Six candidates vie for three positions on Wallkill BOE

By Connor Linskey
Posted 5/12/21

The Wallkill Central School District (WCSD) Board of Education election features six candidates vying for three positions. Incumbents Thomas Frisbie and Donna Crowley will face challengers Kris …

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Six candidates vie for three positions on Wallkill BOE

Posted

The Wallkill Central School District (WCSD) Board of Education election features six candidates vying for three positions. Incumbents Thomas Frisbie and Donna Crowley will face challengers Kris Psilopoulos, Michael Rose, Thomas Nafey and Damon Alberts.

The candidates’ names will appear on the May 18th ballot, the same day residents will vote on the budget for the 2021-2022 school year, which is in the amount of $79,343,346. Those elected to the school board will serve three-year terms beginning on July 1, 2021 and expiring on June 30, 2024.

Thomas Frisbie
Thomas Frisbie is seeking re-election. For over 15 years, he has served on the board of education. The past five years, he has served as the vice president of the board. In addition, Frisbie serves on the audit and buildings and grounds committees, which are sub-committees of the board of education.

One of the reasons Frisbie believes he should be re-elected is due to his professional background. He noted that his professional experience in project management and as a licensed professional engineer have allowed him to be a valuable resource to the district.

Frisbie added that he is a husband and proud father of two recent Wallkill Senior High School graduates and one current high school student. He noted that he has been a dedicated member of the WCSD community for over 23 years.

“I would be honored to continue to serve the students and taxpayers of our district to guarantee our children are given the resources to reach their highest potential,” he said.

Donna Crowley
Donna Crowley has served on the board of education since 2009. She has been a community member for 25 years and has three children.

Crowley is a certified public accountant (CPA) working for an accounting firm specializing in governments including school district audits. She is chairperson of the board of education’s audit and budget sub-committees. As an experienced board member, she knows the challenges the district faces and how to move forward.

“The greatest challenge today is educating our children while navigating health and safety guidelines,” she said. “The goal is to get our students back to school full time. They deserve normalization but we need to employ measures to reverse prolonged effects such as learning gaps and social implications.”

As a board member, Crowley has helped pass responsible budgets below or at the tax cap annually while still addressing district goals and maintaining reserves to stabilize and reduce future budgets. She believes that her experience on the board as well as her time as a CPA makes her a valuable member of the board of education, worthy of being reelected.

“I have enjoyed and want to continue my board experiences and believe these and my financial background are valuable to our board,” Crowley said.

Kris Psilopoulos
Psilopoulos is a 20-year resident of the district. He is the proud father of a freshman at Wallkill Senior High School. Psilopoulos appreciates the district, as it provides unique opportunities in education, the arts, music and sports.

He is running for a seat on the board of education, as he has paid attention to the district’s policies and procedures and has questioned their decisions at times.

“I no longer want to stand on the sidelines and pontificate on how things can be improved for the WCSD,” Psilopoulos said. “I am choosing to become involved in the process.”

He is also running because he believes that his professional experience as an engineer and salesperson provides him with the analytical tools that would be valuable to the WCSD as a board member. Psilopoulos noted that he can see both sides of an issue and help forge the most meaningful outcome that benefits all.

“I have the time, energy and most importantly, the desire to help the WCSD continue to be the very best it can be,” he said.

Michael Rose

Rose has lived in the district since 2000. He has eight children, all of whom have either graduated or are currently attending the WCSD. One of his daughters was the salutatorian for the Wallkill Senior High School Class of 2017. He currently has five children in three schools in the district. They are in the eleventh, ninth, seventh, fourth and second grades respectively.

In addition, Rose has taught art at Orange-Ulster BOCES for 21 years. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Pratt Institute, a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Queens College and a Master of Arts Art Studio Degree from the State University of New York at New Paltz.

“I love the WCSD, yet this pandemic has revealed several gaps in the school curriculum that I propose to remedy,” he said.

If elected, Rose plans to make cursive handwriting taught in grades 2-4. Rose also proposes that the district return to in-person instruction five days a week at full capacity. Students and staff at risk can work remotely. As a board member, he plans to eliminate athletes competing in outdoor athletic programs from wearing masks.

Another part of Rose’s platform is to allow homeschooled students to pick and choose what course offerings in the district they may want to enroll in. He also wants to ban Planned Parenthood from the district’s schools.

Thomas Nafey
Thomas Nafey has been a resident of the district since March of 2002. During that time, he and his wife built their home and raised their twin children Kaleigh and Liam. He recently retired from the City of Newburgh Police Department, completing his career as a patrol sergeant.

When his children started elementary school, Nafey became a coach for Little League Baseball, youth football as well as youth lacrosse in Wallkill. Currently, he is a board member for the Wallkill Youth Lacrosse Program. He continues to coach the young athletes involved in the lacrosse program.

“My goal as a member of the board of education, should I be elected, is to address the concerns of parents in the district and seek a positive resolution for both parents and the district,” he said. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to become a member of the board of education.”

Damon Alberts

Damon Alberts currently resides in the Town of Shawangunk with his wife Maria and their two children, Gianna and Noah, ages 15 and 12. He has been employed as a deputy sheriff in Ulster County since 2012, mainly patrolling the southeast region. In March of 2019, Alberts retired from the military after 24 years of service.

If elected to the board of education, Alberts aims to be a reliable voice for the WCSD community who advocates for the needs of their children.

“I am currently seeking a position on the board of education, as I feel everyone should have a voice in the vested interest of our children’s education as well as their safety and well-being,” he said. “I look forward to serving the community in the same capacity as I have during my military career and currently as a deputy sheriff, with integrity, honor and a strong moral compass to continually guide me.”

The board of education election will appear on the budget vote ballot. Voting will take place on Tuesday, May 18 from noon to 9:00 p.m. In-person voting is available for district residents at Wallkill Senior High School, Plattekill Elementary School and Leptondale Elementary School.

Voters are eligible to vote if they are: a U.S. Citizen; at least 18 years of age; a resident of the school district for at least 30 days prior to May 18, 2021 and are not otherwise ineligible to vote under Section 5-106 of the Election Law. Individuals do not need to be registered to vote.