BCSD Superintendent Updates

Superintendent Weekly Update July 31, 2026

 

Some Quick Capital Project Updates

We have a lot of work underway this summer. The softball and baseball field work is underway and should be completed by the start of the Spring 2027 season. Our PA and Fire Alarm overhaul in all six of our schools is beginning, and the work will continue on second shifts during the school year. Our current systems will be in place while this work is completed. Finally, the pool repair work is almost complete, we are awaiting final reviews, and when that is completed, the pool will be available for use again.  I will keep you posted!

 

Student Spotlight!!

Last weekend, six BHS students, Ryan, Emilio, Desmond, Isaac, Theo, and Wanang, presented on the Digital Defenders program at the New York School Board’s Association Conference in Albany. They have been working with Dutchess BOCES and the New York State Education Department to design lessons and campaigns related to digital safety, online threats, and responsible technology use. They have done an amazing job! Thanks to our Computer Science teacher, Ms. Vakirtzis, for helping to facilitate this.

 

Advocacy Opportunity!

The Dutchess County Legislature is moving forward with a resolution that would help Pre-K services for students with IEPs in our community. Below is a quick summary of the resolution and a potential email you can write if you want to support this work.  This work is funded by the county and the state, and it will not impact the BCSD budget.  I think this resolution will have a positive impact, over time, on Pre-K services in our county.

 

Summary of Resolution to Increase Compensation for Preschool Special

Education Providers

 

This resolution proposes increasing compensation for providers of New York State

Education Law §4410 Preschool Special Education (PSE) related services in Dutchess

County to address provider shortages, reduce waitlists, and improve access to services

for young children with disabilities.

The resolution states that:

 

• Preschool special education services are critical during early childhood,

when intervention has the greatest impact on development.

• Dutchess County currently has 1,497 children enrolled in Preschool

Special Education:

• 1,321 are receiving related services.

• 176 remain on a waitlist, representing a need for approximately 246

• Providers face significant recruitment and retention challenges because

compensation is not competitive with neighboring counties.

• The shortage particularly affects children in high-poverty communities,

creating inequitable access to services.

• Investing in early intervention benefits children, families, schools, and the

broader community by improving long-term educational and

developmental outcomes.

• Funding for the increase will follow the existing cost-sharing formula, with

59.5% funded by New York State and the remainder funded by Dutchess

County.

• Additional county funding will come from the budgeted general

contingency, requiring an amendment to the 2026 Adopted County

Budget.

 

The resolution would:

 

• Increase reimbursement rates for §4410 Preschool Special Education

related service providers by $20 per service, effective July 1, 2026, subject

to approval by the New York State Commissioner of Education.

• Require annual analysis and reporting to evaluate whether the increased

compensation improves provider recruitment and retention, reduces

waitlists, and expands equitable access to services.

• Require §4410 contract agencies to submit invoices to the Dutchess

County Health Department within 90 days of service delivery to ensure

 

 

You can email the sample message (or edit it however you want) below to our County Executive Sue Serino at sserino@dutchessny.gov and Majority Leader Yvette Valdes-Smith at yvaldessmith@dutchessny.gov and the entire Dutchess County Legislature at countylegislators@dutchessny.gov.

 

Letter of Support for Resolution to Increase Compensation

for Preschool Special Education Providers

 

Dear County Executive, Chairperson and Members of the Dutchess County

Legislature,

 

We strongly support the resolution

to increase reimbursement rates for Preschool Special Education

(PSE) related service providers under New York State Education

Law §4410.

Across Dutchess County, providers and school districts continue

to face significant challenges recruiting and retaining qualified

clinicians. Current reimbursement rates are not competitive with

neighboring counties, contributing to workforce shortages that

leave too many preschool children waiting for essential services.

These delays impact children's developmental progress during

the most critical years of growth.

The proposed $20 per-service reimbursement increase is an

important step toward strengthening the provider workforce,

improving retention, attracting new professionals, and expanding

timely access to services for eligible children. This investment will

help reduce waitlists, support equitable access to care, and

improve outcomes for children and families throughout Dutchess

County.

We appreciate the Legislature's commitment to early childhood

intervention and respectfully urge your support for this resolution.

Sincerely,

 

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Matt Landahl

Superintendent Weekly Update July 6, 2026

Thank you for a great year!  And thank you to the amazing class of 2026!  We had an amazing end to a great school year, and thank you to the community for your support of our students!

 

Capital Project Update

 

I am writing to provide updates on the Capital Project approved by voters in June, 2024.  This is a complex, multi-year project that addresses a wide range of improvements across the district.  I am very appreciative of the community's support for this important work.  This capital work helps cool our buildings, modernize our entryways and internal PA and fire systems, and brings upgrades to some athletic facilities and the Seeger Theater at BHS.  It positively impacts all of our students and staff in our schools.

 

What has happened so far?

The HVAC (chiller) has been replaced at Beacon High School.  This work took place over the past year.

 

What is happening this summer?

• PA and Fire Alarm systems will be replaced at all six schools.  This work begins this summer and will continue through this school year.  The current systems will remain operational during this time, and work will be performed at night during the school year.
• The boilers at Glenham and Beacon High School are being replaced.
• New playground equipment at Glenham and Sargent Elementary.  This work may continue into September, but it should be done a few weeks into the school year.  This is to continue the work we started when we added playground equipment at JVF and South Avenue.  We are delaying the addition of playground equipment at Rombout and will develop a new timeline for some play upgrades at RMS this upcoming year.
• Seeger Theater at BHS improvements.  We are replacing the lighting infrastructure and adding new curtains.  This work will be completed in late winter.  
• Softball and baseball field improvements.  We are replacing the baseball infield with turf and improving the outfield conditions.  We are replacing the smaller softball field with turf.   This work will be completed next spring.  

 

Update on School Entryways

Our plan was to do the new entryway work at five of our schools this summer (Glenham was completed last year).  We could not get assurances that the work would be completed by the start of the 2026-27 school year.  Some of the materials needed for this work have been experiencing long shipping delays.  This work will now be completed in the summer of 2027.   

 

Update on Air Conditioning Work

Our original plan was to add cooling centers in the cafeterias and gyms of our four elementary schools and Rombout Middle School.  We decided to expand the project and add air conditioning to additional classrooms at all five schools.  We do not have the funds to fully air condition all of our schools, but this will be a great help.  Adding classrooms to this project has increased design complexity and necessitated improvements to the electrical infrastructure in some of our buildings, so we are adjusting the timeline.  

We are targeting the fall of 2027 for the completion of air-conditioning work (cooling centers and some classrooms) at Sargent and South Avenue.  We will finalize the timeline for air conditioning for our other schools this summer, but it is likely that Forrestal and Glenham will have cooling centers and some classrooms air conditioned by the fall of 2028.  Due to the complexity of the work, it is best not to attempt all four elementary schools simultaneously.  Additional air conditioning and cooling centers will be added at Rombout Middle School during this timeframe as well.

 

Update on Tennis Courts Resurfacing

Our tennis courts were slated for resurfacing this summer, but we are delaying the work until the summer of 2027.  The proposed schedule had the work running through late October, so we devised a better schedule for next summer that will have less impact on the tennis teams' schedules.

 

Update on the BHS Pool

Our pool has been closed due to emergency work done after school on April 28.   The Beacon Fire Department did an amazing job with this emergency work.  We are working with our insurance company and a pool contractor to finalize a timeline to complete the repair work, which will enable us to reopen the pool.  We will share more information when it is available.

 

Communication

As the work moves forward, I will periodically update the community on the progress of the project, and we will post these updates on our district website as well.  Thanks, and please let me know if you have any questions at landahl.m@beaconk12.org.

 

 

Community Updates

 

Have a great week!

 

Matt Landahl

Superintendent Weekly Update June 13, 2026

 

I have a quick update for you this morning!  In a separate email, I am sending out a district technology update, and I will send out an update on the capital project in about a week.  Outside of the regular weekly updates, I will send out periodic updates from different departments in the district so you can get a deeper look at our work.

 

Good luck!

This weekend, Jayden Rivera (Triple Jump), Brevin Timm (Pentathlon), Noah Spiak (Hurdles), and Jayden Mihalchik (Discus) are all competing at the track and field state championships!  Please wish them luck! We are very proud of their efforts!

Congratulations to Heidi Maeng, a 10th grader, who competed at the state championship level for golf, an amazing accomplishment!

 

Spring Concerts on Youtube!

Check out our spring concerts on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd6CD15O7EHT8-sC5RPCEAA

 

They are all amazing and worth adding to your summer playlists!

 

Art Opportunity for this Summer!

Have a great weekend!

 

Matt Landahl

It has been a couple of weeks, my apologies for the delay between updates.

 

First, I want to wish the Beacon Community a Happy Pride Month!

 

I have a bunch of updates!

 

Thank you!

Thanks again for your support of the budget! We are excitedly preparing for the next school year as we celebrate our students this June, and I really appreciate the support!

 Coming Soon!

 I will have some specific updates regarding technology in the district and the capital project work this summer in the next week or two!

Town of Fishkill 250th Celebration is Friday, June 5 at 6:00!

This is a free celebration at Heritage Financial Park.  Doors open at 5:30. Some of our students will be performing (BHS Band and soloists), along with speeches on local history.  There will also be activities for young children (bounce houses, etc.) The night ends with fireworks!  Check out the attached program for more information.  

Art Opportunities This Summer!

 

Land to Learn Renegades Fundraiser!

Have a great rest of your week!
 

 

Matt Landahl

 

Superintendent Weekly Update May 17. 2026- Budget Vote Reminders

I wanted to provide you with some information prior to the budget vote on Tuesday, May 19.

 

First, you can vote from 6:00 am -9:00 pm.  City of Beacon residents vote at Beacon High School, and Town of Fishkill and Town of Wappingers residents vote at Glenham Elementary.

 

Our budget website has been updated and has all of the latest information.  You can access it here: https://www.beaconk12.org/page-2025-2026-budget-info/2026-2027-budget

 

If you want quick access to information, here you go:

Budget Webinar (25 minutes)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZtNQrxLelQ

 

Budget Hearing- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7pEOVOLYhY

 

Budget Newsletter: https://bit.ly/4dD8atc

The budget website also includes all the board-level budget presentations from the past few months.

In short, I am very excited to put this budget forward to the community.  It maintains all of the gains we have made in recent years with class offerings, extracurricular opportunities, and mental health supports for students. And, the budget supports a new schedule at Rombout Middle School, which offers students more opportunities for electives and academic support.

 

If you have any questions, please let me know at landahl.m@beaconk12.org .

 

Reminders 

 

Film Festival Tomorrow!