Principal Julie Roberts escorted the Pine Plains School Board on its annual tour of Seymour Smith Intermediate Learning Center before its Tuesday, Nov. 18, meeting. The walkthrough highlighted colorful classroom displays and hallway bulletin boards crowded with student projects. Later, Roberts presented her student affairs update at the board meeting.
Academic excellence was one of the elementary school’s top priorities, Roberts said. The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant decline in fifth graders’ English language arts (ELA) proficiency — reflected by lower scores in the 2025 New York assessments last spring. (Students in grades three through eight are tested in both arithmetic and English.) “They were in kindergarten and first grade during the pandemic — it really impacted their reading skills,” she said. “We were competitive in our math scores, but in the bottom third of the county scores in English.”
Roberts is planning to upgrade the curriculum: “The English textbooks that we use were copyrighted in 2012.” Official results have not yet been released by the New York State Department of Education.
According to Roberts, another focus this year is to create student opportunities and build communities — relationships in and out of school. She cited career day as an example: Community professionals come to Seymour Smith and explain their jobs to students in a hands-on environment.
In other business, Superintendent Brian Timm said the first phase of the $12.9 million capital project will begin in the summer. The Stissing Mountain High School roof, track, and tennis courts will be refurbished, and work will begin on the athletic field lighting, scoreboard, and elevator. The second phase of the project is planned for the summer of 2027, which includes renovation of the courtyard, and a new concession stand, complete with bathrooms. The board approved $6,000 for a land survey needed in order for work to begin.
The School Board discussed Desha’s law, a new state mandate that requires the district to provide staff trained in the use of AEDs (automated external defibrillators) at after-school activities, effective Jan. 20. “There are two scenarios,” Timm said. “Either the outside group using our facilities must provide a certified person, or we would have to provide one, at a cost.” The board agreed that visiting organizations using any school facilities after hours would have to provide their own AED-trained staff.