In Guilderland
Five run for three school board seats



GUILDERLAND — Five candidates are vying for three Guilderland School Board seats in the May 16 election.

One incumbent, Richard Weisz, is running as are four challengers — Hy Dubowsky and Denise Eisele, who both ran last year, too, and Timothy Forster and Raymond McQuade, each making their first run.

Eisele and Dubowsky are campainging together, but stop short of saying they are running on the same slate as some Guilderland school-board candidates have in the past.

The three-year posts are unpaid and the three highest vote-getters in the at-large election will serve on the nine-member board.

The Enterprise asked the candidates to comment on six topics:

— Role of a school board member: Candidates were asked who they serve. Particularly if there is a crunch — for example, because of economic tough times or because of a controversy over personnel issues — would their primary allegiance be to the students, the taxpayers, the parents, the teachers, or the superintendent"
Certainly each school board member strives for balance but candidates were asked if, for example, they had to choose between creating a shared supervisor’s post at the high school for English and social studies, as the administration recommended this year, or continuing to spend the extra money, about $85,000, to keep separate posts, which would they advocate" Or, similarly, if they had to choose between combining a social worker post at the smallest elementary school with one at the middle school, again to save money, about $58,000, as the administration initially proposed this year, would they"

(In the end, neither of those cuts were made, although other cuts — of 25 teaching assistants and the two assistant principals at the elementary schools — were made for next year’s spending plan.)

— Budget support: Candidates were asked if they support the $79 million budget, with an estimated tax-rate hike of 4.2 percent for Guilderland residents, and why or why not. They were asked if there were specific items — such as a proposed primary program for teaching Spanish — they would have liked included, or if there were specific items they thought should have been cut.

The candidates were also asked what course the school board should take if the budget were to be voted down on May 16. Last year, Guilderland went through town-wide revaluation, raising the assessment of an average home an estimated 60 percent; this year, both Bethlehem and New Scotland (towns that are partly served by the district) have gone through revaluation.

The state allows for a second school budget vote of the same or a revised plan before a state-set cap is imposed on spending. This year’s budget proposal is below the state-set cap. While it’s technically correct that the school board, faced with a defeated budget, could move to adopt the slightly higher capped budget, a State Education Department spokesperson told The Enteprise that is not the point of the cap; the capped budget was meant to give voters relief after they defeated a budget.
Candidates were asked, if the budget is voted down, which course they would recommend — a re-vote on the same plan, cutting the proposed budget and voting again, or moving to a capped budget"

— School security: After much debate, the school board this year decided to keep the front doors of the elementary schools unlocked but to hire part-time monitors to sit near the front doors, getting visitors to sign in and issuing them passes. Additionally, surveillance cameras have been or are being installed in all the schools.

Some members of a subcommittee who advocated a buzz-in system, with locked doors, at the elementary schools were disappointed in the compromise while some parents criticized spending the additional funds on security rather than academic programs. Candidates were asked if more or less should be done for school security or if they are pleased with security as it is.
— Teaching to the test: Candidates were asked if there is a conflict between "maintaining the richness" of Guilderland’s instructional programs, as one of the district's priorities puts it, and integrating state and federal standards. If a choice must be made between teaching to the test so students fare well on required exams, or allowing faculty more freedom to pursue different approaches, candidates were asked which they would do.

In recent annual school report cards, Guilderland students with disabilities have fallen below the government-set mark in some tests. Only 1 percent of students are excused from the testing and the National Council for Exceptional Children is lobbying to raise that percentage.

Guilderland’s Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Nancy Andress has said she doesn’t want special-education classes to become test-prep classes.

— Alternative sources of revenue: For years the school board has debated, but never acted on, formalizing the acceptance of non-public funds for the district. This year, a committee was formed to discuss the matter.
Should Guilderland allow a foundation to raise funds for the school; should the district sell pouring rights, contracting with a beverage company to serve just that company’s drinks; or should the district sell in-school advertising as a way to raise funds"
— Health insurance: Should health-insurance coverage or the method by which it is decided be revised" The school board has focused on the issue this year as annual costs for health-insurance coverage at Guilderland have doubled in the last five years to $8.2 million. Health-coverage proposals come to the board from a district-wide committee made up of representatives of the different bargaining groups. The board recently agreed to set up a business-practices committee to be formed after the May 16 election.
— Length of the school day: Should the school day be reconfigured" A transportation study, commissioned by the district, recommended lengthening the elementary-school day to save money on busing. Some proponents have pointed out Guilderland has a shorter elementary-school day than other comparable districts and lengthening it would allow for more instruction, perhaps the study of foreign language.
Also, there has been discussion on the state level of requiring schools to offer full-day kindergarten. Currently, Guilderland offers a half-day program, and many parents place their children in full-day programs elsewhere. Should Guilderland move to a full-day kindergarten program"