October’s municipal race heated up this week after a handful of residents declared their candidacy for Mayor and assembly just before Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline. Artist and Skipping Stone Studios owner Joanie Wagner is challenging incumbent Jan Hill for a three-year term as Mayor. As of last week only two candidates had filed for the three open assembly seats. But […]
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Posted inNews
Assembly questions 5th Avenue expansion
An unsafe passageway behind Haines School may lead the Haines Borough to extend Fifth Avenue. Public facilities director Brad Ryan asked the school board last week for a letter of approval to forward to the Planning Commission to extend the roadway in order to make traffic flow more smoothly and safely down the one-way alley behind the school. Fifth […]
Posted inNews, Education
Interim superintendent commences second stint with school district
Rich Carlson is spending his 44th year in education as interim superintendent for the Haines Borough School District. Carlson was hired for the 2017-2018 school year after former superintendent Tony Habra resigned last month. This will be Carlson’s second stint in Haines. He served as the interim superintendent in 2015-2016. “Haines is a special place,” Carlson […]
Posted inNews, Elections
Haines votes ‘No’ to recall three assembly members
Assembly members Heather Lende, Tresham Gregg and Tom Morphet retained their seats on the assembly, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s special recall election. More than 1,050 people, 47 percent of registered voters, cast their ballots in the special election, signaling the end of a recall effort that started in April. Don Turner Jr. initiated […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
School board needs math lesson
The Haines Borough school board does not understand education. People learn not only from what they are “taught” but also what they observe from parents and educators. The school board taught us: 1) It is not important to learn to read or how to comprehend what we read. 2) It is not important to honor a contract and your signature on a contract […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Support for school board conclusion
I write in defense of the Haines Borough School Board’s handling of the termination of Tony Habra as superintendent. Allowing Mr. Habra to submit a resignation letter and to pay him severance was a compromise agreed to by both parties after a series of protracted and difficult meetings. The persons who serve on our school board bring a diversity […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Shady deal hurts taxpayers
The payment of $66,000 to Tony Habra is completely unjustified, inappropriate, and not in conformance with the actual contract. If you read the contract, it says that the contract may be terminated by the Board “by giving the Superintendent thirty (30) days written notice and by paying severance pay equal to 6 months or the […]
Posted inNews, Education
Interim superintendent selected
The Haines Borough school board selected Rich Carlson Friday as the district’s interim superintendent. Carlson, a retired educator who served as Haines School interim superintendent two years ago, will work here again for one year. The hire comes after former superintendent Tony Habra resigned this month. The board also considered two other candidates, Kevin Shipley and Susan McCauley. […]
Posted inNews, School Board
Habra lacks leadership, school board says
Haines Borough school board president Anne Marie Palmieri said in a statement this week that former superintendent Tony Habra’s “work performance did not sufficiently meet the depth or breadth of the District’s needs for strong leadership” and the board asked for his contract to be terminated. Former superintendent Habra resigned this month after the school board held four executive […]
Posted inNews
Habra’s departure remains a mystery
Six days after the departure of superintendent Tony Habra, Haines school board members refused to provide details on why he was leaving one year into his three-year contract. Habra, who moved here from Paw Paw, Mich., was planning on leaving town Friday morning. He will receive a $65,916 settlement. He technically resigned following a fourth executive session […]