GUILDERLAND — The culture wars that riled last year’s school board elections here have calmed.

Only the three incumbents — Kimberly Blasiak, Rebecca Butterfield, and Judy Slack — are running to keep their seats in the May 16 election. Petitions were due on April 17.

Last year, in a hotly contested election, 10 candidates ran for four seats. For the first time in years, some candidates ran as part of a slate. Two slates of four formed while two candidates ran independently.

One slate was formed through a Facebook group called “Taking back our school boards” as part of the national Pro-parent Choice movement that started with parents objecting to their children having to wear masks in school.

The winning slate, which was supported by the teachers’ union, was made up of three current school board members — including Blasiak, who was chosen among six applicants to fill a vacancy in October 2020 — as well as a teacher.

Blasiak came in fourth, meaning she had to run again this year, while the others on her slate each won three-year terms.

The board has nine unpaid members, each serving a three-year term.

On May 16, Guilderland school district residents will also be voting on a $120 million budget for next year that keeps all current programs in place. The spending plan represents a 9-percent increase over this year and, with a marked increase in state aid, about a 3-percent levy increase, which stays under the state-set cap, meaning a simple majority vote is needed for the budget to pass.

The Enterprise interviewed the three incumbents in March as each was gathering the needed signatures to run. While Blasiak and Butterfield were committed to the race, Slack was taking a wait-and-see position as she gathered the required 96 names of voters.

“I did not want to have nobody running,” she told The Enterprise this week. She is now committed to serving for the next three years.

Slack noted the drawing on April 18 for positions on the ballot put her third, behind Blasiak and Butterfield.

“I want to be a voice for every student and every community member,” Blasiak told The Enterprise in March of her reason for running again. “I care about the community.”

During her two-year tenure on the board, Blasiak said the thing she was most proud of was securing a second school resource officer now stationed at Farnsworth Middle School. 

“Hearing our students stating they want to feel safe and this is important to them,” Blasiak said is why she feels good about having the second officer.

Asked about her goals if she is re-elected, Blasiak said, “It’s a board effort not an individual effort.”

Blasiak, who has four children in the Guilderland schools and is a long-time advocate for children with special needs, said her own goal is to develop “a solid strategic plan to make every student feel safe and welcome and to make sure everyone gets the support they need to feel successful.”

Butterfield, a pediatrician, said in a March email answering Enterprise questions, “I am proudest of our work over the last 3 years in diversity, equity and inclusion. When I joined the Board to fill a vacancy in 2019, I was part of a very frank phone call with recent Guilderland graduates on racism that they had experienced in the recent past at school. These conversations have continued for the last 3 years with students feeling more open about calling out these incidents and bringing them to the attention of school officials.

“But we know that so many incidents remain hidden and include those that are not only focused on race but also on gender, religion, disability, and sexual orientation, among others. I was proud to support the creation of a DEI board subcommittee and fund a full time DEI administrator.”

Asked about her goals if re-elected, Butterfield, who has a son at Guilderland High School, said she would like to continue adequate support for students’ mental-health needs.

“There has been a surge in anxiety and depression in adolescents, as well as increasing behavioral difficulties in younger children,” she wrote. “Having adequate counselors and social workers available in the schools is pivotal ….

“Ways to bolster student mental health — including providing more opportunities for student voices, building relationships, and giving each student a sense of belonging and acceptance — all should be examined and supported.”

Slack has served on the school board for 15 years and previously worked as a Guilderland teacher’s assistant for 24 years. Before that, as a mother with three children in the schools, she served as a volunteer.

The thing she is proudest of in her tenure on the board is hiring the current superintendent, Marie Wiles.

“What a difference she’s made — the quality of the people she’s brought in, the support the teachers have for her, the respect the community has for the district,” said Slack.

She added that Wiles “steadied the ship” and “understands all aspects of the district.”

Asked about her goals if re-elected, Slack said, “I want to make sure we stay on a steady course.”

She said the district is facing “a huge blow to finances” due to tax challenges following the town’s 2019 revaluation, causing the school district to refund large tax payments from businesses that have been successful in court.

“I want to make sure we keep the programming,” Slack said of courses and services offered to students.