GUILDERLAND — Two candidates who, before the election for school board president, said they had different leadership styles are now a leadership team.

Gene Danese was elected president last Tuesday over Linda Bakst in a 5-to-4 vote by secret ballot. Bakst then bested Barbara Fraterrigo, 5-to-4, for vice president.

The pair had their leadership skills tested as the board had one of the most divisive meetings in recent history.

At issue was whether to lock elementary schools and hire front-door monitors in an effort to keep the five schools secure.

Six parents, most of them members of a committee making the proposal, spoke to the board in favor of the plan, pushing for a September start. Four spoke against it, or against immediate implementation.

In a split vote, the board ultimately agreed to hire the monitors but postponed locking doors until the plan is evaluated further.

The board’s discussion, following the installation of two newly-elected members and one incumbent, was characterized by more drama than has been seen in a decade.

At one point, Peter Golden, a new board member, proposed that, if a child were to be harmed by an intruder, an intruder who would have been kept out by a locked door, then one of the board members who voted against the locked doors should be required to inform the family of the tragedy.
President Danese had tried to keep the matter from coming to a vote by stating such a motion wasn’t needed. "I think we would all feel bad if something happened," he said, stating it wouldn’t matter who had voted for or against the locked doors. "We all would apologize," he said.

The vote on that motion was the only near-unanimous vote in the long meeting. It was defeated, 8-to-1, with Golden casting the sole vote for it.

The plan

The security plan was developed by an advisory subcommittee of the district's Safe and Drug-Free Schools Committee. The advisory group had been formed after Frank Falvo, the parent of two Pine Bush Elementary School students, had told the board at a budget session in October that more school security was needed. He co-chaired the committee.

The matter became a budget issue in April when the board had a lengthy and heated debate before adopting a $76 million spending plan that was ultimately passed by voters.

Members of the subcommittee made a last-minute request in April to fund front-door monitors at the elementary schools; the district’s middle school and high school already have such monitors.

In June, the subcommittee presented its plan to hire five part-time security monitors for the five elementary schools, at an estimated cost of $32,500, and to install magnetic locks with entry buzzers at the main entrance of each school, at an estimated cost of $10,000.

Additionally a pass-key entry-access system would be installed at three of the elementary schools with the most outside use — Guilderland, Pine Bush, and Westmere — at an estimated cost of $16,500.
"The new piece to me is locking the doors," said board member Colleen O'Connell at the June meeting. "I think that is a change of culture...a change of atmosphere."

Currently, notices are posted at all school entrances, directing visitors to sign in at a central location where a log book is kept. Identification tags are required for all staff and visitors. And video cameras have been installed at the main entrance of Westmere and Lynnwood elementary schools and throughout Farnsworth Middle School, which is being renovated.

O’Connell also expressed concern at the June meeting that the security committee had not consulted with the five elementary-school PTA’s or with the building cabinets, which are the site-based management teams made up of administrators, staff, and parents.

The Enterprise subsequently published two letters echoing those concerns.

Five families push for plan
At last Tuesday’s meeting, the discussion began as Robert Matthews, a parent of two children attending district schools, expressed his "frustration" that the process had taken eight months.
He said that the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999 and the terrorists’ attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 had "transformed how we view safety and security in almost every facet of our lives."
He said that airport screenings are accepted as "a matter of necessity."
"We do what we must," Matthews said, questioning why it was "such a big deal" to lock school doors and have monitors.
"Our culture has changed drastically and not for the better...Let’s deal with that reality," he said.
"The funding is available and already earmarked," Matthews told the board, urging, "Lead. Don’t wait for a public-opinion poll....Make the right choice and secure our schools now."
Falvo spoke next, telling the board, "The integrity of the district’s published policies must be upheld."
His wife, Tracy Falvo, also a committee member, said, "We also want our school perceived as welcoming."
She said the security system would be "done right" and the schools would continue to attract parents and volunteers.

She also quoted a security expert that the general populace is not knowledgeable enough to make judgments concerning security measures.
Her husband, too, referred to the experts the committee had researched and said, "Any rational person must agree that the local PTA and the building cabinets of this district simply do not have the qualifications" of the list of experts he named.
"Where’s the research children are scared because there’s a doorbell on their school"" asked Tracy Falvo.
"I pray you will do the right thing for the more than 7,500 children in this district," concluded Frank Falvo.
Don Hesler, the father of three children in the district, said that "proper review channels have been utilized" in developing the plan.
Carolyn Kelly, another subcommittee member, said that, while locking doors "is a change," metal detectors, retinal scanners, and finger-printing would be a big change.
"It is the duty of this elected body of officials to take the necessary action to protect our children," said Kelly. "All of you are extremely intelligent, highly educated people. Please do not let emotion enter into this matter."
She, too, advised, "Listen to the experts as you would in any other facet of your life."
Kelly concluded with an anonymous quotation: "Evil persists when good people do nothing."

Timothy Murphy said that he and his wife both work for the State Police and are the parents of three children and they support the security plan.

Four raise concerns

Michele Trembly, president of the Lynnwood PTA, urged the board to delay until parents are presented with more information.
"I don’t think it should be implemented until parents...know what’s going on," she said."

Karen Covert-Jones, the mother of two children in the district, said that she had read the subcommittee's report and disagreed with most of the recommendations.
"It is wrong to have a locked front door while school is in session," she said. "I do not want my children to attend school in a building with all the doors locked."
She went on, "As a parent, I want to be able to walk into the building, sign in, and then go where I need to go...It is wrong to try to force these recommendations on the school district without notifying parents."
She said she was also concerned about "a big, black hole" where more money is spent each year on security measures, taking away from teachers’ salaries, increasing class sizes, and lessening the chance for enrichment programs like foreign language at the elementary schools.
"I’m also worried about the paranoia I sensed while I read the report," she said. "I do not want my children...to be paranoid about going to school."

Cheryl Albens, the mother of two Guilderland students, said that she, too, was concerned with the tone of the report.
"I disagree, as a parent of an elementary student and a high-school student, that I am unable to ascertain a threat."

She also questioned the subcommittee's reliance on experts.
"For every expert on one side, there’s an expert on the other side and we have only heard one side of this," she said. "A more balanced approach needs to be taken before the school board makes a recommendation."
Eileen Dean, another parent, said, "I couldn't disagree with this proposal more...I don’t even know where this fear is coming from. I don’t understand what we’re supposed to be afraid of."

Board views
Board member Thomas Nachod commended the committee for using experts wisely and said, "At the end of the day, it’s all about the kids."
The board, he said, has to "listen to the pulse of the community."
He referred to a recent incident where Westmere Elementary School was locked down because of concerns about "a suicidal individual" in an apartment complex nearby.
"This is an area we should decide, not the PTA," said Nachod, urging the board, "Take action tonight. Do what’s right for the kids."

Nachod made a motion to spend roughly $60,000 to hire the part-time monitors, and install the locks and pass-key systems as the subcommittee had proposed.

Board member Linda Bakst said that she supported hiring monitors but the rest needed further discussion. She said that locked doors particularly troubled her and that would mark a culture change.
"You don’t turn on a dime," Bakst said of school districts. "We’ve heard from enough people that feel they’re being rolled over."

Bakst also said there would be practical problems, citing an example of a parent who rushes to school to pick up a sick child without having the proper identification to be admitted.
Finally, she said that she needed to respond to the "extraordinary rhetoric — as if my...thinking about this somehow constitutes an irrational mind. I feel insulted. I feel very insulted.
"I care about our children. I care about the message we send them. I care about their safety," she said, referring to both emotional and physical safety.
Bakst questioned the wisdom of the cited experts. "There is not scientific data," she said.
"I would really ask that the rhetoric be toned down and let’s engage in a discussion that isn’t about fear-mongering, that’s about what is a reasonable approach to take," she urged.
"I recognize the world has changed but sometimes I think it hasn’t changed as much as people are afraid it has," said board member Richard Weisz.
Weisz said he’d like more specific information on various aspects of the plan and would like input from teachers. "They’re the ones that will have to implement it," he said.

He suggested voting in September on a more specific plan.

O'Connell asked to hear from Brian Forte, the Guilderland Police officer who is stationed full-time in the high school as a school resource officer.
Forte said, "Locked doors are the greatest security measure you can take."

He also said monitors are more important, providing a face that people entering the school can relate to.
Forte went on about Guilderland, "I know we’ve always had this open-door, friendly atmosphere."
Then, providing the only levity in an increasingly tense meeting, Forte evaluated his comments, asking, "I’m really not saying anything, am I"...I should be a politician."
Laughter followed, then Forte answered a serious question about whether a monitor could stop an intruder. He said, probably not. The monitors would not be armed. Forte said, "I have nine shots in my gun. As soon as they’re gone, it’s duck and cover."

Golden questioned Forte on what would work best for security, asking if a combination of a locked door and monitor is perfect. Forte said it was, a statement Golden used later in his arguments.
Board member Barbara Fraterrigo said that she didn’t recall the board being asked about the installation of surveillance cameras in two of the elementary schools. "I think it’s left up to the experts...You do the right thing for the right purpose," she said.
"We’re all over the map," said Bakst about which groups had made security decisions.
"As a point of order, the board is responsible for this...You want input," said Golden, but to delegate is against the rules, he concluded.
"I don’t think it’s delegating responsibility; it’s listening to the community," board member John Dornbush responded.

Dornbush said he had come to support the monitors, but had just learned about the locked doors in June.
"This is a surprise to many parents," said Dornbush, noting there were strong feelings on both sides. He said more time was needed.

Many motions

O’Connell then proposed an amendment to Nachod’s motion.

She proposed hiring the part-time monitors but not immediately proceeding with the lock and pass-key systems. Rather, the cabinets and PTA’s at the elementary schools would be presented with the options for reaction and would report back to the board in October or November. Additionally, each of the five principals at the elementary schools would evaluate the monitoring system and report on the successes or problems with the program.
O’Connell said that teachers and staff need to be asked, "Do you think these other initiatives will affect the environment at the school and affect learning"" She concluded, "I don’t know how that’s going to come out."
At this point, Golden said he was confused. Referring to tapes he said he had watched of previous school board meetings, Golden said of Bakst, "Linda said she couldn’t counter the recommendation with any facts but she was uncomfortable with it...
"Quite frankly," he went on, "I’ve heard ignorance described as bliss but never as a virtue....The only answer to Linda’s discomfort is a tragedy which I suspect would lead everyone to lock the doors but by then one of the district’s children would have suffered from our neglect and I don’t know that I really want to do that.
"Another objection I heard came from Colleen," Golden went on, referring to O'Connell. "I heard quite a bit about this changing of culture," he said, speaking about segregationists who had opposed integration because it meant a change of culture.
"People don’t like change," said Golden.
He went on to refer to Forte’s assessment that locked doors and monitors would be "perfect."

Golden then asked the board to imagine itself as objective viewers as if on a jury, examining evidence, judging a school district that did not protect its children.
"I believe they would judge us harshly and that they should do so," said Golden, concluding, "It is a vote of conscience."

Later in the discussion, Bakst told Golden he had taken her comments out of context.
Weisz responded to Golden, "I don’t think this is a vote of conscience...I think we’re all in favor of what’s best for the kids. I think it’s a vote of pragmatism."

He said that, when Westmere Elementary first started locking its back door, it was often propped open.
"If we’re going to have a locked-door policy, we need to have people buy into it," said Weisz. He concluded, "I don’t want to have parents having conflicts with staff on a policy no one has bought into, which will fail unless everyone buys into it."

Catherine Barber, the other new board member, weighed in with her opinion, based, she said, on her reading of the subcommittee's report.
She said the recent incident at Westmere showed the lockdown procedure worked. "I don’t understand why permanent lockdown is necessary, based on this report," said Barber.
She also said, "I don’t know if...generalized anxiety about the times we live in justifies implementing a procedure to lock all the schools."
Barber added, "When I read the report, I had many, many questions."

She pointed out that just two experts, according to the report, had recommended the locked system with a monitor — a State Trooper who visited the schools and National School Safety and Security Services, a Cleveland-based consulting firm.
Barber went on, "It’s a bit heavy-handed...to say to the board, ‘If you don't agree with us, you don’t care about the safety of children...’"

Her experience, Barber said, is that the staff at the school does a really good job looking out for the children. She pointed out that high-school and middle-school students have more freedom, while elementary-school students are generally in the classroom with their teachers or escorted in orderly lines in the hallways.
"Why the concern" Why now" Why the elementary schools"" Barber asked.

As Fraterrigo proposed another motion to increase security spending to pay for full-time monitors, Danese squeezed in his opinion, following the board’s tradition of the president giving his views last.

Danese said he fully supported the recommendations of the subcommittee stating that, before students could reach self-actualization, they needed security.
"It’s a different world today," said Danese.

O'Connell asked for a vote on her proposal while Nachod said his was on the floor.

Superintendent Gregory Aidala interceded to say if O'Connell's amendment passed, it would replace the original motion.

In a split vote, 5 to 4, the board then passed a motion to replace Nachod’s motion with O'Connell's for just the monitors. Bakst, Barber, Dornbush, O’Connell, and Weisz voted for the motion.
Nachod said that school board members at Columbine were being sued. He urged the board to consider what kind of liability it would have if, "God forbid," there were a tragedy and the board had ignored the subcommittee’s advice.

It was at this point that Golden made his motion, requiring school board members voting against locked doors to inform a family of its tragedy.

After that motion was defeated, O'Connell's proposal, for just the monitors and a fall evaluation, passed in a split vote, 7 to 2. Golden and Nachod opposed the motion.
Fraterrigo then proposed beefing up security by outfitting the three elementary schools without surveillance cameras — Guilderland, Pine Bush, and Altamont — with the "unobtrusive systems."
She said the cameras would "complement the monitors."

Dornbush said it appeared the committee had other priorities, and money would be needed for that.

Fraterrigo said the cameras would be instead of the buzzer system, so the costs would be roughly the same.

That motion, too, was defeated in a split vote, 5 to 4. Danese, Fraterrigo, Golden, and Nachod voted for it while Bakst, Barber, Dornbush, O’Connell, and Weisz voted against it.