School board mullsWould land purchase be wise or wasteful"

GUILDERLAND — The school board will decide March 14 whether the public will vote in May on purchasing a strip of land in front of Guilderland Elementary School.

Board members expressed a variety of opinions last Tuesday on whether it was wise or wasteful to purchase the eight-tenths of an acre along Route 20.

The land is owned by the YMCA, which built a recreation facility across Route 20 on Winding Brook Drive. It bought property near the school to reconfigure the school’s driveway so it would line up with Winding Brook Drive for a single traffic light at the intersection.

Last year, the district executed an option-to-purchase agreement with the YMCA. The option runs until June of 2007 and the price for purchase is set at $175,000.

The cost of the option is $2,700 a year, said Superintendent Gregory Aidala, which is applied to the purchase price.

The district could pay for the parcel either by taking out a loan or by including the purchase price in an annual budget, he said.

The public must vote to approve a school district’s land purchase.

The board is deciding whether it should put the matter to public vote this year or wait another year or not exercise the option to buy at all. If it is to be on the May 16 ballot, the board must decide at its next meeting on March 14.
The property is zoned as business, non-retail professional which Aidala described as "a light business function."

A disadvantage, Aidala said, would be that whatever business moves in would share the school’s driveway.

Mixed reactions
Board member John Dornbush said that the consensus at a recent Altamont PTA meeting was there "had to be a compelling reason" for the purchase, like using the land to build a district office.

The Altamont parents, he said, would rather see money spent on something like foreign-language instruction.
Board Vice President Linda Bakst reported different responses at PTA meetings she had attended. Sentiment was divided at Lynnwood Elementary, she said, "maybe 50-50." Some felt it was a smart investment while others felt it couldn’t be justified.
Parents at the high school, Bakst said, supported the land purchase. They thought it was "a wise thing to do," she said, for security reasons and as a potential site for a new district office.
"What is the advantage of us exercising the option in year one instead of year two"" asked board member Thomas Nachod.
"None," responded Aidala. "Next year, we’ll have to make a decision or re-negotiate."
Board member Richard Weisz said he favored purchasing the parcel. "We don’t know who our neighbor would be," he said. Weisz added, though, that purchase would depend on if it were "a budget-breaker."
"Without an educational use, it can’t be justified," said board member Catherine Barber. If the school district bought the land, it would be off the tax rolls, she said.
The zoning, Barber said, would mean a business like a lawyer’s office or doctor’s office or day-care center or newspaper would move in. Barber, whose husband chairs the town’s zoning board, also said that the business would have to go through "a detailed procedure" to get a required special-use permit that would consider such matters as traffic and landscaping.
Board member Colleen O’Connell, a lawyer like Barber, countered that, despite "presumed innocence," a criminal-defense lawyer’s office next to the school or a psychiatric practice would make her uncomfortable.
"They don’t make more land," said Bakst. "It does preserve options."

Board member Barbara Fraterrigo said that parking is an issue at Guilderland Elementary School.

She also commented on the questionable condition of the current district offices, located on the middle-school property on Route 156.

The district had considered including an upgrade to its offices as part of the $20 million bond vote that expanded and updated the middle school but ultimately rejected the idea for fear of losing voter approval overall.
"These folks basically work in trailers that are 20 years old," said Fraterrigo.
During the last inspection, there was worry, she said, "about the roof caving in."
"You want your people working in safe conditions, including your administrators," said Fraterrigo as the administrators at the board table chuckled.

Other business

In other business, the board:

— Recognized that a collective bargaining unit formerly affiliated with the National Education Association of New York will now be identified as the Guilderland Central School District Employees’ Association.

A majority of the unit members voted for the change, said Susan Tangorre, the district’s human resources director. The unit has about 200 members, which include cooks, cashiers, bus drivers and bus aids, mechanics, and custodians, she said;

— Agreed to put to public vote May 16 a resolution authorizing spending up to $828,200 for nine new school buses, including seven large ones.

Based on feedback from a transportation consultant, and board response, the district decided to add the seventh large bus after all so that it won’t have to catch up in future years, said Assistant superintendent for Business Neil Sanders;

Weisz thanked the administration for adding the bus;

— Established two memorial scholarships.

One is in the name of Dale C. Westcott and the other is in the name of Joan H. Murphy;

— Recertified the district’s shared decision-making plan, as required by the state;

— Adopted a 185-day school calendar for next year.
O’Connell, referring to the April break being scheduled in the second week of the month rather than the third, said she was troubled to see the calendar "attempting to follow the religious holidays as a public school."

The break starts on Good Friday, April 6, and runs through April 13, including Easter Sunday. It also includes part of Passover, which runs from April 4 to 10.

Superintendent Aidala explained that, in coordinating the calendar with other area schools and the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, he had voted for the third week, but that was not the consensus of the group.

To have Guilderland act independently, he said, would cause problems for the district’s 75 vo-tec students as well as for the special-education students that use BOCES classrooms in Guilderland schools.
"I think it sets a horrible precedent," said O’Connell, who was the only board member to vote against adopting the calendar.
"We’re doing it for practical reasons," said board President Gene Danese;

— Appointed 10 more members to the Citizens’ Budget Advisory Committee — Donald Csaposs, Daniel Filor, Carol Gnacik, Robert Hilt, Carolyn Kelly, Charles Kuon, Karen LaFreniere, Raymond McQuade, and Mark Owen — bringing the total to 27;

— Heard from Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Nancy Andress that 38 students participated in the Farnsworth Middle School spelling bee.

The winners, who will represent Farnsworth at the regional spelling bee at The Egg in Albany on March 13, are: Clare Ladd, Jean Kang, Tim O’Connor, and Kristen Cagino;
— Heard that two Guilderland Elementary School staff members — librarian Meg Seinberg-Hughes and second-grade teacher Cathy Beadnell — will present a workshop, "Cultivating Children’s Writing Through Mentor Texts," at a March 17 Capital Area School Development Association conference;

— Learned that Guilderland ranked first in the region and 15th in the state, according to preliminary results or the High School Math League Conference;
— Heard that five Guilderland High School art students — sophomores Jen Richardson and Amy Peterson, junior Bethany Patton, and seniors Shannon Hanley and Lindsy Barnhardt — have their work showcased at "Art in Three Dimensions," a show at Niskayuna High School through March 16;

— Reviewed policies on visitors to the school and on the musical instruments program; and

— Met in executive session to discuss interscholastic coaches for the spring season and to review administrative benefits.