Posted by By Joshua Quinn, Co-Editor in Chief
On October 22, 2024, the New Paltz Central School Administration apologized for the “decimation” of the High School courtyard. Within this apology, one sentence attempted to explain how the destruction occurred.
“The recent fire and safety inspection indicated that a small amount of work needed to be done to remove combustible waste and vegetation, to make exits more accessible, and to minimize the risk of people hiding in the undergrowth,” Superintendent Gratto wrote.
Objectively, this damage may be irreversible. It killed a nearly 17 year old weeping cherry blossom, which was planted to honor New Paltz’s sister city in Niimi, Japan. The Niimi friendship tree was worth thousands of dollars. Students, parents, and faculty alike were dumbfounded.
And the explanation they craved stood squarely in the question: why did this happen?
I found the answer standing 500 feet away from New Paltz High School and 2 miles away from the New Paltz Central School District administration office. In a small room nestled beside the bus depot, sits the department of Facilities and Operations. With the press of a buzzer and a firm handshake you can meet the director of this department, Michael Logue.
As the director of Facilities and Operations, Michael Logue is responsible for the physical upkeep of all four schools within the district. This includes: painting buildings, mowing lawns, and replacing lights, among other important tasks.
According to Michael Logue, the death of the six trees in the courtyard was never supposed to happen and has been a “black eye” for the facilities department. Hired in 2023, Mr. Logue explained that he is fairly new to the New Paltz Central School District. Since his arrival, it has been his explicit goal to change public opinion on the facilities department, an opinion which he felt was far too low. In order to change this perception, Michael Logue was specifically interested in demonstrating a higher rate of efficiency than the department had shown in previous years, especially during summer months.
According to Superintendent Stephen Gratto’s July 12, 2024 newsletter, “The facilities department is hard at work upgrading the buildings and grounds, doing an annual deep clean of all of the buildings, and making necessary repairs.”
Clearly, Michael Logue did not want the half dozen trees within the courtyard to be decimated, as it would undoubtedly lower public opinion of the facilities department. So what went wrong?
The answer is complicated, and invites a fairly unknown name into the mix, James Stoothoff.
“My title is an environmental compliance coordinator in the risk management department for Ulster BOCES,” James Stoothoff explained, “so I am a New York State certified code enforcement official.”
Primarily focused on fire inspections, James Stoothoff inspects buildings all across Ulster County, including all four schools in the New Paltz District. During his most recent yearly inspection at New Paltz High School, James Stoothoff found something concerning.
“The courtyard was so overgrown that it was a fire safety hazard,” James Stoothoff stated factually.
Not only that, but within the courtyard there was a lack of exit signs, which is a New York State policy for school districts.
James Stoothoff was surprised as anyone about how the courtyard was treated after he had given his directive to Michael Logue, as according to James Stoothoff, he had seen, “other work that was done on other buildings [within New Paltz Central School District], as far as managing vegetation, trimming, shaping and sculpting landscape.”
So, if James Stoothoff was not expecting this and Michael Logue was not either, then why did New Paltz Central School Districts cut down a $15,000 tree?
The answer may lay hidden in the community update written on July 12, 2024 by Superintendent Gratto.
“In some cases, contractors are hired to complete necessary projects like the power washing, cleaning, and painting of some of the exterior walls and trims at Lenape and the High School,” Mr. Gratto wrote on July 12.
If New Paltz had hired outside contractors for certain jobs within the high school such as trimming, why didn’t the district hire them again when the courtyard trees needed to be trimmed?
According to Michael Logue, he had suggested that the courtyard be “gently shaped.” However, he later stated in his interview that he wanted to create an opportunity to get some members of our facilities department trained to be a certified arborist.
Therefore, the employees who were directed to “trim” the courtyard on October 22, did not have the proper arborist certification at the time to trim the 17 year-old Japanese Maple, and should not have been asked to do so.
Giving the directive to improperly trained staff for this task was a substantial risk as tree trimming falls outside of what is considered maintenance duties at New Paltz Central School District. Instead, as shown by Mr. Gratto’s July community update, outside contractors with proper experience should have been contracted, as they have been in the past.
Michael Logue also stated that he wanted to have a meeting with students “as soon as possible,” in order to set up a committee to plan an improved courtyard.
So far, there has been one meeting on November 6, 2024 that was not widely publicized and no committee has been created for the courtyard.
The courtyard was created in 2007 by former teacher Cathy Law, and it would be difficult to attempt to quantify the value of a public space which students and faculty alike poured time and money into. Yet, without including any emotional value, the physical damage done to the approximately 6 trees will cause the district to redistribute hundreds to thousands of dollars into the facilities budget.
As Superintendent Stephen Gratto stated in his email, “There is really no excuse or explanation for this other than to say it should not have happened.”
The Maroon 