Rhinebeck board honors a dozen longtime staffers at special meeting

The Rhinebeck Board of Education used part of a special meeting to honor more than a dozen retiring district employees, recognizing decades of service across schools and job functions.

Assistant Superintendent Corinne Ryan (speaker 3), who led several of the tributes, introduced Pat Carollini and described his more than 20 years in the district working in custodial roles, promotions to night supervisor and senior custodian, and his reputation for dependability and knowledge of district buildings. Ryan said Carollini’s work “helped ensure that our students and staff had a clean, safe and welcoming environment each day.”

Speakers at the meeting highlighted individual careers and contributions: a presenter (speaker 4) traced Linda Costello’s path from finance to longtime library media specialist and ILP coordinator; presenter (speaker 5) celebrated Vanessa’s 34 years at Effie Bellows and her SEL and mediation work; Corinne Ryan described Leslie Keene’s counseling and scholarship coordination roles; and the administration honored Angelo Librijana for nearly four decades of facilities and grounds work.

Other retirees recognized included Lori Pinesis (physics teacher), Fortunato Tempesta (custodian), Kathy Tulin (middle‑school English teacher), and Mary Ann Tutcheroni (library media assistant). Speakers emphasized each retiree’s contribution to school programs, student support and institutional memory.

These remarks were tributes rather than formal actions; the meeting’s later business included personnel and consent-agenda actions. The tributes served as the public record of the district’s acknowledgements and a ceremonial recognition of retiring staff.

The board recessed briefly for cookies following the recognitions and then proceeded to the consent agenda and personnel approvals.