"The worst thing you can do is make no decision," the vice president of the school board told his colleagues as they wrestled with reams of public opinion on how to solve the problem of too much space for too few students.

GUILDERLAND — Brenda McClaine, who was treasurer of the Guilderland Teachers’ Association when she stole over $100,000 from the union, no longer works for the Guilderland School District.

In exchange for her resignation, the school board agreed to withdraw the disciplinary charges the superintendent had filed against McClaine, to pay the district portion of her health insurance until June 30, 2015, and also to allow her two fifth-grade children to finish out their school year free of charge.

Those responsible for websites for Albany County, the town of Guilderland, and Guilderland schools found both fault and value in this fall's statewide survey by an Albany think tank.

It’s not your grandmother’s business program where girls, seated in straight rows, dutifully learned shorthand and typing so they could become secretaries.

GUILDERLAND — A controversial consultant’s report led to a collegial forum on Nov. 19 as 74 district residents participated in the first summit on the future of Guilderland schools.

ALTAMONT — Marc Smith grew up in Altamont, in a pillared house that looks like it came from Gone with the Wind. As a kid, he delivered newspapers, riding his bike up and down village streets — “not throwing them, but taking each newspaper to the door,” he says.

Raymond Perry can replicate the sound of an owl.

In fact, he can replicate the sound of all three species of owls that visitors to Five Rivers might be likely to hear. Beyond that, he can make a variety of noises that the owls would make in different situations.

Brenda McClaine was a math teacher at Guilderland when she stole over $100,000 in union funds. She was sentenced last week to six months, served on weekends, so she will coninue working at the district office.

Guilderland High school Assistant Principal Ann-Marie McManus said the school wants to be the first stop for prevention and intervention when it comes to illegal drug use.

Adam Rappaport’s suicide last month in the Albany County jail embodies two nationwide problems for inmates today — drug addiction and self-harm.