GUILDERLAND — Nicholas Fahrenkopf believes the school district needs to make long-range plans, and that his ability to analyze data to solve problems can help with that.

Fahrenkopf, 28, is making his first run for school board. He works as an engineer, often in the “clean room,” on “novel technologies” for the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute.  “We come up with new technologies...I spend my day collecting and analyzing data to solve problems,” Fahrenkopf said.

He moved to Guilderland seven years ago, and holds a bachelors degree in physics, with a minor in mathematics, and a Ph.D. in nanoscale engineering — both from the University at Albany. While at UAlbany, he served in student government as well as a student representative on the board of trustees, and in community service organizations. “I have a desire to be a help where I can,” Fahrenkopf said.

It is in that spirit that he is running for the school board. “I don’t see it as a political office,” he said. “I care about the community and the education our children receive.” Fahrenkopf also serves on the board of directors of Altamont Community Tradition.

He is married to Katie Fahrenkopf, who works as activity coordinator for The College Experience program at Living Resources, which helps people with disabilities to be independent. The Fahrenkopfs live in Altamont and are expecting their first child in August.

If elected, Nicholas Fahrenkopf said, his main goal is “to plan for the future,” not to worry about the past or even today but, rather, to take a long view of what the district wants to look like in five to 10 years.

Fahrenkopf was at the University at Albany during the 2008 budget cuts, he said, when departments were closed, and is “acutely aware of the financial stress,” which has been called the “new normal.”

He believes that state aid to schools is not reliable, despite the reprieve this year, and that, further, school districts are “shackled with the tax cap.”

Fahrenkopf went on, “The school district needs to come up with a unique way of making the district able to weather orders from the state, to find a new revenue stream for raising money. We have to think differently — not cut here, add there, from year to year, piecemeal.”

He also believes it is important for the district to “maintain excellence.”

Asked, if elected, whom he would serve, Fahrenkopf said, “For me, unequivocally, it’s the students.” The board’s goal, he said, is to provide a good education. “After that, you balance the other things,” he said. “Taxpayers figure in because they have to approve the budget.”

Fahrenkopf supports the proposed $93.7 million budget for next year. “I believe the small increases are reasonable,” he said. “A lot is tied to contractual increases.”

He thought it was wise for the district, with the added state aid this year, to plan to put a large portion of the money into the fund balance.

Although Fahrenkopf said he understood that Guilderland budgets had been voted down in the past, he thinks it is unlikely now with increases in the neighborhood of 2 percent. If the budget were to be defeated on May 19, he said, he would recommend looking at the numbers and talking to voters to “figure out the issues,” to come up with a revised budget.

“It would be arrogant to put the same budget back up,” he said.

Fahrenkopf said, if there were “a live-or-die situation,” such as a dramatic drop in state aid, it would be “worth considering” going over the state-set tax-levy cap. “Guilderland probably has a passionate voter base that could support it if needed,” he said. “It hasn’t been needed in recent years.”

Again, he emphasized, “We need to think of the bigger picture to survive in this political-economic landscape.”

On state tests, Fahrenkopf said, “First of all, I think a lot of the protests of Common Core and teacher assessment is directed at the governor and state. There is only so much a district can do...For a lot of it, our hands are tied.”

He went on about testing, “It’s important to monitor student growth and school effectiveness but you can overwhelm students with tests.” And attaching such high stakes to tests can be counterproductive, he said. He also said that tests are not the best way to evaluate all the time.

Fahrenkopf said he had looked at Common Core tests and found they could be “confusing.” He quipped, “I was able to pass the fourth-grade math test.”

Fahrenkopf went on, “I see all sides.”

He also said, “The best thing the board of education can do is to advocate to the legislature.” He commended the superintendent for her efforts in lobbying and in inviting legislators to Guilderland to listen to community concerns.

Fahrenkopf went on, “I’m curious or concerned about the degree to which teachers are teaching to the tests or spending too much time on the test.” He would like to talk to teachers and administrators “to find out what is going on in the classroom,” he said.

Fahrenkopf concluded, “It is worthwhile to teach to the standards but not to the test...We have to define where the middle ground is...I’d advocate more hands-on projects.”

On the question of dealing with excess space, Fahrenkopf said, “Should the board consider closing a school? It is worth considering but, based on everything I’ve seen, I think all the data shows it is not worthwhile.”

He said that Paul Seversky’s conclusions that closing an elementary school would save $1.2 million to $2 million annually was based on cutting teachers, since expenses to run a building are not that high. “Cramming more students into their classes is absolutely the worst thing you can do at an elementary school,” he said.

Fahrenkopf co-chairs, with middle-school Principal Michael Laster, the task force subcommittee looking at incubating start-up businesses. “Not only is it feasible,” he said of housing start-ups, “but it would be an outstanding addition to the school district.” Fahrenkopf said all four of the options being studied by the subcommittees are feasible. “Other school districts have done these,” he said.

“Could we do it? Yes. Should we do it is another question,” said Fahrenkopf, reiterating his view that the school board should decide what it wants the district to look like in five or 10 years in order to choose a course that fits with that vision.

On contracts, Fahrenkopf said workers are getting raises if there are step increases. Getting raises beyond that, he said, should “depend on what they’re already getting on the steps.”

Fahrenkopf also said, “I would be in favor of merit-based raises,” although he added they might be hard to arrive at as, he said, “I think most of our teachers are excellent.”