GUILDERLAND — The new superintendent of schools here — whoever he or she turns out to be — won’t make a first public appearance on TV.

Superintendent Gregory Aidala is retiring in the fall and the school board Tuesday discussed how to proceed with more than 20 applicants.

Board member Barbara Fraterrigo suggested that interviews with the final three candidates be televised, a process she said had worked well for districts in Massachusetts.
Reaching out to the community on TV is "a very important part of this district," said board member Peter Golden. The board televises its meetings.
"It reduces the superintendent selection to an American Idol type thing," objected board member Colleen O’Connell. "It’s not supposed to be a beauty pageant or a talent contest...I think it reduces the process."
Retiring board member Thomas Nachod said, "It’s just another way to divide the community and the board."

Board members John Dornbush, Hy Dubowsky, and Denise Eisele weren’t in favor of the televised interviews either so board President Richard Weisz concluded the consensus was not to do it.

Candidates are both in-state and out-of-state, said Weisz, but none are from the district.

The board has hired consultants from the Board of Cooperative Educational Services to review the applications and develop a narrower list, said Weisz.

The board agreed to lengthen its original schedule for the selection process so that committees can meet over the summer to interview candidates.

The board will meet with its BOCES consultants on May 29 and then, during June, will narrow the field for committee review, said Aidala.

In July, teams that include representatives from the bargaining units and the school cabinets as well as from the PTA and the community will interview perhaps as many as eight candidates in the first round.

That group will then be narrowed to three or four finalists, said Weisz.

Hansbury-Zuendt to supervise two departments

The $82 million budget for next year, passed overwhelmingly by Guilderland School District voters last week, included a $67,000 savings by combining the supervisors’ posts for English and social studies at the high school, a move to which faculty in both departments objected.

On Tuesday, the board voted to abolish the two supervisors’ posts and create a 12-month position to supervise English, reading, and social studies. The board appointed the current English supervisor, Patricia Hansbury-Zuendt, to the new post. The social-studies supervisor is retiring.
Only Fraterrigo voted against the change. All through budget discussions, she had favored keeping a supervisor for each discipline. Fraterrigo said Tuesday that it is "a disservice to the teachers as well as the students" to combine the posts.

Golden pointed out that the board had wanted to try the combined posts for just a year.
"If, after a year, we decided to go to a different plan," said Aidala, "we’d go through the same three-step process."
After the vote, Weisz looked at Hansbury-Zuendt, who sat in the gallery, and said, "Congratulations or condolences as the case may be."

She laughed.

Hansbury-Zuendt has supervised the English Department at Guilderland High School for 13 years and taught English for 16 years before that. She has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree and has completed her Ph.D. requirements, except for writing her dissertation — all in English, she said earlier.

In her new post, she will supervise nearly double the number of teachers; there are 18 social-studies teachers.
Hansbury-Zuendt said earlier that she has no formal background in social studies but has a "personal interest" in the subject.

She told The Enterprise Tuesday night that she is excited about her new duties. "It’s not a combining of the two departments," she said. "It will create interesting opportunities for cross conversation."

Other business
In other business, the board:

— Established a memorial scholarship in the name of Kenneth C. LeVine to recognize a graduating student who loves computers and wants to pursue a career with computers;

— In a split vote, 6 to 2, decided to reject a bid from Passonno Paints for paint and paint supplies for the upcoming school year.
Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders said that eight vendors were solicited but only Passonno submitted a bid and it would be "difficult to show the public we got the best price" if there was only one bid.
"Everybody had the opportunity to bid and chose not to for whatever reason," said Nachod. He and Fraterrigo voted against rejecting the bid as Fraterrigo cited "fair play."
"Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds," said Weisz, partially quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The district will advertise for new bids to try to increase competition;

— Adopted two policies — one on conditional staff appointments and the other on allowing students not yet in high school to play interscholastic sports;
— Heard a suggestion from Dornbush that the district website list what each member of the senior class is planning to do after graduation "to show the community, these are our graduates...This is our product."

Weisz said there were privacy concerns, and O’Connell said that The Journal, the student newspaper at the high school, publishes such a list;

— Heard congratulations for senior Diana Moore from Nancy Andress, the assistant superintendent for instruction. Moore has been selected as the winner of a National Merit Scholarship;

— Learned that the Hudson-Mohawk Birding Club has awarded $250 to Westmere Elementary School for its bird-watching center, developed by enrichment teacher Robert Whiteman;

— Heard that Guilderland High School students under the direction of art teachers Meredith Best and Rae Marie Schauer and media director Nicholas Viscio won awards at the 2006-07 Annual Media Arts Festival.
Sophomore Matt Hart won Best Narrative Drama in the video category for his piece, "Quiet boy."
Juniors Ethan Young, Valera Zakharenko, and Denis Zunon won Best Action Video and Best Editing Video for their piece, "The Package."
Senior Brendan Chapman got an honorable mention for his digital photograph, "Welcome to America."
Senior Chelsie Richards got an honorable mention for her graphic design, "Vendetta Studios."

Also, these students participated in a project with The College of Saint Rose to create a poster for the Hunger Action Network: seniors Chelsie Richards and Stacy White, and junior Kristin Wood;

— Learned that a team of high-school students — junior John Raffensperger, and seniors Miles Malerba, Robert Dygert, and Eric Trottier — won the first-place trophy in Siena College’s Programming contest. The students, advised by Warren Bollinger and Dave Kosier, were given seven problems that required them to work as a team to write a commuter program as a solution;

— Heard that the public is invited to the Second Annual Living Museum of American History at the high school gym on May 31. Students will portray famous Americans and answer questions in character. The first session runs from noon to 2 p.m. and the second from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.;

— Heard that Ryan Pendergast, an eighth-grader at Farnsworth Middle School, won the Fulvi Love of Language Award from the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers. He won a $50 savings bond for his understanding of the Spanish language and culture;

— Learned that Farnsworth science teacher Julie Long and enrichment teacher Deb Escobar were inducted into the National Honor Roll as Outstanding American Teachers;

— Heard that school will be closed on May 25 because the spare day wasn’t needed for inclement weather or an emergency closing; and

— Went into executive session to discuss the appointment of a superintendent of building and grounds and for a negotiation update.