Fort Plain Central School District > Board of Education

Board of Education

School Board Members

  • Brenna Kirkpatrick, President, term expires June 30, 2026
  • Kaitlyn Webb, 1st Vice-President, term expires June 30, 2025
  • Anthony Crouse, 2nd Vice-President, term expires June 30, 2026
  • David Przestrzelski, term expires June 30, 2026
  • Sara McDuffee, term expires June 30, 2027
  • Joshua Parkinson, term expires June 30, 2025
  • Neal VanSlyke, term expires June 30, 2027

Board of Education members serve for three-year terms. Regular elections for two or three seats are held each year on the third Tuesday in May, the same date residents vote on the coming year’s school budget. New board terms begin on July 1.

Any U.S. citizen who is a resident of Fort Plain Central School District for 30 days prior to the vote may run for a seat on the board. For information on how to be placed on the ballot, contact the district clerk.

Board of Education Meeting Schedule 2024-25

All meetings are held in the Ronald H. Thibodeau Conference Room in the District Office at the time listed, unless otherwise noted.

  • Wednesday, July 10, 2024 – Organizational Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Tuesday, July 30, 2024 – Regular Meeting immediately followed by Board Retreat, 5:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024 – Regular Meeting, 6 p.m., Harry Hoag Elementary School Gymnasium
  • Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024 – Regular Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024 – Regular Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 – Regular Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024 – Regular Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 – Joint Canajoharie/Fort Plain CSD Meeting followed by Regular Fort Plain Meeting, 6 p.m., Canajoharie High School
  • Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 – Joint Canajoharie/Fort Plain CSD Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025 – Regular Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, March 13, 2025 – Regular Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, April 10, 2025 – Regular Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, May 8, 2025 – Regular Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Tuesday, May 20, 2025 – Budget and Board Candidate Vote, Harry Hoag School Library
  • Tuesday, May 20, 2025- Regular Meeting, 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, June 12, 2025 – Regular Meeting, 6 p.m.

Meeting documents

The Fort Plain Central School District Board of Education meeting agendas and minutes are available on BoardDocs. Previous years school board minutes are archived and available by request through the District Office.

How to comment during a public meeting

The Board of Education welcomes public comment at its meetings. During the Public Comment portion of the meeting, the President may ask for brief comments from the public and set a time limit on such comments. Persons wishing to speak will identify themselves with name and address, any organization they may be representing at the meeting and the agenda topic they wish to discuss. Comments should be kept as brief as possible and relate to school matters. Speakers may be limited to five (5) minutes at the discretion of the Board President. After the Open Board Meeting, the Board will proceed to Executive Session. This portion of the meeting is not open to the public as the Board will be discussing legal issues, appointments, resignations, and issues involving specific employees or students which are confidential.

After Executive Session, the Board will reconvene and may take action on issues discussed in executive session. The public is invited to return to this portion of the meeting but they must leave the meeting room during executive session.

What does a Board of Education (school board) member do? Why volunteer to serve on the Board?

Here’s some helpful information from the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA).

Responsibilities of a Board Member

With school children always their ultimate focus, school board members act officially at the board table, working with other board members to serve students and accomplish the following:

  • Create a shared vision for the future of education
  • Set the direction of the school district to achieve the highest student performance
  • Provide rigorous accountability for student achievement results
  • Develop a budget and present it to the community, aligning district resources to improve achievement
  • Support a healthy school district culture for work and learning
  • Create strategic partnerships with the community stakeholders
  • Build the district’s progress through continuous improvement
  • Adopt and maintain current policies
  • Hire and evaluate the superintendent
  • Ratify collective bargaining agreements
  • Maintain strong ethical standards

Characteristics of a Board Member

Below are attributes that all effective board members should possess.

  • Effective Communicator: Can describe what he or she wants and describe what others want; a good listener
  • Consensus Builder: Capable of working toward decisions that all can support and willing to compromise to achieve goals
  • Community Participant: Enjoys meeting a variety of people, can identify the community’s key communicators and reaches out to the community
  • Decision Maker: Is comfortable making decisions and can support group decision-making
  • Information Processor: Can organize priorities and schedules to handle large amounts of verbal and written information
  • Leader: Willing to take risks, be supportive of board colleagues, district staff and community
  • Team Player: Helps promote the board’s vision and goals