While there was no mention of former superintendent Brian P. Dunn at the Pine Bush school board reorganization meeting July 10, former longtime employee Judith A. Pulver alluded to his recent departure in cautioning the board to be diligent in its search for a new superintendent.

Dunn abruptly resigned as of June 30 with no explanation as to why he was leaving. He didn’t attend the board’s June 25 meeting or the high school graduation June 27.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Pulver, who worked 35 years in the district, including as assistant principal at the high school, said that the board must rebuild trust for district employees – “it’s the lowest I’ve ever seen it.“ She said employees are thinking of “getting the hell out of here as fast as I can.”

Pulver said that if the district establishes committees to help with a superintendent search, “you need to listen to them because twice now you haven’t listened to them and twice it’s gone south.” Later in a phone call interview, she said that committees recommended other candidates and were “mad” at the board’s choices. She said that both Dunn and previous superintendent Tim O. Mains were not kind to employees. She said she didn’t know why Dunn resigned.

Earlier in the meeting, Board Clerk Maria Wise swore in Amy Brockner as Interim Superintendent of Schools. She will continue to serve as Assistant Superintendent for Instruction; the board is searching for an interim for the position. Wise also swore in new board members Peter Agro and Shauna Best. The board re-elected Gretchen Meier as president and Kristi Kheiralla as vice president.

On another subject, Pulver said more care needs to be taken in naming district sites in honor of people; she said the board should develop a policy for this purpose. She said Marjorie Redder, who worked in the Pine Bush music department for 60 years, should have been the person for whom an auditorium was recently named. Instead, it was named for someone who worked in the district for five years.

No reason was given for Dunn’s sudden resignation. District officials have declined to comment, and Dunn could not be reached for comment

Dunn replaced interim Pine Bush Superintendent Donna Geidel on July 1, 2022; Geidel was appointed after the sudden death of Mains on December 30, 2021.

The July 23 and August 20 meetings will be held at 5 p.m. in the district office.