Parents vent frustration with PB school leadership

By Connor Linskey
Posted 12/16/20

Jody Rohr, a parent in the Pine Bush Central School District, expressed frustration with the district’s decisions and leadership during public comment at the last two board of education …

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Parents vent frustration with PB school leadership

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Jody Rohr, a parent in the Pine Bush Central School District, expressed frustration with the district’s decisions and leadership during public comment at the last two board of education meetings.

“Enough is enough! The education our children are getting is horrible,” Rohr said in an email shared at the meeting on Nov. 24. “It is time to fire both Donna Geidel and Amy Brockner. Geidel was a terrible assistant superintendent when she was in the district. She should have never been brought back after going into retirement. As for Brockner, she never should have been hired as a principal at CES. She was despised by the parents of the students at CES and should have never been hired as the assistant superintendent. Fifteen years ago when I moved to this area, the Pine Bush School District was known to be a good school district but today the quality of the education and the environment has declined due to poor leadership.”

Following the statement, several board members supported Brockner and Geidel.

“Nonsense,” Trustee Dori Johnson said regarding the statement.
“On a side note, I would say how outstanding our leadership is in this school district between Tim, Donna, Mike, Amy,” said Board of Education Vice President Cara Robertson. “I applaud you for getting us through this pandemic.”

Last Tuesday, Rohr criticized the administration for keeping schools closed. He even asked the board of education to make a motion to reopen all schools for in-person learning.

“Your failure to open our schools is harming our children in many ways: physically, mentally and educationally and you don’t seem to care,” Rohr said via email. “You’re turning our children into a generation of unhealthy, unqualified, uneducated citizens that’ll have a lasting effect on their livelihood, attitude and ability to deal with adult stress.”

Furthermore, Rohr criticized Geidel and Brockner again. He claimed that while she was principal at Circleville Elementary School, Brockner allowed a nature field trip to continue after three days of rain, which subsequently led to three children getting hurt.

Geidel said there was a lot of incorrect information in Rohr’s comment and invited him to meet with her in person.

“My door is open at all times,” she said. “Mrs. Brockner and Mr. Pacella and I deeply care for all the students, staff and parents in our district. And we’re deeply committed to them and we will remain so because we care.”