Statements by the Goshen school board candidates

Two open seats for three-year terms are open on the board of education serving the Goshen Central School District. Four people are running: Jeremy Cassel, James Kimiecik, Adam Boese, and Barbara Korycki. They have submitted statements in support of their candidacy that are provided here. The school budget vote will be held Tuesday, May 21, in the Main Street administration building, 227 Main St., Goshen. (Click through to see all photos.)

Barbara Korycki, challenger
I was born in Goshen, lived most of my life in the Town of Goshen and lived in the Goshen Central School District for 36 years. I have three lovely grown daughters (all three are four-year college graduates). I have attended school board meetings regularly for the past eight years, attended the Goshen School Board Workshop on Setting Goals, was on the Goshen Citizens’ School Budget Advisory Committee for two years and attended the Community Budget Forums in the past. I also attended the free Workshop for Prospective School Board Members held at Orange-Ulster BOCES and the Grant Writing Workshop sponsored by the Goshen Intermediate School Parents Teachers Organization.

It is a challenge to provide a sound education to students in a time of dwindling resources. We must remember it is most important to keep students as our primary focus. We are responsible for providing an excellent education for the students. We have been hearing for years that the way education is funded is broken and we need to fix it. We need to replace it, not fix it. We have already been doing more with less. Now we are being faced with the tough challenge of doing less with less. The bottom line is still the same. We need to provide an excellent sound education for the students.

I would like to have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the Goshen Central School District’s school board of education. Serving on the school board is a way of unselfishly serving the community, focusing on the final product, the student and it’s a sense of giving back to the community. I want to be a part of the decision making to benefit the children and help provide a safe environment for the children and staff. The School Board sets the tone for the district and the tone needs to be supportive of children and staff. We also need to think about the members of the community and the taxpayers and use our resources and taxpayers money wisely. Just as we need to educate children, we also need to educate the members of the community, keep the community well informed so they have knowledge of and understand the propositions they are voting on and make the members of the community feel welcomed when they attend school events.

Please come out on Tuesday, May 21 to the Main St. Building, 227 Main St., Goshen from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., exercise your right to vote, support the school budget and the buses propositions and vote for Barbara Korycki for school board member. Thank you.

Jeremy Cassel, challenger
My name is Jeremy Cassel. I am a husband, father, and New York City Firefighter. I am motivated to run for the school board to make the schools more responsive to the students and the community.

1. Legacy
A. I was born, raised and have lived in the Goshen area all my life.

B. My wife and I both graduated from Goshen, as did 10 others in my immediate family.

C. Our two boys represent the fourth generation of Cassels to attend the Goshen School district.

D. My family takes great pride in the fact that there is a baseball field at Craigville Park dedicated to the memory of my grandfather James Cassel, Sr.

E. I was a Boy Scout in Goshen’s Troop 63 and earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

F. This legacy makes me innately tied to the community I hope to serve.

2. Commitment to students
A. My goal in running for this position is to serve the students of the district.

B. As a parent with two sons currently enrolled in the district, I am in touch with their needs, wants, and ambitions.

C. As a coach and community volunteer, I feel this makes me more accessible to the needs and ideas of the community I will serve.

D. I will strive to promote an enriching school experience academically, artistically, and athletically.

3. Proven leadership
A. I have served on many local community boards, including Goshen Youth Football and Goshen Youth Lacrosse which has afforded me the opportunity to learn firsthand the importance of strong leadership and compromise.

B. I am currently the head coach of the Goshen Youth Lacrosse U-15 team and have been an Assistant Coach of Goshen Youth Football. This experience has taught me the value of teamwork and dedication.

C. I currently serve as Fire Commissioner for the New Hampton Fire Department. This position requires me to assist in determining the budgetary guidelines for the fire department and follow the best interests of the community for which I serve. This position provides me the experience and competence in dealing with the budgetary issues facing the district.

Adam Boese, incumbent
I am running for re-election to the Goshen School Board. I have the board experience and the parent/taxpayer perspective to provide the expected leadership and representation for the students, families and residents of the Goshen School District.

I have a vested interest in the district’s success and its fiscal responsibility: I have children in the schools, I benefit from the appreciation of my home due to the continual interest of new families wanting to move here (due to the schools and the community), and keeping taxes to a minimum prevents the loss of my home’s value. I have been a Goshen resident for 15 years.

I have been married to my wife, Liese, for twenty-four years. Our five children are active in a variety of pursuits including sports, music, the visual arts, mathematics, the sciences, writing, and the performing arts.

I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University, and since 1991 I have owned and operated an engineering firm specializing in energy audits, energy efficiency and green buildings (The Daylight Savings Company, 25 Main Street, Goshen).

These are challenging times for education. Mandates, initiatives, and dwindling public funding are putting the pinch on local control over curriculum and budgets. However, during my tenure I have worked to maintain and grow quality programs while drastically limiting the growth of the tax levy. I have been a Vice President on the board for two years. For all three years on the board I have been overseeing the district finances as a member of the Audit Committee and I am currently the Chairman of the committee.

I am ready to continue serving the public as your advocate for quality education, your representative for fiscal responsibility, and as your informed policymaker with regards to the fast-paced changes and initiatives being rolled out by the state education department. I look forward to working for the betterment of Goshen for three more years.

James Kimiecik, incumbent
As a native of Goshen, I attended and graduated from Goshen Central High School. I continued my education at Pace University, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Management Information Systems. My family and I have lived in the Village of Goshen for more than 25 years. We based our decision to live in Goshen on the long-standing reputation of its excellent school district. My two sons attended Goshen Schools graduating in 2009 and 2011, respectively.

It has been my privilege to serve on the board of education since May 2007. During my tenure on the board, I have served as the vice-president for two years and the president of the board for three years. I’ve served as a local representative to the Orange County School Boards Association and the New York State School Boards Association. I am a member of the Technology Committee and the Growth Task Force Committee within the School District. As an active board member, I have attended numerous plays, concerts, dinners, award ceremonies, and sporting events.

As both a candidate for the board of education and resident of the school district, there are two issues which I am concerned about: the quality of educational programs for our students and the financial health of the school district. I believe that a quality education is essential for all children. As a district, we must support success for our students by creating environments and providing programs that prepare them for college and career readiness to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Each year our communities face increases in their village, town and county taxes. The board of education and school administrators are challenged to prepare a fiscally sound budget that maintains our quality education, addresses our increased operational costs and stays within the tax cap levy. The revenue from state aid and taxes is not covering the rising budget costs making it more difficult each year to maintain our current programs. As President of the Board I’ve been approached by many community members asking the board to restore positions and programs from past cuts. However, the lack of revenue has not allowed the Board to do so.

Over the next three years, the Board of Education will be faced with difficult decisions regarding escalating costs while making every effort to maintain the quality of education we have come to expect for our children. These demands will have to be balanced with the unpredictable New York State economy and funding to schools. As a candidate for the board of education in the Goshen Central School District, my experience on the board over the past six years has given me insight into current and future issues facing our school district, and its needs. Please support my candidacy by voting for me on Tuesday, May 21, at the Main Street Building.