school district no later than 7 days before the election for which you seek an absentee ballot. Otherwise, you may personally deliver your application to the district clerk no later than the day before the election. You may not submit your application more than 30 days prior to the election.

When your absentee ballot will be sent to you:
If you request that the absentee ballot be mailed to you, the district clerk will mail your ballot by regular mail no sooner than 30 days before the election and no later than 6 days prior to the election. Otherwise, the district clerk will deliver your ballot to you or your agent, as designated on your application, when you or your agent appears in the district clerk’s office.

Information is here

Thank you for your interest in running for a seat on the Onteora Board of Education.  Please click here to see the process required.

What all prospective school board members should know (from the NYS School Board Association)

To qualify for membership on a school board you:

• Must be able to read and write.
• Must be a qualified voter of the district; that is, a citizen of the United States, at least 18 years of age or older, and not adjudged to be an incompetent  (Note: a convicted felon is barred from running for a seat on a school board if his or her maximum prison sentence has not expired or if he or she has not been pardoned or discharged from parole)
• Must be and have been a resident (but need not be a taxpayer) of the district for a continuous and uninterrupted period of at least one year immediately before the election
• May not have been removed from any school district office within the preceding year (§ 2103(2)).
• May not reside with another member of the same school board as a member of the same
• May not be a current employee of the school district
• May not simultaneously hold another incompatible public office

BOARD VACANCIES
Voting at Large for Two (2) vacancies to be filled, for Two (2) Board Seats for terms as follows:

·        July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024