School board ponders
Any catch to a Kaffeeklatsch"


GUILDERLAND — In an effort to improve communication with the public, school board member Barbara Fraterrigo has proposed "sort of a coffee klatsch" — sessions for community dialogue before some board meetings, with suggested topics as a draw.

Currently, board members listen to comments from the public during set periods in their meeting but generally do not respond.
Fraterrigo said at last Tuesday’s board meeting that she wants to overcome the public’s idea that "they’re talking to deadheads that aren’t going to respond to them."
Board Vice President John Dornbush called the recommendation "problematic," stating that each board member doesn’t represent the board.

Board member Peter Golden said people are intelligent enough to recognize individual opinions.

Board member Colleen O’Connell cited a school district downstate that had won an award from the National School Boards Association for having its board members meet with the public in community venues at scheduled times.
She suggested pairs of board members go to a diner in Guilderland like Mike’s or going to "that cute place in Altamont, the Home Front Café," to talk with residents.

Board member Hy Dubowsky said he favored taking the board to football games or to concerts at Tawasentha Park

Board member Cathy Barber said board members could attend neighborhood association meetings to answer questions.
Denise Eisele, at her first board meeting, said she had heard people say they felt like the board was unresponsive, and she supported board members responding, for instance, "Yes, I hear what you’re saying."

Dornbush recommended that the board’s communication committee come up with a proposal.

Fraterrigo made two other suggestions for improving communication, which met with less favorable reactions.

Fraterrigo suggested board members post more information about themselves on the district’s website, but several were wary of this, although they did agree e-mail addresses could be posted.

Currrently, the district’s website lists just the name, office, and length of term for board members. Fraterrigo pointed out that the town of Guilderland website posts pictures of elected officials.

Superintendent Gregory Aidala said the district’s website had a link, so that board members could be reached through the district clerk.
"People who have contacted the board"will tend to go to a board member they think is sympathetic," said Dornbush.
Aidala said he would "investigate" the matter further and report back to the board in August, warning, "You need to check your e-mails on a regular basis."

Fraterrigo also suggested letting the public have the last comment at board meetings.

Now, time is allotted for public comment at the beginning of board meetings and towards the end, just before board discussion.
Dornbush called the point "kind of moot" since, he said, the second public comment period had only been used once.
"It’s our meeting, held in public," said board member Thomas Nachod. "I hate to give the public, well-intentioned as they are, the last word."

Raises for subs

The board approved raises, effective July 1, for workers not represented by negotiating units.
"These are substitutes," said Susan Tangorre, the district’s human resources officer. "We try to be competitive with other districts."

Substitute teachers will now make $83 per day, $93 per day following 40 days of work in the district, and $150 per day for 15 days of consecutive substituting for the same teacher.

Substitute bus drivers’ pay ranges from $11.75 per hour for up to six months, to $15.50 per hours after 30 months and a minimum of 500 hours.

Pay for substitute nurses ranges from $16.25 per hour up to 25 days, to $20 per hour after two years.

Tutor rates are $22 per hour up to four years and $30 per hour after four years.

Test scorers make $100 a day and time keepers earn $30 per hour.

The pay rates for monitors and teaching assistants remains unchanged , ranging from $7.50 to $8.50 per hour.

Golden questioned Tangorre closely about the rates, asking if they were comparable to other districts’.
"Absolutely," she said.
Some of the rates hadn’t been raised in a very long time, said Tangorre. "You try to guess-timate at a fair and reasonable cost," she said.

Eisele asked why the pay for aides and monitors was so low.

Tangorre said comparisons are made with the current contract and rates are also based on supply and demand; it is hard to find substitute bus drivers and custodians, she said.

Nachod asked if Guilderland is on the high end for paying bus drivers.

Tangorre said many districts are offering more.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders said the district was trying other incentives to attract bus drivers.
"I’m happy for the bus drivers," said Eisele. But, she went on to say that the aids and monitors have direct contact with the students and she would like to see more attention to that.

Alternative funding

After receiving a report last month from a committee that reviewed alternative funding, the board discussed the next step.

Aidala said he had asked Sanders to put together a report over the summer on revenues generated by the district’s vending machines.

He also suggested details of the report be discussed by the board’s newly-formed business practices committee. The board members serving on the committee are: Dubowsky, Golden, Nachod, and O’Connell.

Aidala also said he had given a copy of the report, which included the option of forming a school and community foundation, to Guilderland’s town supervisor, Kenneth Runion; to Altamont’s mayor, James Gaughan; and to the director of Guilderland’s chamber of commerce, Jane Schramm.
Eisele, who served on the committee, said the concern had been expressed that it "will just fall into a black void."
Aidala suggested forming a focus group to "help us move forward."

Board President Richard Weisz, who pushed to have the committee formed in the first place, said someone to initiate a foundation could be encouraged.
"See if we can nominate likely suspects," said Weisz.

Other business

In other business at its July 11 meeting, the school board:

— Approved renting classrooms and providing ancillary services to the Board Of Cooperative Educational Services for next year.

The district will rent out 14 classrooms, at $12,000 each, for a total of $168,000. BOCES will also pay Guilderland $279,000 for ancillary services. Special-needs students participate in classes in their host school for art, music, and physical education and they have access to the library.
Weisz said that the rental rates aren’t rising. Aidala cited supply and demand and called the rates "favorable."
"Other districts are ready to step in," he said, adding that the rates were good compared to others state-wide.

Raising the rates, said Aidala, would raise the risk of losing the rentals to other schools; he said Guilderland’s central location helps in continuing to attract BOCES classes for special-needs students;

— Heard from Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Nancy Andress about the professional development sessions that staff members are attending over the summer;

— Heard congratulations for Farnsworth Middle School teacher Alan Fiero who has received a $1,000 Greater Capital Region Teacher Grant to improve academic intervention in middle-school science;

— Reviewed a list of recommended summer reading for Guilderland students, which is sent to local libraries and book stores, and is posted on the district’s website, in its newsletter, and on Channel 16;

— Heard from Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders 45 cellular telephones are issued district-wide, mostly to administrators, maintenance staff, computer technicians, and for emergency use. The total cost for the use of these phones is about $735 monthly, Sanders said.

Weisz commented that telephone records for school district phones are not private;

— Appointed Jeff Pitkin to the audit committee to replace Barry Hughes;

— Heard a request from Golden for copies of contracts with the district’s bargaining units. Aidala replied that contracts are public information;

— Heard a request from O’Connell that board members attend the Guilderland graduation ceremony.
"It’s really part of our celebration for these kids," she said.

Eisele agreed;
— Heard a suggestion from Weisz that the board "re-visit" how it spends its meeting time.
He asked board members to give "their written wish lists" to Adiala.
"I’m looking for ways of directing the school district," he said.