CRCS Kicks Off Great School Year

By Joshua Walther

COBLESKILL - The CRCS Board of Education met on Monday to hold their first meeting since beginning the new 2024-25 school year.

The meeting opened with a report from Ryder Elementary’s Interim Principal John Penman, who said that Thursday and Friday were the best openings of his career.

“It was a very, very smooth start to the school year,” he said, going on to laud the organization of both the in-house faculty and the transportation team. He closed his report by saying that fire drills will begin later in the week, and their open house event will be on the 19th.

And it wasn’t just one school that saw a fluid start. The same sentiment was expressed by Radez Elementary’s Principal Carey Raymond.

“We’ve had a great first few days,” she began. “Arrival and dismissal has been very organized and timely.”

Mrs. Raymond also expressed her pleasure from being able to attend every classroom to say hello to her students, and she stated that Radez fire drills will begin next week.

After the dual reports, Superintendent Matthew Sickles congratulated all school faculty for their professionalism before diving into a recent piece of legislation from the governor.

As Superintendent Sickles warned the Board last meeting, he confirmed that New York State will now require at least one student ex officio Board member by next year.

Although they will be able to sit with the other members during meetings and express their own opinions, the student will not be able to vote, nor will they be able to attend executive sessions.

This role serves multiple purposes, but its largest is to be a link between the student body and those governing it, giving greater student voice and empowerment in the decision-making process for the district.

Superintendent Sickles said that the student could be pulled through multiple different means, such as superintendent selection, principal selection, Board selection, or a student vote.

While no action was taken during the meeting, members will be expected to implement one of the selection methods to abide by the new legislation.