Ballot set for Haldane, Garrison school elections
Two candidates submitted nominating petitions by the Monday (April 22) deadline for two open seats on the Haldane school board: Michelle Kupper and incumbent Maggie Valentine.
John Hedlund, elected in 2018, did not seek a third, 3-year term. Valentine was elected in 2021.
Kupper, who moved to Cold Spring in 2016, has a son in middle school at Haldane and a daughter at the high school. She holds a doctorate in the sociology of education and is the past president of the Haldane School Foundation.
The other board members are Sean McNall and Ezra Clementson, whose terms expire in 2025, and Peggy Clements, whose term expires in 2026.
In Garrison, three candidates submitted nominating petitions by the April 22 deadline for three open seats on the seven-member board.
Jennifer Harriton-Wilson, appointed in March 2023 to fill a vacancy, seeks a full, 3-year term. She has lived in Garrison for nearly 25 years and works at Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES as an education technology coordinator.

Newcomers Eric Arnold and Peter Lesser are running for seats vacated by David Gelber, who joined the board in 2015, and Courtney McCarthy, who joined in 2017.
Arnold, who has lived in Philipstown since 2015, has a son in kindergarten and a son in the third grade at Garrison. He is an editorial director with a marketing agency and was formerly a journalist at Wine Spectator and Forbes.

Lesser, a native of St. Louis, is a vice president and editor at W.W. Norton & Co., where he publishes college textbooks on political science. He moved to Philipstown in 2016 and has a daughter entering pre-K and a son in the first grade at Garrison.
The other board members are Sarah Tormey and Kent Schacht, whose terms end in 2025, and Jocelyn Apicello and Dan Jasnow, whose terms end in 2026.
The trustee and budget votes for both districts are scheduled for May 21.