Also, public hearing on budget scheduled for Tuesday
The Beacon school board agreed March 24 to a $60,000 payment to end a lawsuit filed by Daniel Glenn, a former South Avenue Elementary principal who was fired in 2023.
Glenn, who is Black, alleged in a federal civil suit filed last year that he had been the victim of “disparate treatment and a hostile work environment due to his race.” He asked for damages and to be returned to his job with back pay.
After being hired in August 2021, Glenn said he told district officials in 2022 “that his job was permeated with racial discrimination on a continuous basis in the structure of how the school operated.” He said he received no notice allowing him to contest allegations against him before being terminated in June 2023.
Glenn had been removed from his position five months earlier, replaced by an acting principal, Brian Archer, then the district’s director of evaluation and student services. Before coming to Beacon, Glenn taught first and second grade for 19 years in the Newburgh district and was an assistant principal in New Paltz.
The district’s response to his lawsuit, filed in June 2024, argued that there was insufficient evidence to “plausibly claim” that Glenn’s dismissal was racially motivated. The district said the allegation that Superintendent Matt Landahl believed only the accounts of “unidentified teachers and students” whose racial identities were not named was “insufficient to allege discriminatory intent.”
The settlement agreement, obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request, notes that Glenn’s employment record was amended to show he was not dismissed but resigned. The district also agreed to provide a neutral reference that provides only his title and dates of employment. For his part, Glenn agreed not to apply for employment in the district “until the end of time.” The settlement was paid by the district’s insurance carrier.
Second lawsuit
A lawsuit against the district that alleged a student was assaulted by a classmate at school and on the bus has been resolved, according to court records. In legal documents, a parent alleged the child had been “sexually abused,” “falsely imprisoned” and “psychologically tortured” during the fall of 2022.
The state judge held two settlement hearings before closing the case in July. In response to a Freedom of Information Law requested filed by The Current, school officials said the district “is not in possession of any documents” concerning a settlement. Eric Richman, the attorney who represented the parent, said he could not discuss the case because it had been sealed.
Budget hearing
The Beacon school board will hold a public hearing during its Tuesday (May 6) meeting on the district’s $87.7 million budget proposal for 2025-26, the final step before voters are asked to approve the spending plan on May 20.
On April 22, the board unanimously approved the $87.7 million plan, which includes a 5.09 percent tax-levy increase. Most of the discussion in recent board meetings has revolved around the levy — or the total amount of property taxes the district can collect — which stands to increase because of new development and debt service on a $50 million capital project approved last year by voters.
The proposed revenue for 2025-26 includes $50 million in property taxes, about $32 million in state aid and $2.5 million taken from savings.
Administrators said the budget will allow the district to maintain smaller elementary class sizes, increased mental health support for students and a full-day pre-K program. For the first time, the district would launch a summer workshop program for incoming high school students and create an on-site mental health clinic at Rombout Middle School. The district would also hire additional teachers for elementary students struggling in math and reading and a part-time elementary speech instructor.
