Six candidates contending for three school board seats
Voters on May 16 will fill three Board of Education seats carrying three-year terms sought by three incumbents and three returning candidates.
On the ballot will be John Burns, of 18 Cherry Lane; Francis Gurgui, 205 Irish Cape Road, Napanoch; Cassie Spoor, of 18 Clifford St., Ellenville; incumbent Karen Osterhoudt, of 1 Huguenot St., Napanoch; incumbent Philip Mattracion, of 39 Maple Ave., Ellenville; and incumbent Willie Bruce, of 7240 state Route 209, Wawarsing.
School district residents will also be voting on a proposed $50 million budget for 2017-18.
Voting will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the high school at 28 Maple Ave.
Burns, 60, is a retired teacher and coach from the Beacon school district. He served on the school board in the 1990s for two years and later had unsuccessful runs for the school board and Ulster County Legislature. He has lived in the district for 30 years and, with wife Susan, a payroll clerk for the Ellenville Central School district, has four adult children.
Burns graduated from Holy Family High School in Huntington in 1974, earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Plattsburgh State in 1979, and received a master’s degree in education from SUNY Albany in 1982. He is president of the Ellenville Blue Devils Booster Club and Beacon Teachers Association.
“I think one of the things we need to focus on is expanding our programs and offerings to the students,” he said. “We need greater emphasis on extracurricular activities, as well as an increase in honors classes. I’m talking in extracurricular music and arts, athletics, everything.”
Burn said there needs to be a “reallocation of funds” in the district budget.
“I know that, in the past, the district has cut programs,” he said. “I think the number of honors courses are down and I think there’s been cuts to extracurricular (activities) that need to be reinstituted.”
Gurgui could not be reached for an interview. He has made several unsuccessful runs for a school board seat.
In an interview several years ago, Gurgui said he graduated from Ellenville High School in 1968, received a bachelor’s degree in physics from SUNY New Paltz in 1972, and was awarded a master’s degree in physics from SUNY New Paltz in 1978.
Spoor, 50, previously ran unsuccessfully for the school board in 2016. She has lived in the district for 16 years and, with husband James, has two children.
Spoor graduated from Owego Free Academy in 1985; earned an associate’s degree in early childhood development in 1988 from Broome College, where she also earned an associate’s degree in medical assisting in 1991; and received a bachelor’s degree in health science from Kaplan University in Philadelphia in 2007. She is a member of the Ellenville PTO.
“I believe there’s more than one path to successfully graduating from high school and becoming an active member of society,” she said. “I had the pleasure of sitting in an audience and watching my son walk across the stage and graduate from Ellenville and I knew he was going on a four-year degree. I watched other students walk across that stage and I knew there wasn’t a Chinaman’s chance in hell that they were ever going to get to a four-year degree or a two-year degree. Some of them didn’t want it, some of them hadn’t been prepped to do it, some of them couldn’t afford it.”
Spoor added: “We need to ascertain as early as possible whether they desire to go to a four-year college,” she said. “If they don’t, let’s show them what’s available to them through (mentor) programs in the community. We have so many successful business people in our community that would be more than happy to show the kids what they can do with their lives if they take a less- traditional path.”
Osterhoudt, 58, is business manager for H. Osterhoudt Excavation, Rock Mountain Farms, Ellenville Sand and Gravel, Osterhoudt Construction, Cranky Frankie’s Restaurant, Cranky Frankie’s Lunchbox and Lucky’s Pizza. She has been on the board for 22 years after losing her first bid for a board seat.
Osterhoudt has lived in the district since 1985 and, with husband Howard, has three children. She graduated from Rondout Valley High School in 1976 and is an Ulster County BOCES board member.
“As a school board member, I advocate all the time for the foundation to set to the level that makes us whole for what we should be having for funding for our schools,” she said.
“We have a building project going on, so it’s important that we stay on top of that and make sure everything comes to fruition with that,” she said. “We’re doing some renovations on the cafeteria and it’s actually a bunch of little things that have come together in one project.”
Mattracion, 54, is Ellenville village police chief. He has served as board trustee from 1996-2005, lost in 2006, then returned in 2008 in the first of three successful re-election bids. He has lived in the district for 31 years and has two chil-
dren.
Mattracion graduated from Highland High School in 1981, then earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Ulster County Community College in 1989, an associate’s degree in arts from Ulster County Community
College in 2008 and a bachelor’s degree in history from SUNY New Paltz in 2013.
“With the new (requirements) that have come down from the state as far as evaluating teachers and the observations and how that ties into their test scores, that takes teaching away from teachers,” he said. “If they’re so worried about what their test scores are ... what it does is have them teach to the test and you don’t want that. Children don’t always learn from teaching to the test. Children need to be able to learn the ‘why,’ not just the formula for what it is.”
Mattracion added, “We have to make sure that we stay ahead of the curve in technology and we’re able to provide our students with the tools that they need to succeed in the future. If we don’t get on the technology train, it’s going to run us over.”
Bruce, 38, is project manager for Brush Construction. He was appointed in March 2016 and won election to fill a vacancy in May 2016. He is a lifetime resident of the district and, with wife Lenica, has three children.
Bruce graduated from Ellenville High School in 1997. He is a member of the Ellenville chapter of the NAACP and a trustee with St. Paul AME Zion Church.
“The district should continue to and intensify their communication with the students and parents who are eligible for programs all through the Ulster and Sullivan county BOCES,” he said.
“I’d like to include career programs,” he said. “The BOCES systems in each of those counties are invaluable resources and opportunities for eligible students to gain marketable skills and obtain trade certificates contributing to their competitiveness in the market place.”