VOORHEESVILLE — Cheryl Dozier was elected as Voorheesville Central School District’s Board of Education president by all members present during a reorganizational meeting on the morning of July 6. Board member Doreen Saia, who was absent from the reorganizational meeting, was elected board vice president by all members present.

There were no other candidates for either position. Saia had attended an executive session via conference call before the reorganizational meeting was held, and was sworn in as vice president prior to Monday’s meeting.

This will be Dozier’s ninth year on the board, and for the past five years she has served as board vice president. The outgoing president, Timothy Blow, did not seek re-election to the board. Her three children graduated from the district, her youngest graduating this year.

Dozier is an associate professor in the department of literacy teaching and learning at the University at Albany. Teaching at the master’s level, she prepares students to be literacy specialists and teach literacy. Working with these prospective teachers, Dozier teaches practicing courses that often involve handling families and children. Dozier also taught in a Poughkeepsie elementary school and an Arlington middle school — both in Dutchess county.

“I think it’s all about that collaboration,” said Dozier, “That’s what we want to do on the board, that’s what we want prospective teachers to do as well.”

Dozier says she is excited to continue the initiatives that Superintendent Brian Hunt has brought to the board, programs that she describes as addressing the needs of all students, “so that all students can experience success within the district,” she said. She mentioned initiatives such as summer school offered at the Mohonasen School and a robotics clubs as some the various programs.

Dozier described four goals of the board: address teacher development, address student achievement, increase communication, and maintain fiscal responsibility.

“We’re always mindful of our fiscal responsibility,” said Dozier, adding that the district has added new teachers as well as new programs, and that they must balance these additions with fiscal responsibility.

Dozier also stressed the importance of transparency, noting the board’s discussion of possibly setting up the cloud-based system Boarddocs, which allows users to access meeting minutes, agendas and accompanying documents online. Dozier says once it is set up it will be available on the school website. She added that she would also be looking to improve the website in order to work towards further transparency.

“I’m just excited to continue the vision for the district and work in partnership,” she said.

Saia steps up as vice president

Saia had started on the board as a stand-in for Kristine Gravino after Gravino resigned in November of 2014. Saia was officially elected in May of 2015. She has two sons attending school in the district, one entering 10th grade and another entering 7th grade.

Saia works as an attorney for the international law firm Greenberg-Traurig, representing Fortune 500 companies. Having practiced law for 23 years, Saia has worked with federal and state regulations and often carries out meeting decorum such as Robert’s rules. She says this experience was one of the reasons she decided to take on the vice presidential position on the board.

“It made sense to move up in that spot,” she said, “It’s a nice way to complement what I do day to day.”

Saia says that collectively board members have seen increased progress in the district in the last year. Some of the challenges Voorheesville faces, she says, are already being solved with certain initiatives.

“Being in a small school has a lot of benefits, but it also has its downsides,” she said, giving an example of how the high school has only one ninth-grade English teacher, which means students repeating that class after failing it must work with the same teacher again. A solution to this dilemma is sending the student to the Mohonasen school for the summer to retake the course. Saia explains that this not only allows the student to try the course with a different instructor, but also frees up a course period in the fall.

Like Dozier, Saia also stressed transparency from the board and the district, so that the public can be fully aware how important decisions are made and carried out. She also said the school’s website has to be made easier to navigate.

“It’s not just board related, it can just be plain school related,” she said, describing the difficulties in navigating the website as a whole.

Saia added that overall she has seen some significant progress as well as a very strong student body and school staff.

“I’ve seen that firsthand,” she said, noting her status as a parent in the school.

Distance learning offered again

At Monday night’s regular board meeting, Hunt reported that distance learning is scheduled for the fall. Spanish and preparatory courses for college-entrance exams will be offered, and Advanced Placement, or college-level, art history may be offered as well, but the school is still unsure if it is available to be taught.

This year, Voorheesville will only be receiving courses, rather than administering courses to other districts. Distance learning will take place in Room 105 of the high school, which Hunt remembers teaching distance learning in as a teacher in the early 2000s.

“All the equipment is there, so the cost is minimal,” said Hunt.

The students will be taking courses taught by teachers in other districts via a live video feed. Hunt says the district has been working with Questar BOCES and Fulton-Montgomery BOCES, so the range of schools to work with is broad.

“It casts a pretty wide net,” said Hunt.

Hunt says that, by receiving courses only, the school pays a lower fee, and will also be saving money by using equipment left from when the school had administered distance learning before. He says he is unsure if the school will ever administer courses as well, but that it will likely be reviewed on a yearly basis as part of the budget process.