DUANESBURG School district picks new leader Christine Crowley named superintendent BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
In their six-month search for a new superintendent, officials from the Duanesburg Central School District decided to look north. The Board of Education this week hired Christine Crowley, who has served the past six years as principal of Northeastern Clinton Central High School in Champlain. Crowley will begin her position at the district next month, replacing Lewis DeFilippo, the interim superintendent. “I am thrilled to join the Duanesburg community as superintendent of schools,” Crowley said in a statement released by the district Thursday. “I was very impressed with the school board, administrators, faculty, parents and community members that I met during the interview process.” DeFilippo was hired by the district in June after Superintendent Mark Villanti took a job with the Haldane Central School District in Dutchess County. Villanti had headed the district for nearly six years. Crowley comes to the district with nearly 24 years of experience in education, teaching at Paul Smith’s College in Franklin County and at Albany High School. She attended undergraduate school at the State University at Potsdam, completed her master’s in educational studies at State University at Plattsburgh and graduated from the superintendent’s development program at SUNY Oswego. “Christine has excellent credentials, a great personality and leadership style,” Raymond Hawes, school board president, said. “We expect that she will make our district even better than it is today, and that she will continue the growth that was made under the leadership of Dr. Mark Villanti over the past few years.” Hawes said Crowley was hired at an annual salary of $115,000. Board members initially started out with 22 candidates and whittled the choices down to three last month. “The other two finalists were very capable and strong leaders,” he said. “I have no doubt that they will each become superintendents in other school districts soon.” The hiring will allow DeFilippo to again retire from the district where he worked for more than 25 years. He retired as Duanesburg’s superintendent in 2001, but came back two years later as the district’s business manager. DeFilippo announced his resignation again in December 2006, but was called out of retirement six months later when Villanti left. He didn’t discount serving the district one more time, if the need is ever there. “Maybe I can do something or if someone is short-handed and they need help,” he said.
I would like to Welcome her to Duanesburg and look forward to working with her. I and the Town Board have a very good relationship with the school, they are, after, all the hub of the community. I am certain that will continue and we will all work toward the betterment of the town as a whole.
I also welcome Ms. Crowley to the district. As a parent of two children, one of whom still attends Duanesburg Central Schools, I look forward to continued improvement in the quality of education that the district offers to the students. One of the primary concerns that needs to be addressed is increasing the percentage of graduates who enroll in institutions of higher education.
I want to also acknowledge and thank Mr. DeFilippo for his service during the search for a new Superintendent. He has served the district well on numerous occasions and in many roles.
I wish Schalmont would do the same thing with it's School Superintendant.
What? Get a new one?
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Duanesburg picks superintendent Christine Crowley's years experience includes stint as high school principal
By JENNIFER PATTERSON, Staff writer First published: Tuesday, September 11, 2007
DUANESBURG -- After an extensive search, longtime educator and public school administrator Christine Crowley has been named the new superintendent of the Duanesburg School District.
The Board of Education selected Crowley for the position vacated in March by Mark Villanti, who served as superintendent for six years. Villanti is now superintendent at the Haldane Central School District in Cold Spring, Putnam County.
Former school district administrator Lewis DeFilippo came out of retirement for the second time to serve as interim superintendent this summer, from July 1 to Aug. 31.
"Christine has excellent credentials, a great personality and leadership style," said board President Raymond Hawes. "We expect that she will make our district even better than it is today."
Crowley holds a master's degree in educational studies from SUNY Plattsburgh and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from SUNY Potsdam. She is also a graduate of the superintendent's development program at SUNY Oswego.
An educator with more than 24 years of experience, Crowley began her career teaching mathematics at St. Agnes School in Lake Placid and also taught at Paul Smith's College, two correctional institutions and Albany High School.
She comes to Duanesburg from Northeastern Clinton Central High School in Champlain, where she served as principal for the past six years and also served as the district's director of special education for a year.
"I am thrilled to join the Duanesburg community as superintendent of schools," Crowley said. "I was very impressed with the school board, administrators, faculty, parents and community members that I met during the interview process."
Duanesburg's Board of Education, with the assistance of consultant Gerald Carozza, Capital Region BOCES chief operations officer, began the superintendent search in March, after Villanti announced his resignation. They conducted an open search to engage various members of the district's community including teachers, staff, parents, students and town residents.
The board received more than 20 applications, from which three finalists were selected for interviews. Crowley was ultimately picked. She will make $115,115 annually.
"The other two finalists were very capable and strong leaders," Hawes said. "I have no doubt that they will each become superintendents in other school districts soon." Jennifer Patterson can be reached at 454-5340 or by e-mail at jpatterson@timesunion.com.
DUANESBURG Town residents to get tax break Supervisor unveils tentative budget of $2.36M BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Repoter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
Duanesburg taxpayers will get a bit of a break this year, according to the proposed 2008 town budget. Supervisor Rene Merrihew submitted a tentative budget refl ecting a 5.5 percent decrease in the tax levy over this year’s figures for the general fund and highway budget. In total, the town will need to raise $516,410 to cover these expenses, plus special district allocations. Merrihew said a home with an equalized value of $200,000 will pay about $79 in local taxes this year, which is a decrease of about $6. Expenditures between the general fund, highway budget and the special districts will add up to about $2.36 million. Much of the savings realized by the town this year are due to the expiration of a bond that was used to purchase Shafer Park. The bond cost the town about $26,000 annually, Merrihew said. Merrihew designated several funds in the preliminary budget in anticipation of future projects and expenditures. She said the town will save money by avoiding the bonding process provided the projects are fully funded before implementation. Merrihew set aside $15,000 for a planned property data collection, adding to a $60,000 fund already saved for the project. The town hasn’t updated its property rolls since the 1960s and now has a state equalization rate of about 28 percent. “At some point in the future, we will need to think about providing funds for data collection,” she said. Merrihew is also proposing to use $600,000 from the general fund to expand Town Hall, which has proven too small. She said town officials are often faced with relocating meetings due to conflicts and often have difficulty providing enough seating for citizens. “Anybody that has been there for a Planning Board meeting or many of our Town Board meetings and most every night at court, they end up needing to stand in the hallway outside,” she said, Merrihew budgeted an additional $50,000 to purchase more land for Shafer Park. She said a 5-acre parcel near the roughly 20-acre park is on the market and could be purchased with a combination of town and private grant funding. “You don’t get the opportunity to add land to the park very often,” she said. Merrihew allocated $50,000 in the budget to create a replacement program for town vehicles. By saving money in advance, she said the town can avoid future bonding. “I want to be able to have enough funds in there to pay cash for these things rather than bonding it,” she said.
SCHENECTADY COUNTY Grand jury indicts 4 in torching of VanPatten Mill Park pavilion BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY — Four individuals accused of torching a large pavilion at Duanesburg’s VanPatten Mill Park were indicted on arson charges by a Schenectady County grand jury. Patrick Emery, 18, of Schenectady, Randall Anderson, 21, of Delanson, Christopher M. Olson, 20, of Duanesburg and Rhiannon Gati, 17, of Schenectady were each indicted on the charge of third-degree felony arson Tuesday. All four were also indicted on the misdemeanor charges of second- and third-degree criminal mischief stemming from the case. Fire consumed the park pavilion in June, demolishing the structure and a nearby storage area. During the incident, someone drove a vehicle in circles around a pair of baseball fields adjacent to the pavilion, rutting them seriously. State police at the time estimated the damage at more than $30,000.
I agree, they were not kids, they were young adults who should have known better. We had over 90 reservations for the use of the pavilion from April to August, in addition there are those who just go there without reserving it through the town. We hold our summer youth program there, which had to be moved on short notice, not to mention the supplies for the program that were stored in the enclosed part. We had about two weeks to replace the items and move the program to Shafer Park. The park has been closed for the entire summer. It was a senseless act of vandalism. One of the problems we face not only locally, but also nationally is the fact that there are never any consequences for the actions of those who damage others in one way or another. I don't want to be callous, and my heart goes out to these young adults for the lives they have that drove them to this destruction. I hope they can learn from this and move on to a more productive life, contribute to our society rather than take from it. It is my understanding this is not the first incident with these four.
DUANESBURG Town residents to get tax break Supervisor unveils tentative budget of $2.36M
As a resident of the Town of Duanesburg, I commend and extend my gratitude to Supervisor Merrihew (a.k.a., Rene) and the Town Board for exercising fiscal restraint and proper management of revenues that has resulted in a DECREASE in our town property tax for 2008.
As a resident of the Town of Duanesburg, I'm sorry it took you almost one full week to bother to comment. This is a clear example of Duanesburg's standing in the county. Unimportant, and easily missed.
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