GUILDERLAND — As the nine school board members talked Tuesday night about their priorities for next year’s budget, inclusion of all students was at the center of their discussion.

The last school board meeting had featured a presentation on inclusion, a nationwide movement to bring special-needs students into the same general-education classroom with both average and gifted students — each supported by a team of experts.

“We need to be very realistic,” said board member Gloria Towle-Hilt, a retired middle-school teacher, stating a timeline and estimates of costs are needed.

Board member Christopher McManus called the presentation and the Enterprise article that followed, on an elementary student with cerebral palsy who has been happily included in an Altamont classroom, “inspirational.” But, he went on, there needs to be an understanding of what the process is — will students in all buildings be included? — and how it will be funded. “With state money, Guilderland money, or grants?” he asked.

Board member Colleen O’Connell said she shared concerns about “how and why” inclusion will happen. She also said that the district needs to communicate with parents about how inclusion will affect “general-education kids.” Parents at a recent high school PTSA meeting had made comments “not meant to be hateful,” she said, but showing they needed more information.

Towle-Hilt said later in the discussion that someone in the advertising business had told her, “A person needs to hear things seven times before they actually hear it.”

Board member Seema Rivera said inclusion was a good model but warned, “We need to go slowly with that.”

Board member Barbara Fraterrigo called inclusion “wonderful” but said students at the other end of the learning spectrum needed support with enrichment programs.

Towle-Hilt responded that, ideally, children across the learning spectrum, including gifted students, would have their needs met in an inclusive classroom.

She also said, referring to her time as a middle school teacher, “This was the vision of the ’70s — to meet the needs of all kids.” But then, she said, as resources dried up, “That vision got blurred.”

Towle-Hilt went on, “We need to clarify what the vision is,” outlining a timeline with steps and stages. She said constant professional development and support for teachers would be needed and that “class size is going to be crucial.”

When classes grew to include 30 or 32 students, Towle-Hilt said, “We couldn’t meet the needs of the kids.”

“We are just, just beginning,” said Superintendent Marie Wiles. She said the first step is to “take stock of where we are...where our students are and how they receive their services...building by building, classroom by classroom...We’ll be taking baby steps.”

Earlier in the meeting, Wiles had proposed that, on March 11, elementary school students be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. so that their teachers could be trained in the afternoon by Julie Causton, a professor in the Inclusive and Special Education Program in the Department of Teaching and Leadership at Syracuse University. Causton has been working with Guilderland educators at various grade levels on such techniques as collaborative teaching; behavioral strategies; and the universal design of lessons, which allow students of varied abilities to have choices in how they learn.

The district originally planned to have substitute teachers cover the classes during Causton’s training sessions but substitutes are in short supply regionally, Wiles said.

Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Demian Singleton, who made last month’s presentation on inclusion, had this advice for the board members Tuesday night: “Slow down,” he said.

Next year’s budget, he said, won’t be greatly affected by inclusion. “We have to not jump that far ahead...We have to learn to do it right,” Singleton said. “I hear the angst and anxiety...but it’s not going to be overnight.”

Singleton also said, “It will take multiple years...We are in the mode of learning...Very small steps will emerge over time...This is not a program...it is a philosophy, a system of beliefs, a set of values...a cultural thing...valuing every child.”

General education, he concluded, is the starting point.

Wiles agreed. She said, if inclusion were a program, the district would have a timeline. Rather, she went on, “This is work that is transformative...classroom by classroom, educator by educator...We’re not saying ‘full inclusion’ because we don’t know if we can even get there...It’s an evolution.”

Other budget matters

At the start of Tuesday’s meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders went over the logistics of construction and state building aid reimbursements for the 2016-17 budget. New debt from the $17.3 million construction project now underway — updating the district’s schools, improving security, and paying for advances in technology — will replace retiring debt, saving $341,000 next year.

But, at the same time, building aid is expected to decrease by about $566,000 next year, creating a loss in revenue. This means the tax levy would need to go up by $245,000 to make up the difference, Sanders said.

“All other things being equal, we’d have to raise taxes $245,000,” he said.

Board member Judy Slack asked if that would be part of the 0-percent increase that the state’s tax-cap law will require next year. The law states that schools can’t raise the levy over 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less, without a supermajority of voters approving the hike. Since the Consumer Price Index is at zero, this means Guilderland and other districts can’t increase their tax levies unless 60 percent of voters approve the budget.

“No,” Sanders answered Slack. “It doesn’t count in terms of how much we have with the CPI.” Building project costs, he said, “are not limited or capped by the CPI.”

When listing their budget priorities, several board members said it is important to maintain a healthy fund balance and also to evaluate current programs to see if they should be continued or modified.

Slack, a retired teaching assistant, noted the large number of teaching assistants cut to help close budget gaps in recent years and said, “I’m saddened there aren’t more TAs in the elementary schools.”

Slack said, when she visits schools, “I’ll feel a little tug: ‘Could you just help me for a minute?’” she’ll be asked, Slack said.

McManus said he hoped to have a decision made on whether or not the district would house outside pre-kindergarten programs in some of its unused or underused classrooms. Fraterrigo referenced a possibility mentioned by Rivera — a Chinese immersion program now located in Saratoga that is “looking for a more central location,” Rivera said.

“With the CPI so low...I don’t think we can be very ambitious,” said O’Connell. “We need to be very cautions...maintain the status quo.”

“We don’t want to chip away” at programs, said board member Catherine Barber. Part of inclusion, she said, is challenging student with courses they want.

Several members also mentioned, with newly elected leadership in the town of Guilderland, the district should work with the town, marketing Guilderland.

Other business

In other business, the board:

— Heard from Singleton that a Smart Schools Investment Plan will be drawn up by a committee made up of a wide variety of stakeholders to decide how the district should spend state money — Guilderland is to receive $2,096,732 — from the Smart Schools Bond Act of 2014. The district submitted an Instructional Technology Plan that was approved and next has to create an investment plan to show how the funds will be used.

Parents, teachers, administrators, board members, students, and the public will participate in the plan, which is to be approved by the school board. The plan will be posted on the district website for 30 days to allow for written feedback and the board will also hold a hearing on the plan, which then must be approved by a state board.

On Dec. 10, the school board’s Business Practices Committee will decide how the 23 to 26 committee members will be selected. The goal is to have the plan by mid-February, which Singleton called an “ambitious timeline”;

— Heard that six Guilderland music students have been recognized by the New York State Band directors Association; ensembles will play at a Syracuse symposium on March 4 to 6. Isabella Wu will play clarinet in the High School Honor Band; Avery Heaney on saxophone and Jason Sindoni on tuba were named as alternates. Rose Petitti and Tracy Wei will play flute in the Middle School Honor Band; Aidan Fusco on trumpet was named an alternate;

— Learned that Guilderland High School students participated in an American Chemical Society webinar on Nov. 17, doing taste experiments led by Chemistry Club members;

— Heard from Wiles that a total of 30 tons of goods were recycled at the Fall Recycling Extravaganza held at Farnsworth Middle School in October; she praised the district’s recycling coordinator, Renee Panetta;

— Approved an agreement with Endicott College to accept student interns.;

— Designated Capital Bank as a depository for school district funds;

— Awarded Unifirst Corporation, the low bidder at $79,934 for 54 months, for uniform, mop, and mat services. Unifirst provides rental and cleaning of uniforms for maintenance staff and bus mechanics, dry mops used for cleaning throughout the district, and entrance mats for all schools in the winter;

— Approved change orders totaling $20,290 for the ongoing $17.3 million building project. The changes, said Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders are “all related to electrical work across three of our buildings”;

— Adopted policies on donations, gifts, and grants; instructional goals; Internet safety; interscholastic athletic placement; student gifts and solicitations; expense reimbursement; and meals and refreshment; and

— Met in executive session to discuss, according to the meeting agenda, “an incident relating to a potential discipline matter” and “the employment histories of particular persons and matters leading to potential discipline.”