GUILDERLAND — Gregory Aidala announced Tuesday night that he will retire next November after seven years as the superintendent of the Guilderland schools.
He said his time at Guilderland had been "professionally rewarding and personally rewarding" and called it the pinnacle of his career.
"It will be tough to replace you," said Richard Weisz, the school board president, as he "very regretfully" accepted Aidala’s resignation and praised his "splendid work."

Two weeks ago, the school board had unanimously voted to give Aidala a 4.25-percent raise, boosting his salary to $150,000. The raise was the only change in a contract that ran until 2008.
Aidala said then, "I continue to find my position very challenging and very rewarding. I enjoy being superintendent of schools very much."
In his Nov. 22 letter of resignation, Aidala wrote: "I will leave Guilderland knowing that the services available to children are first rate, there is very strong interest in and community support for our schools, and that the underlying strength of our organization continues to be an unyielding commitment by our staff to work as a team in a cooperative effort to help children."
The search process for a new superintendent, Weisz said at Tuesday night’s meeting, will be "a consensus effort." The board discussed that process in executive session at the end of the meeting.
Aidala said afterwards that the board was deciding "what process to follow" and met with the Board of Cooperative Educational Services district superintendent. BOCES offers a service to help districts find superintendents.
"That’s not an appropriate topic for an executive session," Camille Jobin-Davis, assistant director for the New York State Committee on Open Government told The Enterprise yesterday. She reviewed the eight reasons the state’s Open Meetings Law allows for closed sessions and said, "There was no basis to enter into an executive session."

Weisz responded through The Enterprise yesterday, "Our information from BOCES is, when you’re putting together components for a new superintendent, that’s like a negotiation."
One of the eight reasons allowed for executive session is "collective negotiations pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law."
This is a reference to the Taylor Law, explained Camille-Jobin-Davis, and "pertains only to negotiations with unions for the employees’ contracts." She went on, "It does not have to do with having a particular entity to perform services."

Wiesz went on to tell The Enterprise yesterday, "Certainly the process will be an open process with a series of public forums to develop criteria for the description of a candidate. We will publicly advertise it"There will be stakeholder groups conducting interviews to make recommendations. Ultimately, the selection will be done in a public manner."
Weisz concluded at Tuesday’s meeting that Aidala’s departure would be "both a step backwards and a step forward." He said, "We will go on and I’m sure find a suitable candidate for a great school district."
"Always work to be done"

Aidala, who is 55, told The Enterprise he has made no plans for what he’ll be doing next — after his Nov. 16, 2007 retirement date.
"I’ve had a personally rewarding career for 34 years," said Aidala.

He started that career as an eighth-grade math teacher.
"I love math," said Aidala.

He became a middle-school assistant principal and then a middle- school principal before becoming a superintendent of a small district, a post he held for 12 years before coming to Guilderland, a large suburban district.
Aidala said he doesn’t plan on moving after his retirement. "I have a place in Salem and a place in Guilderland," he said. Aidala went on, about his wife, who is a teacher, "She is working one more year after I retire. I think she’ll have some things for me to do."

The couple raised two children — a daughter, who is an attorney, working for a judge in Denver, and a son, a recent graduate of St. Lawrence University, who is working with senior citizens in Glens Falls, selling insurance.
When asked what he sees as his most important contribution during his years at Guilderland, Aidala said, "I’m going to be here for 12 more months...I want to take the approach of what I’ll be working on this year."
He went on to name a long list of initiatives already underway, including analysis of the district’s health insurance, dealing with "another challenging budget year," working with a task force on the school day, and seeing what proposals are made by a committee of high school English and social studies faculty.
"There’s never a good time to retire," said Aidala. "With schools, there’s always work to be done."

Other business

In other business, the board:

— Heard a report from UHY Advisors, consultants it hired, evaluating the district’s health-insurance plan;

— Accepted the resignation, effective Dec. 22, of Larry Gillooley, the assistant director of health, physical education and athletics, a post he held for five years. He is resigning to become director of health, physical education, and athletics at Niskayuna, another Suburban Council district, said Aidala;

— Adopted previously reviewed policies on equal educational opportunities, entrance age, food-service management, and free and reduced-price food services.
"It doesn’t appear there’s any significant change of substance," said Weisz, to which the policy committee’s chairwoman, Barbara Fraterrigo, agreed;
— Heard from Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Nancy Andress that Aidala will facilitate a roundtable discussion during the "New Superintendents Success Seminar" on Dec. 6 at the Crown Plaza in Albany, an event hosted by the New York State Council of School Superintendents;
— Learned that Sheila Elario, art supervisor, will give a workshop, "Regional Strategies for Successful Collaboration in the Visual Arts," at the National Art Education Association national conference in March in New York City; and

— Met in closed session to also discuss two student issues. No formal actions were taken, Aidala said yesterday.