Next week’s Pine Bush Board of Education election has attracted six candidates to fill two seats, rebounding from a year ago when two incumbents were re-elected without opposition.

Three newcomers and one previous board member, all with a wealth of experience, are running along with incumbents Ross Tompkins and Matthew Watkins, both of Shawangunk, who are each up for a third three-year term that begins July 1.

None of the new candidates have criticized the incumbents or the district that educates kids from parts of seven towns spread over three counties. And although the enrollment has fallen and is projected to continue falling, Pine Bush still educates about 4,700 students from pre-kindergarten through high school.

In a nutshell, board members oversee kids’ education. They approve the curriculum, hire – and fire – superintendents and approve and submit budgets to district voters. And they do so as volunteers; school board trustees have arguably the most complex jobs in local government and receive no salary for their efforts.

This year’s winners will be seated among members who seldom disagree. Just about every vote carries unanimously in Pine Bush.

Superintendent Brian Dunn has been out and about talking up the May 21 school budget and board vote day, touting the district’s strengths in an effort to raise a turnout that hovers around 5 percent of those eligible to vote.

Peter Agro

The one challenger who’s been there and done that is Peter Agro of Crawford. Back in 2015, Agro won a seat thanks to 892 write-in votes. He eventually became board president, but cited health reasons for declining to run for re-election. Shauna Best of Wallkill, Lisa Dyer of Bloomingburg, and Phillip Salinardi of Shawangunk are also on the ballot, all running for the first time.

In an email, Agro said: “If elected to the school board and given a chance to serve once again, I promise to fight for fiscal responsibility, enhanced school safety and program expansions. I also hope to put pressure on the state to allocate more funds to our district for all of the unfunded mandates school districts are expected to absorb and pass on to the taxpayer.”

Asked why he’s running again given the upheaval in education brought about by the pandemic, Agro said: “The pandemic certainly did a number on school children all around the nation. Being an educator, I witnessed first-hand how the disruption to student learning brought on by school closures during the pandemic hurt the learning process. In subjects where learning is cumulative such as mathematics, the subject I teach, it has taken us some time in my own building to finally feel that we are at a point where we bridged the gaps in learning. … I have been in the middle of this challenge since March 13, 2020, when schools shut down and education as we knew it changed forever. Now with the experience I have gained, firsthand, being in the classroom, that makes me uniquely qualified to speak on topics such as best practices during this new age of social media and educational norms. I believe I have much to offer, that is why I have chosen to run again.”

Agro’s education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from SUNY New Paltz and a Master of Arts degree from Brooklyn College, both in mathematics education. He has a certificate in advanced studies in educational administration from SUNY New Paltz. He teaches in the Monroe-Woodbury district and has also taught college math and worked in the private sector as both a credit analyst and a business systems analyst on Wall Street. He is a former Scout leader and T-ball coach. He has one child in Pine Bush High School.

Shauna Best

One of Shauna Best’s children is a graduate of Pine Bush High School and three more are right behind him in district schools. Every decision the school board makes “directly affects my household,” she said in a recent phone conversation. She finds it both heartwarming and amusing that her kids go to the same schools she did, she told the crowd that attended the 2024-25 budget public hearing and candidate introductions at the May 7 school board meeting.

Best told the crowd that she’s lived nearly her entire life here, raised her children here and thinks it’s important to contribute to a community “that has shaped me and continues to shape the lives of my children.”

She believes that now, post-COVID and with a new district superintendent in place, is a good time to get personally involved in district decision-making. Best said she is happy with the district and if elected, would work toward getting an athletic field built for students attending the schools at the Circleville end of the district.

“I’ve dedicated my career to supporting families and supporting quality education,” she told the crowd.

Best works in the Town of Wallkill Planning Department and is the former owner and director of the Very Best Preschool. Best has a degree in elementary education from SUNY New Paltz. Her past and present community involvement includes positions as camp administrator and unit director for the Wallkill Boys and Girls Club, Leadership Orange membership and volunteer work with the Friendly Visitors program and the Hudson Valley Food Bank. She is on the board of directors of the Orange County Childcare Council.

Phillip Salinardi

Don’t be confused if Phillip Salinardi answers the phone, “Sal.” There are lots of people named Phillip in his family, he explained recently over the phone. Salinardi is a state police investigator. Just like police officers in school buildings – Pine Bush has a school resource officer in all seven schools – a law enforcement officer on the school board would help the public to see “we’re just like everybody else,” Salinardi said. Cops are family people, community people trying to help, he said.

Salinardi said he has long been committed to community service, even in high school and college. He volunteered as a travel team coach for 11 years with the Wallkill Soccer Club because it’s important to give “young men and women something they love to do” and keep them out of trouble. Giving back is important, he said, recalling the opportunities others gave him while growing up. “Kids are our most important asset,” he said.

Three of Salinardi’s stepchildren are PBHS graduates and one is currently a student there. “It’s a very good district,” he said. His kids were happy in the schools and excelled as a result of Pine Bush programs, he said.

“I’m running for the safety and security of our children,” he told the crowd at the school board meeting. For that and for academic achievement, in Pine Bush and at Orange-Ulster BOCES, he said.

As a board member, Salinardi said he would also aim to create enough slots to accommodate every student who wants to participate in extracurricular activities, such as modified sports. He is a strong supporter of art, music and drama programs.

Salinardi has a Bachelor of Science degree in community and human services from SUNY Empire State College. He joined the Marines after 9/11 and served from 2002 until 2010.

Lisa Dyer

“As a professor in higher education for 15 years, my colleagues and I have seen a decline in recent years in the college readiness of high school graduates across the region,” Lisa Dyer said, introducing herself to the public at the school board meeting. That lack of readiness has led to a rise in students unprepared for college-level work, she said. “My vision is to see Pine Bush graduates at the top of the curve in college readiness.”

Dyer has lived in the district for 37 years. Her two adult children graduated from Pine Bush High School and her grandchild attends the school now. She has retired as a registered nurse, but still teaches as an adjunct assistant professor at SUNY Orange. Now, with some time on her hands, she wants to serve the community as a school board member.

As a board member, her goal would be to advocate for “what’s best for our students and community.” She told the crowd that she would come as “a new voice to offer the board sound decision-making skills.” She said she’s good at listening, communicating and, when appropriate, compromising.

Dyer’s resume includes two decades of experience in healthcare management. She has a Master of Science degree in nursing education from Excelsior University, a Bachelor of Science degree in business, economics and healthcare management from SUNY Empire and an associate degree in nursing from SUNY Rockland. She has served several terms on the parish council at Our Lady of Assumption.

Ross Tompkins

This two-term veteran of the board says he likes to find the middle ground, “because that’s where things really happen to help children and teachers.”

“I have a conservative mindset,” he told the crowd. “I’m most concerned with spending and project costs.”

He told the crowd that he’s been 60 years in the district and community, although not quite believing it. Two of his children attend Pine Bush High School, and a third has already graduated. He graduated from PBHS in 1982. He attended SUNY Orange and SUNY Dutchess, studying business management and human resources, as well as real estate development. He has more than 30 years of experience in the banking and real estate businesses.

He is division manager for Kriss Law Atlantic Closing and Escrow and co-owner of Pineapple Day Spa in Pine Bush.

Tompkins is also assistant scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 37 in Pine Bush, a past president of the National Association of Professional Mortgage Women, a member of Hudson Valley MBA, and a member of Mountain View Methodist Church.

Matthew Watkins

The other incumbent running for re-election, Matthew Watkins, began his campaign pitch to the crowd by shifting the attention to teachers and taxpayers.

The board couldn’t do what it does “without the taxpayers, without the teachers,” he said.

“We have the most amazing group of teachers” he said, calling them some of the most highly educated people in the area. “That’s what makes our school, our children. That’s what makes our success.”

“What allows us to do that is our taxpayers,” he continued. Keeping taxes under control and still providing for the students is the balancing act that the board goes through every year. He said he believes the board has done a really good job at that over the past several years.

Watkins said he has spent most of his life in the area. As he looks around, he said he has to ask himself, “What is a tax increase going to do to the people of the community? Can they stay in this community while supporting the schools?”

Watkins also gave the board credit for spending a lot of time working on programs to get students up to where they belong in the aftermath of the pandemic. “It’s difficult,” he said.

He said he is particularly proud of the local STARS program. Not every kid is going to be a college student, he said. The local STARS program and the HAAS Innovation Center, along with BOCES, allow kids walking out of Pine Bush to enter the working world with the skills they need to succeed.

“That’s what I’m here for to fight for and maintain.”

Watkins is self-employed at the GOALS Development Company. He received an associate degree in marketing from SUNY Delhi and a bachelor’s degree in general business from Penn State University. Watkins has served as a councilman in the town of Shawangunk and a trustee for the Pine Bush Area Public Library. He has three children, all graduates of Pine Bush High School.

The Vote

The candidates will be on the ballot along with the 2024-25 budget, which at $141.5 million is 4.33 percent more than this year’s budget and will boost the tax levy by 2.96 percent. As an example, the increase means that the owner of a home valued at $315,000 would be taxed an additional $138 in September if the budget passes.

The district has reduced the number of polling stations to two from four this year because it has become increasingly difficult to find qualified voting machine attendants.

Residents in the new Election District No. 1 will cast their votes at Pine Bush High School. The district covers residents of the towns of Gardiner, Shawangunk, Crawford and Montgomery.

Election District No. 2 voters will go to Circleville Elementary School. District 2 covers residents of the towns of Mount Hope, Wallkill and Mamakating. Election Day is May 21. The polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m.