â– The Beacon school board is accepting applications to fill the vacancy created when Michael Rutkoske resigned in July. Applications are available at the district office or beaconk12.org. The appointment will run until May, when the seat will be on the ballot.
â– The board on Aug. 11 agreed to extend by a year its roughly $29,000-a-year lease with Dutchess County for 21 acres of land the district owns beneath Dutchess Stadium, home of the Hudson Valley Renegades minor league baseball team. The board is expected in the coming year to discuss selling the property, which it has leased to the county for more than two decades.
â– After a lengthy discussion, the board voted 7-1 on Aug. 24 to authorize Meredith Heuer and Elissa Betterbid, its president and vice president, and Superintendent Matt Landahl to develop a strategy for resuming in-person meetings in the fall. The meetings will likely be held at Seeger Theater at Beacon High School, with a limited number of spectators. James Case-Leal voted against the measure, saying that a restricted in-person meeting could limit public participation. Other members argued that with schools reopening in person, the board should be doing the same while allowing public comment to continue through online channels.
■The board on Aug. 24 held a public hearing on proposed revisions to the student codes of conduct and dress that would require facial coverings; restrict screen-catching or recording virtual classes without the teacher’s permission; include more detailed language on prohibited hate speech to include images of nooses or the Confederate flag; and include a provision allowing district officials to check people’s temperatures at building entrances.
