GUILDERLAND — Gregory Aidala, who has been at the helm of the Guilderland School District for the past five years, sees himself as a problem-solver and a facilitator.

The school board voted unanimously and without discussion last Tuesday to extend the superintendent’s contract for a year, giving him a 3.5-percent raise, increasing his annual salary from $139,025 to $143,891.
Aidala has a "rolling contract," which includes "an evergreen clause," meaning the board can extend the contract each year for another year. Susan Tangorre, the district’s personnel director, told The Enterprise this week that such contracts are typical for superintendents. "They serve at the pleasure of the board," she said.

Without the extension, Aidala’s contract would have expired in 2007; now it will expire on Nov. 12, 2008, said Tangorre.

There were no other changes in the contract, she said.
Board President Gene Danese thanked Aidala for his hard work in what he termed "arguably one of our community’s most important positions."
"I love my job," Aidala told The Enterprise this week. "It’s very challenging, very difficult at times, but very rewarding."

He said that, although he’s been a superintendent for 17 years in two different districts, he learns something new every day.
Aidala declined to name the number of hours a week that he works but he said, "Here’s my philosophy: I’m usually at work by 7:15. I stay till I get the job done. I often have meetings at night...I could work at my job 24 hours a day...I try to have some life beside school."

Aidala said he is excited about the upcoming holidays and being with his family, particularly because his daughter, who lives in Colorado, will be visiting.

Aidala puts an emphasis on communication. The district’s website allows people to directly question the superintendent through e-mail. Aidala said he keeps his answers brief and tries to respond within two days. The program started two years ago and he received about 50 e-mails that year; the number about doubled this year.
He sends a packet of information to the school board members every week, Aidala said. "A lot of it is like, ‘Where’s Waldo"’ — What did Greg do this week," he said. "The board is interested in the superintendent’s role."
Aidala sees his role as first, a leader; second, a problem-solver; and third, a facilitator, "to move things along," he said.
"I’m not in the trenches day in and day out," he said. "My role is to keep the ball moving forward."
He’s proud of the way he got the middle-school expansion project on track soon after he became superintendent at Guilderland in November of 2005. Plans were underway for the project, but, he recalled, "The board said it didn’t build a strong enough case. They asked me to revise the information. I tried to organize it based on the middle-school philosophy. That was the blueprint for seeking community support."

The $20 million bond issue, for the first renovation and expansion of the middle school since it was built 30 years ago, passed with a solid vote and the project is now complete.

Asked about his relationship with the school board which employs him, Aidala stressed his role as facilitator. School boards are made up of part-time elected members. In some districts, the full-time professional, the superintendent, dominates the board; in other districts, the school board dictates the superintendent’s actions. Neither model applies to Guilderland.
"When the board struggles with issues," said Aidala, "I try to frame it with information to enhance the discussion."

He gave as an example the recent months of discussion on the issue of school security. Parents who served on a subcommittee were adamant, as were some board members, about the need to lock the elementary schools, while other parents and board members thought public schools should not be locked.
"The board looked to me as the superintendent for a recommendation," said Aidala. "I always consider myself an information provider to the board, so they have a good foundation.
"Before I made the recommendation to the board, I tried to say, ‘This is what we know: Our schools are safe; how can we make them safer"’"
He went on, "I feel my function is to make sure the board is well prepared. Once the meeting is underway, it’s their meeting. I’m an advisor."
With the school-security issue, the board discussion spanned two meetings that were two weeks apart. "When I left the first meeting, I wasn’t sure what my recommendation would be," said Aidala. "How do you present it to achieve consensus"" he asked himself.

He ultimately recommended that surveillance cameras be added to the elementary schools that didn’t have them and that the monitors continue to stay in place by the front doors, which will stay unlocked.
He asked for the board’s consensus, "And it worked," concluded Aidala.

Snow days
"Winter is almost officially here," Aidala told the school board last Tuesday. The district had its first snow day on Dec. 9 largely because of forecasts for heavy snow which, Aidala noted, didn’t materialize as predicted.

The decision-making starts at 4:30 a.m., he said, and he has five options to choose from — delaying the opening of school one or two hours, closing school for the day, opening school as usual but closing early, or holding a full day of school but canceling after-school activities.
"These are never easy decisions," said Aidala. He gets complaints from people who have the advantage of hindsight, he said.

Conditions in Altamont or on the shoulder of the Helderbergs can be very different than on Western Avenue in Guilderland, at a lower elevation, said Aidala.

Information on school closings and early dismissals is available on the district’s website, and on local radio and television stations; Aidala said the fastest way to get information is from television.
"If you’d like to take this part of my job, you’re welcome to it," said Aidala.

Other business

In other business, the board:
— Heard a request from President Gene Danese to keep comments brief to avoid a meeting like the last one, which he described as "marathon proportion in length."
"Our technical crew has to get home to do their homework," he said of the students who film the meeting for cable channel 16;

— Appointed Linda Bakst to serve as the board’s liaison to the Committee for Special Education. Colleen O’Connell will serve as her backup.

The committee, made up of parents and staff members, meets to decide on educational plans for special-needs students, which the school board approves.

Bakst said she’d like two more pieces of information — that the recommendations are in compliance with the least restrictive environment, and, if there were controversial issues, possibly heading towards litigation.
"We should do what’s best for the child and not worry about litigation," said board member Richard Weisz.
Board member Barbara Fraterrigo recalled how board members used to be given "voluminous" information on the committee’s recommendations.

Board member Peter Golden said he’d like to have a board member sit in on the committee meetings, as a representative of the board.

Superintendent Aidala responded that, with 750 special-education students in the district, sitting in on meetings would not be a productive use of a board member’s time.

Bakst volunteered to meet with Steve Hadden, the supervisor of special education, on a regular basis to review the more detailed information, similar to what all the board members used to receive.

The board will evaluate how the liaison post is working;

— Appointed three board members — Thomas Nachod, Weisz, and Golden — and one community representative — Steven Kozlowski — to a newly-formed audit committee as now required by state law.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders said an additional community member is needed;

— Heard from Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Nancy Andress that high-school music teacher Rae Jean Teeter has been named to a state office in the American Choral Directors’ Association; she will serve as New York’s chair for High School Repertoire and Standards. Teeter has written four choral reviews for Teaching Music Through Performance in Choral Music, Volume 2;

— Learned that wrestlers from Guilderland and Shenendehowa raised $1,600 for homeless families in New Orleans shelters. The wrestlers, led by Coach Regan Johnson, collected sponsors and pledges from their families and friends for a 5-kilometer run in Guilderland the day after Thanksgiving;

— Heard that three Guilderland students have been selected to participate in the New York State Honor Bands next March.

Oboist Meredith Hall will perform with the high-school ensemble under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Renshaw of the University of Connecticut.

Two Farnsworth Middle School students — flautist Samantha Crouse and oboist Katie Hart — will play under the direction of Dr. Patrick Jones from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia;

— Learned that Susan Lafond will travel to Lebanon for eight days in January as part of a team to offer training to teachers there. The program is part of the New York State United Teachers Education and Learning Trust;

— Heard congratulations for members of fall sports teams that qualified for Scholar-Athlete Awards: boys’ and girls’ cross-country, field hockey, football, boys’ and girls’ soccer, girls’ swimming, girls’ tennis, and boys’ and girls’ volleyball.

Each team had an academic average of 90 percent or above. Each student on the team receives a pin from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association;

— Learned that Meredith Best, high school art teacher, will participate in the winter exhibit at the Daily Grind in Troy as one of 29 regional artists in the show, which runs through Jan. 30;

— Heard that letters will be sent to PTA’s and to former members of the district’s budget review committee, inviting residents to join a new committee being formed to study alternative sources of revenue for school funding.

Information will also be posted on the district’s website, on cable channel 16, and in school newsletters;
— Reviewed two policies, presented by the board’s policy committee. One is titled "Internet and Computer Acceptable Use and the other is "Alcohol and Drug Testing of Bus Drivers"; and

— Met in executive session to discuss administrative performance reviews and fringe-benefit costs and collective bargaining agreements.