GUILDERLAND —Three out of four Guilderland School Board incumbents — Meredith Brière, Katie DiPierro, and Kelly Person — are planning to run for re-election on May 20.

Gloria Towle-Hilt has decided to retire after serving for 18 years on the board.

She ran three years ago on a slate with DiPierro, then making her first run for the board, and with Person, then seeking a second term and currently the board’s vice president.

That 2022 election was hotly contested as 10 candidates ran for four seats. For the first time in years, some candidates ran as part of a slate. Two slates of four formed while two candidates ran independently.

One slate was formed through a Facebook group called “Taking back our school boards” as part of the national Pro-parent Choice movement that started with parents objecting to their children having to wear masks in school during the pandemic.

The winning slate, which was supported by the teachers’ union, was made up of three current school board members as well as DiPierro, a teacher.

Brière was appointed to the school board last Oct. 1 following Judy Slack’s resignation, at age 80, after 16 years on the board. So Brière has to run to stay on the board.

This means there will be four seats open for the May 20 election with the top three vote-getters winning three-year terms and the fourth-place candidate filling out Slack’s term, which ran through June 30, 2026.

To run for the board, candidates must submit a petition to the district clerk, Linda Livingston, signed by at least 43 qualified district voters by 4 p.m. on April 21.

Nine district residents serve on the board. Qualifications to run include being a resident of the school district for at least a year before the election, being able to read and write, and being 18 or older. A candidate cannot: work for the school district, be in the same family household as another board member, or hold an incompatible office.

The terms are for three years and the posts are unpaid.

The Enterprise asked each of the incumbents why they are running again, what they are proudest of accomplishing during their tenure on the board, and what their goals are if re-elected.

Meredith Brière

Meredith Brière, who works as ​​the treasurer for a political campaign, is running to stay on the board.

“I have only been in office since October, but I am proud of the incremental increase from $29,000 to $35,000 to the tax exemption floor for seniors and those on disability,” she wrote in an email to The Enterprise. “We decided not to max out the exemption to the $50,000 ceiling, but did decide on an increase and to look at it again after one year of data is available.

“Especially in the current fiscal climate, I am happy we can bring a bit of relief to those on fixed incomes while still keeping our other residents who may also be struggling in mind. I prefer smaller incremental increases to any sweeping change as I believe most decisions tend to have unintended consequences and I like to see what those might be before making drastic changes.”

Brière went on, “I am also proud of being on this historic all-female board. It was Ruth Bader Ginsburg who said, ‘when there are nine,’ in response to the question, ‘When will there be enough women on the Supreme Court?’ I think about that quote often when reflecting on the current board. We’ve broken down barriers here, and no matter whether that continues or not, I am extremely proud to have been a part of it.”

About her goals, Brière said that she wants “to continue to be involved in fiscal decision-making, thinking about the broad picture and the implications of every decision on all residents.

“I also would like to have more bridges between the municipal services and the school district as well as more discourse between the elected boards to serve the town to the best of our abilities. I would really like to assist in more of that overlap to strengthen the fabric of our wonderful district and serve the taxpayers.

“We are all having many conversations about declining enrollment, accessible and affordable housing, and how best to serve our residents, and I believe greater discourse between the boards only serves to make this district stronger and possibly come up with new and exciting ideas together.

“In a similar vein, during my time petitioning and canvassing during the past few years, I’ve sometimes encountered a lack of civic knowledge. I would like to strengthen and expand our social studies departments to include civics classes designed to teach more basic governmental principles to all students so that they may begin their lives with a better understanding of our governmental process and engage with a deeper understanding of the system they live within.”

 Brière concluded, “Finally, I am extremely concerned with bullying and the limitations I have seen while in office in our ability to combat it widely.”

She said she had spoken to a representative from the New York State School Boards Association about it. “So many of the problems we face as a board and district exist in trying to fix the social, emotional, and mental toll that bullying takes on our kids, and I believe in rooting those out at the source. My hope is to expand existing programming geared toward anti-bullying measures and taking bullying extremely seriously when it occurs.”

Katie DiPierro

Katie DiPerro, a special-education teacher employed by the Capital Region Board of Cooperative Educational Services, said she is running again because “it has been my pleasure to advocate on behalf of our students and to serve the Guilderland Community.”

She said that her proudest accomplishment was serving as a member on the Students’ Voices Subcommittee of the district-wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. “I valued the opportunity to meet with students and to hear from them directly how the district and board can support educational equity for all students,” she wrote in an email to The Enterprise.

About her goals, DiPierro said, “We heard from many families of children with special needs that they wanted more opportunities to express their needs and to provide input about educational programming. I want the families in our community to be heard and feel that we have responded to their concerns.”

She also said, “I want to support initiatives to better address bullying and safety in schools.”

And, she concluded, “As chair of the communication committee, I want to continue to work on the creation of The Heroes of Guilderland Award to recognize GHS students that are kind, show good character, and improve our school community without seeking recognition.”

Kelly Person

 Kelly Person, who works as an Air National Guard Inspector General Investigations Officer for the National Guard Bureau based in Washington, D.C., said, “I am running because I still have young kids in the schools and I feel like I still have contributions to make.”

She said her proudest accomplishment was the way the COVID-19 pandemic was handled.

“Although it was a very challenging time with few options,” Person wrote in an email to The Enterprise, “I think the district managed to maintain educating our youth in the best way possible, taking into account the ability of families to support their child’s education.

“For example, our family chose to remain remote for the whole year so we could maintain relationships with family members in our ‘pod.’ For other families, in-person school was the only option because of various other reasons.”

Asked about her future goals, Person said, “This is a very important time for Guilderland schools. We have had a superintendent in place for over 12 years who has brought the leadership and experience needed to lead our schools through a multitude of challenges.

“The next few months will bring a significant change in leadership, a school board election, a budget vote, a capital-project vote, a challenging economy and uncertainty with federal funding.

“My goal if re-elected will be first and foremost building a strong relationship with our new superintendent so that we can get through the challenges that will certainly be coming over the next few years.”

Gloria Towle-Hilt

Gloria Towle-Hilt, a retired Farnsworth Middle School teacher, said she will not run again because, “after 18 years on the board, I feel that it is important to bring new voices to the board. Fresh ideas and current experiences can only enhance the work of the board.

“I also wish to do more traveling in the next few years as well as increase my commitment to the Ignatian Volunteer Corps and Family Promise of the Capital District. As a very popular song says ‘To everything there is a season ….’”

Towle-Hilt went on, “My proudest accomplishment as a board member is the respect that I have always received from the community. I am proud of many initiatives I have had the honor of helping to push forward including teaming, inclusion, co-teaching, curriculum cabinets, and volunteerism to name a few.

“As a social studies teacher at FMS from 1971 to 2007, I was always supported in my work and encouraged to dream big! Because of these wonderful years teaching, it was an easy decision to serve on the board of education so that I could show my thanks for a wonderful professional career.”