Hen Hud Superintendent Wrong About Report
In response to your article, “Hen Hud School Budget Under Scrutiny As Vote Nears”;
Superintendent Hochreiter is wrong when he says that Gennelle MacNeil’s report is opinion and not fact. Gennelle’s report is extremely comprehensive and based entirely on facts that were taken from the Hendrick Hudson Districts own database.
Gennelle’s proposal to combine the three elementary schools was an idea. It was extensively researched in response to the school districts decision to not close a school and explore the Princeton Plan. A plan which saved only one million dollars, according to school district reports. The cost analysis was done in great detail and all provided in her report. Gennelle researched similar projects in NY state to cost compare. It is all there for everyone to see. I would like to question Hochreiter’s numbers on the plan Gennelle proposed and challenge him to provide in as much detail as Gennelle, where he came up with 200 million dollars and a 300 percent tax increase. He is also misrepresenting that we never contacted him to discuss the matter. We were very clear with him that we would be willing to sit down and discuss our position once the report was completed. Unfortunately, at that point we were all in the middle of the Covid pandemic and could not meet. In the meantime, Mr. Hochreiter was expressing hostility towards us. Creating a toxic environment that inhibited an open respectful dialogue. Since then the School Board, in conjunction with the districts advocacy group Power Through Cortlandt, engaged in a campaign to discredit my wife and her work as misrepresentations, lies and opinion. At a school board meeting Hochreiter criticized us for expressing our constitutional right to express ourselves. This school board and it’s advocates have campaigned to destroy our message and our credibility all in an effort to get their budget passed. We repeatedly requested for the Examiner to interview Gennelle so she could better explain herself and provide context. It was very frustrating to see this article knowing there is more to the story that should be told. Gennelle MacNeil spent hundreds of hours on this report. She received no compensation for her efforts. Her commitment came from her love for her community and her desire for our community to be informed to make decisions to help us get through this extremely challenging time. Gennelle MacNeil should be commended for her efforts. I commend her and I love her. Thank you Gennelle!
Adam MacNeil
Lifelong Montrose Resident and “Always a Sailor”
