Two substantial changes in the way voters cast ballots in the Pine Bush School District are likely to be in place in time for this year’s Election Day, May 21. One change involves the elimination of two polling stations, the other allows early voting by mail for the first time. Neither is a done deal yet.

At this stage, district administrators don’t know whether the changes will improve the chronically low turnouts that pass or reject the annual budget and elect school board members. But they should help.

The district serves students in seven towns spread over more than 100 square miles in three counties and has four voting districts, each with its own polling station. The board is likely to vote at its next regular meeting to eliminate two stations and relocate the two remaining stations that will serve consolidated voting districts.

Joseph Lenz, the assistant superintendent for business, outlined the proposal for board members at last week’s meeting.

If the board approves the proposal, election districts No. 1 and No. 2 will be combined. Voters in the new No. 1 will cast ballots at Pine Bush High School. The Walker Valley Firehouse polling station where residents of the towns of Gardiner and Shawangunk now vote will be eliminated. Those residents will join voters from the towns of Crawford and Montgomery, who now go to the Pine Bush Firehouse, at the nearby high school.

Election districts No. 3 and No. 4 will combine to form the new district No. 2. The polling station for No. 3 at the Circleville Evangelical Presbyterian Church for residents of Mount Hope and Wallkill will be moved to the Circleville Elementary School. Those voters will be joined by residents of district No. 4 that serves Mamakating who now vote at the Mamakating Town Park.

According to district clerk Maria Wise, the sprawling school district had 20,792 registered voters as of last year’s election. Walker Valley (No. 1) at 3,800, and Mamakating (No. 4), at 3,680, had the fewest number of registered voters. Circleville (No. 3) at 7,561, and Pine Bush (No. 2) at 5,751, had more registered voters.

Last year’s election drew only 1,099 voters across the entire district.

Lenz listed the pros and cons of the consolidated voting districts, granting that some people will have to travel greater distances to vote in person. Distance could be the biggest hurdle for residents of the Village of Bloomingburg who now can walk to the Mamakating Town Park to vote. Many villagers are Hasidim and many do not have cars. That’s a problem, said Chaim Friedman, a village trustee. Although the introduction of early voting by mail could mitigate the situation, he said.

Mail-in ballots also open up a whole new window for seniors and others for whom traveling is an obstacle, board member Dori Johnson said.

Early voting challenged

Wise said that as a rule of thumb, the district should prepare for early voting by having ballots on hand for 10 percent of the total number of registered voters in the district. She has no idea how many people will take advantage of early voting, but thinks 10 percent, some 2,000 or so, might be a bit optimistic. Eventually the district’s website will post an application to fill out for early voting, she said. Applications will also be available from the clerk. Early ballots will not be accepted more than 30 days before Election Day, and will not be counted until after the polls close, Wise said.

The state law permitting early voting by mail in school districts and school library elections went into effect on the first of this year. Groups led by Rep. Elise Stefanik, a North Country Republican, have filed suit, challenging the constitutionality of the law, which they argue allows no-excuse absentee voting. It doesn’t, Governor Kathy Hochul steadfastly says. For now, school districts must follow the law because the Albany County Supreme Court rejected the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction to stop such voting. Lenz said the ruling will be important, and he hopes it will be decided before the May 21 election.

Among the advantages, Lenz listed cost savings though spending less wasn’t the driving force behind consolidations. It now costs about $15,000 to run an election, he said. That might not seem like a lot of money in a district with a budget north of $135 million, but every little bit helps.

More important, he said, was being able to hire enough poll workers to cover Election Day. It’s getting harder to find poll workers, and if enough staff were not available the district could have to forfeit the budget vote.

Security — each polling place will have a security person onsite all day — and electronic sign-ins are also a plus for the new system, Lenz said. And it will be easier to accommodate mailed in ballots at two locations rather than four.

Superintendent Brian Dunn said the consolidation is a smart move especially if staffing is difficult. And he said, the changes will bring people to the schools, which he called “the heart of the community.”

Board members who spoke favored the changes. Several said many residents already think the polling stations are in schools although they haven't been for years. The return to schools could boost turnout, board members said. Summing up, board member Kristi Kheiralla said, “It’s kind of a no-brainer."

Little kids, bigger problems

Amy Brockner, the assistant superintendent for instruction, told board members that a new committee is devoted to helping the district’s youngest children struggling to control their behavior and emotions in the classroom.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and more so since, there has been a notable increase in the number of young students having trouble in Pine Bush and around the country, Brockner said. The children she talked about are enrolled in pre-kindergarten through second grade.

Brockner and committee co-chair Jamie Bennett, a first-grade teacher and teachers association vice president, are leading a team that includes a behavior specialist, an elementary school principal and the director of special programs, along with teachers, to address the problem.

The committee has already met once, Brockner said, to set goals and identify exactly what they’re seeing in classrooms now.

The first order of business is to decide what is in the educators’ control and what isn’t. From there, teachers and administrators will work together to improve the district’s system of behavioral support to ensure a safe educational environment, Brockner said.

The next goals are to monitor the effectiveness of staff training, identify ongoing needs and set up a protocol to review data monthly.

The idea, Brockner said, is to teach kids how to work through their problems for their benefit and for their classmates.