Pine Bush School District Superintendent Brian Dunn came to the Shawangunk Town Board on March 2 to introduce himself and provide a “snapshot” of how things were going in his school district.

Dunn, who started last July, was accompanied to the meeting by School Board Member Matthew Watkins, a former member of the Shawangunk Town Board.

The energetic new superintendent said his top priorities were growing the graduation rate, improving student behavior and improving attendance in the school district.

“Right now, it (the graduation rate) is about 92 percent,” Dunn said. “That’s a good number, but I’m not satisfied and I hope you’re not satisfied. It’s good, but it’s not great. We want to grow that graduation rate to 95 or 96 percent.”

He said the way to get more students to graduate is to improve academic proficiency when kids are in elementary schools “so when the high school gets them, we can grow that graduation rate.”

Dunn has set a goal of reducing code of conduct violations by five percent.

“Pine Bush schools were in the papers,” Dunn said. “There was a fair amount of disruptions. A fair amount of fighting.”

Dunn said disruptions in schools increased all across the country after students returned to the classrooms as the pandemic came to an end.

“Kids coming out of remote instruction,” he said. “The Wild West of education at home. We survived, but socializing our kids and our students to the norms of civilized behavior was a challenge at Pine Bush schools and other schools. Not this year.”

Dunn said his first charge from the Board of Education was “to get the school back under control. Hold our kids accountable for the code of conduct. I’m here to report to you that we’ve turned everything around very quickly.”

Pine Bush doubled its funding for security and had more personnel in the school’s hallways.
“Everywhere you go in Pine Bush High School, there’s an adult in every hallway,” Dunn said. “It has increased our supervision, which is 90 percent of the battle.”

He said improving the student culture is another key to cutting down on disruptions.
“You work on a student culture that’s inclusive, that’s engaging, that’s welcoming, that’s friendly, that’s warm and that’s loving,” Dunn said.

Dunn has a goal of reducing absenteeism by three percent. He admitted it’s not going to be easy.

“We are struggling to get kids to school,” he said, noting chronic absenteeism at Pine Bush was three to five percent of its students. “There are 4,700 kids in our school system and 1,300 of them are trending toward chronic absenteeism.”

Dunn said the district is considering revoking parking permits for students who miss 25 days of school or more. If they miss 40 days of school, they won’t be able to attend the junior prom.

“These are the leverage points we’re going to have to dig for to get kids to pay attention and come to school,” he said.

Dunn said a fourth goal was equity for all.
“The Pine Bush Board of Education will support equitable access and quality learning opportunities for every student, no matter who they are, where they live or where they come from,” Dunn said. “I just pictured the Statue of Liberty right there.”

Councilman Brian Amthor asked Dunn if the overall student population is decreasing due to kids going to private schools, parochial schools or being home-schooled.

“I think most of the schools in Orange County are experiencing a decrease in enrollment and increase in home schooling,” Dunn said. “That’s a problem for us. Our enrollment is going down and if you take a look at the live birth rate, it’s going to continue to go down.”

In other news, the board voted 5-0 to purchase a new police vehicle. The board approved the purchase of a Ford Explorer SUV not to exceed $65,000. The vehicle could arrive as early as the end of April, Police Chief Gerard Marlatt said.

Councilman Robert Miller said the town would consider purchasing another police vehicle in 2024.

Marlatt also recommended Aaron Reynolds be hired as an officer to fill a current vacancy. The board unanimously approved the hiring.