The Pine Bush school board is considering reducing the number of polling places from four to two.

Joseph Lenz, Assistant Superintendent for Business, outlined the proposal at the board’s January 25 meeting. Lenz said the primary reason is staffing; the district has had difficulty finding machine operators. He said the district would forfeit the election if it were unable to provide enough operators.

Voting at the Walker Valley and Pine Bush fire houses would move to the high school. Voting at the Circleville Evangelical Presbyterian Church and Town of Mamakating Park locations would move to Circleville Elementary School. The reduction of polling places would also make it easier to resolve any problems. The board will vote on the proposal at its February 6 meeting; the changes would take place May 21, 2024.The district last held polling in its school buildings in 2018.

Lenz also reported that the district will implement early voting this year. Early voting will start 30 days before election day.

Thomas Kersting, nationally renowned psychotherapist and school counselor, will visit the district to discuss the impact of cell phones, screen time and gaming on children. Kersting is the author of Disconnected: How to Protect Your Kids from the Harmful Effects of Device Dependency. The district will present Kersting on a number of occasions February 6 - Circleville Middle School (during the day for students) and the school board meeting; and February 8 - Circleville Middle School (evening for parents). Kersting also spoke January 30 - Pine Bush High School (during the day for students and in the evening for parents) and Crystal Middle School (during the day for students).

The board held special meetings January 18 and granted tenure to Emily Byrne, Deborah Hanson, Jennifer Nunez and Corsica Wolf and January 30 in executive session before voting on a resolution regarding an appeal of a superintendent’s hearing.