VOORHEESVILLE – A 10-year veteran of the school board is stepping down.

Thomas McKenna announced that he would not be running for re-election at the Voorheesville board’s regular meeting on Monday. 

People interested in running for the seat may pick up a petition from the district office, located in the Voorheesville middle school.  Applicants must solicit 25 signatures for inclusion on the ballot; completed petitions should be turned back into the district office by Monday, April 21.  The school district election is on May 20.

 “I planned 10 years ago to run for one [five year] term, and because no one else was running I decided to do another five years,” said McKenna, who spoke to The Enterprise on Wednesday.

  McKenna, who ran unopposed for both of the terms he served, said that people considering running for the board should be aware of the amount of time it take to do a good job.

“Some weeks it’s an hour; other weeks require eight to 10 hours.  It takes a lot of time, and you need to prep for each meeting thoroughly,“ he said.

McKenna said he believes the ideal candidate would be someone with a child in the district and some time available during the day for meetings when necessary.  Candidates should be open-minded and willing to volunteer their time for the district.

            One accomplishment he is proud of from his tenure on the board is the Voorheesville School and Community Foundation.  The foundation recently donated $1,250 to the fifth-grade Odyssey of the Mind team, which qualified March 29 for the World Finals but did not have the funds for registration fees or transportation; the foundation also agreed to match an additional amount up to $1,250 of money raised by the team.

“Every year we are in the top three or four for the 10 years I have been on the board according to the Capital District Business Review,” he said.  “One year we got first place.”

McKenna said that part of his campaign platform was adopting school uniforms.

“One regret I have is that, while I was running, I was a proponent of school uniforms.  That’s something that fell on deaf ears for a number of people,” said McKenna.  “It was never picked up by enough people to warrant board action.  There wasn’t enough interest in it.”

The Enterprise asked whether the controversial events surrounding the landslide defeat of board President Joe Pofit in 2006 factored into his decision not to run for a third term.  Pofit had received widespread criticism for the way the board handled the state comptroller’s findings of misappropriated funds.  Pofit and McKenna were both on the board when it approved salary increases for then-Superintendent Alan McCartney to compensate for unused sick time; the district claimed in a lawsuit it was deceived by McCartney into granting the increase.  The Albany County District Attorney later concluded that the school district’s “weak internal controls” are what likely led to the problems. 

“There have been many controversies over my 10 years, and we have gotten through all of them,” said McKenna.  “They all involved personnel issues for the most part, and they were all resolved, thanks to dedicated board members who put their time into it.

“Yes, the board learned a lesson, to keep better track of finances.  And because of that, we’ve set up some committees to review all of our financial data, and we’ve hired some people to oversee the process money is spent and taken in by the board,” he said.  “Every single check is verified by the committee and the internal auditor now as a result of that incident.”

McKenna said that, although he has been on the board for a long time, he has a lot of respect for the one member that has been on the board longer, C. James Coffin, who is currently on his third term. 

“I salute Jim Coffin,” said McKenna.  “By the time he is next up for election, he will have been on the board for 15 years.”

According to Dorothea Pfleiderer, secretary to the superintendent, candidates must have been a resident of the district for at least one year, may not reside with another member of the board, and may not simultaneously hold another incompatible public office. 

In addition to electing McKenna’s replacement on May 20, voters will decide on:

—    A $22 million budget for the 2008-09 school year;

—    Spending $189,000 for one 60-passenger and two 28-passenger buses;

—    Shortening board members’ terms from five to four years; and

—    Transferring $95,000 from the general fund to pay debt accrued by the school lunch program over the last five years.