Weisz will seek third term Bakst bows out after nine years on board
Weisz will seek third term
Bakst bows out after nine years on board
GUILDERLAND After nine years on the Guilderland School Board, Linda Bakst will not seek a fourth term.
Bakst, the boards vice president, made the announcement at Tuesdays televised board meeting.
When she first ran for the school board, her son was in second grade and her daughter was in fourth grade.
Bakst appealed to those with young children to run for the board. She noted that only one of the boards nine members, Colleen OConnell, has an elementary-aged child.
Bakst said she believes the district is filled with well-intentioned, decent people as she noted there have been many "contentious challenges."
Referring to the superintendent, the director of human resources, and the assistant superintendents for business and for instruction, she lauded the "district team" as being "terrific people to work with."
The other two board members whose terms will be up this year are President Gene Danese and Richard Weisz.
Danese ran against Bakst for the board presidency and won this summer. Like Bakst, he has served three terms.
In July, when he assumed the presidency, he said this would probably be his last term on the board. Yesterday, Danese told The Enterprise he hasnt made a final decision yet, but will announce his intentions at the Feb. 28 board meeting.
Weisz, a lawyer, has served two terms. He told The Enterprise yesterday that he will run for a third term.
"I believe in public education," he said, "and I feel a commitment to continue. I still feel I have the energy to and something to contribute."
School-board elections are in May, at the same time as the budget vote. The posts are unpaid and candidates do not run on political party lines.
Bakst told The Enterprise one of the things she is proudest of accomplishing during her tenure on the board is helping to convince the New York State School Boards Association to lobby for pension reform.
"I think we’ve become more active lobbying," Bakst said of the Guilderland School Board. "We’ve become more visible with our legislators. I think I’ve been part of that."
Asked why she decided to step down, Bakst said, with a smile, "I need to look for gainful employment."
Her daughter is a college student now, and her son, who will be a senior at Guilderland next year, will be a college student soon, she said.
Bakst holds a bachelors degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton, a masters degree in public administration from Columbia University, and has completed all the requirements for a doctorate degree in public administration from the University at Albany save for writing a dissertation.
After staying home to raise her children, she started a full-time job in 2003 at the Anti-Defamation League. She was program director of the World of Difference Institute, training students and staff on issues of prejudice, until the job was cut.
"I feel nine years is a long time," Bakst went on of her board tenure. "It’s good for the district to have new blood, new ideas."
Asked about the future of the board, Bakst said, "I feel we need people who really value public education as their first priority. Yes, we need to have conversations on health insurance and saving money," she said after the meeting Tuesday night, where those were topics. "But we need to hear from people who hold education near and dear to their heart and see the investment it represents."
When Bakst announced that she would seek re-election three years ago, she said, "My philosophy is very much centered on looking at our students as whole people. There’s a lot of pressure in the world today to only look at performance and to measure in specific ways that I think are not enough...Not all children fit in a cookie cutter and we need to meet all their needs."
Bakst was elected to the board after a period of turmoil when budgets had been voted down, fueled by a citizens group demanding lower taxes.
Bakst chaired the board’s policy committee for a number of years and said at that time on an issue of major debate, "There are those not satisfied with the grading policy, but I think we took the right approach."
Bakst has been a stalwart opponent of seeking alternative funds, which was once the position of the boards majority. This year, the rest of the board voted to set up a committee to consider non-public funding for the schools.
"There’s a lot of pressure to look for other sources of revenue," Bakst said three years ago, referring to such means as pouring rights, foundations, or in-school advertising. "I want to communicate what my concerns are."
She had stated her view succinctly: "Public education should be supported by the public. It’s about democracy..."
