Straut, 52, holds a Ph.D. from Cornell in adult education and organizational change, and now works closely with the State Education Department as a part-time school-improvement specialist for Measurement Incorporated.

Straut said that her first term on the school board has prepared her for a second.
“There’s a huge learning curve when you enter the board,” she previously told The Enterprise. “I thought I was qualified then. Now, I feel even more qualified.”
She and her husband have three children; one is in college and two remain in Voorheesville schools, she said. Her husband, Richard Straut, was recently appointed a village trustee in Voorheesville.

“I really don't gravitate to one issue, but I think that the public realizes we are attending to many issues,” Straut said. “We have a number of issues, like spinning plates, that we must balance — master-schedule concerns, the needs of three different buildings, implementation of new curriculum and assessments, fluctuations in class size, community concerns about the tax levy, and opportunities for all of the students in our schools, to name just a few. That's why I don't gravitate to a particular issue, but seek a balanced, transparent approach to decision making,” Straut wrote in an email to The Enterprise.

Jeannie McDonnell, 50, is the director of finance at the Healthy Capital District Initiative, a not-for-profit in Albany. McDonnell has lived in the district for 15 years, and has three daughters; one is a junior, and two are freshmen.

McDonnell said that she has been “greatly involved in the Voorheesville community,” serving on the board of the Voorheesville Community Preschool, the board of the Friends of the Library in Voorheesville, and as Parent Teacher Association treasurer. She was a Kiwanis soccer coach for many years, and taught faith-formation classes at St. Matthew’s Church in Voorheesville. She worked as a substitute teacher and teacher’s aid in Voorheesville for two years. McDonnell volunteers at the Heldeberg Workshop, and coached Odyssey of the Mind for five years, she said.

“I’m not running for a specific issue,” McDonnell said. “I just really love this community. I think I have enough experience with volunteering and working in the schools to understand policies and help move those policies along.”

Rachel Gilker, 44, moved to Voorheesville from Vermont five years ago. She has three children, all under sixth grade. Next year, all three will attend Voorheesville schools.

Gilker holds a Ph.D. in soil science, and works as a farmers’ consultant.

“I strongly believe in science-based decision-making,” she said. She is running for the school board to enhance communication between the community and to enhance the decision-making process, she said. Gilker wants teachers to have “more active roles” in how the schools are run, she said.

“Tricia Putman and I have been campaigning together. We have similar desires to enhance communication” and to advocate for the representation of students, teachers, and other members of the community, Gilker said.

Gilker wants to represent the elementary school on the board, she said, noting that current members do not have young children.

Patricia Putman, 47, said her over 20 years in finance and management has “involved various responsibilities including: creating and managing budgets; serving in leadership roles; balancing competing priorities with limited resources; and considering the needs of all stakeholders.”

About five years ago, she and her husband, Chris Dowd, “decided that I would take a break from my career to focus on our girls” — Gabrielle, 12, and Sadie, 11, both Voorheesville students —  “as well as our community,” she wrote in an email to The Enterprise.

In that time, she has led the school and community garden, as well as leading the effort to start the Voorheesville Farm to School Initiative, she said, and has also coached an Odyssey of the Mind team for five years.Voorheesville Farm to School Initiative, she said, and has also coached an Odyssey of the Mind team for five years.

“These programs have given me the opportunity to work directly with students, teachers, and parents in and out of the classroom. The experience has helped me to gain greater appreciation for the complexities of the classroom as well as the challenges our teachers face while educating our kids,” she said. “It has also helped me to better understand that success should be measured differently for each person, and that children can enjoy ‘their’ successes if given the right opportunities and environment.”

After attending many school board meetings over the last five years, Putman said she has decided to do her part and run for the board.

“I think that our BOE and district has done many great things, and I wouldn’t propose any radical changes,” she said. “My greatest focus would be the students — offering engaging curriculum and appropriate class sizes that serve the needs of the full range of students.  I would also like to provide a channel for the concerns of parents, the community, teachers and students.  I would plan to drive positive change in a collaborative manner while being extremely mindful that we have limited resources and our school tax burden is already quite high….I know from experience that it’s not always efficient or easy to practice real-life shared decision making. The process can be difficult. It involves trust, openness to differing viewpoints and a willingness to really listen. But in the end, it is what pulls us together and engages us as a team.”

Aerosol-free locker rooms

At April’s school board meeting, the board learned that a student had a severe physical reaction to aerosols used on campus, and that the school created a one-room aerosol-free locker room space for students to use.

The student’s mother, however, asked the board to make the school aerosol-free to prevent health issues for all students and staff.

“For now, the one room was the quickest solution we could put in place — not the ultimate solution, the fastest,” Straut said.

Straut said that the district’s consumer science program and art classes may use aerosols, and that the district must upgrade its ventilation system.

“There’s always more to an issue than meets the eye,” she said. “Putting a new...policy in place, and ensuring proper implementation, oversight, and compliance take some time,” Straut wrote in her email.

“My initial thoughts concerning an aerosol-free policy gravitate toward the safety of our staff and our students,” Puman wrote in her email. “Everyone deserves the right to a safe learning environment.  I used to work with someone that had severe reactions to aerosols, so I have seen how serious the situation can be.

“Since there are viable alternatives to aerosols, I would support an aerosol-free policy for the entire school.  With that said, before instituting any policy at the school, I would first want to hear both sides of the story and better understand the impact of such a policy.”

McDonnell said that her children did not bring up the aerosol-free locker room to her, and that she would need more information to determine if a single room would cause a hardship for students, but she said about aerosol-free zones that “something like this should be schoolwide.”

“This is a very big issue,” Gilker said.

Referring to Voorheesville’s security system, she said that the district is “spending thousands of dollars to lock people out,” while an “actual risk in school has been demonstrated,” she said referring to the illness-inducing aerosols.

“We don’t need to have aerosols in the schools,” she said.

Project Lead the Way

McDonnell called the district’s foray into the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) enrichment program Project Lead the Way “a step in the right direction for students who need to pursue engineering.

“Being a smaller school,” she continued, “it’s good initiative to get some of those electives in place.” One of her three daughters, she said, may lean toward the sciences and be able to take advantage of the enrichment classes.

“We’re excited to have Project Lead the Way available for our students,” said Straut. “Voorheesville really is not on par with what other schools are doing locally,”

She said that the district is working to open the teaching schedules to make room for the courses.

“I’m very excited about it,” Straut said. “Bringing Project Lead the Way is a collaborative work. Our teachers seem excited about it, too. It’s not the flavor of the day; it’s purposeful.”

“I am familiar with PLTW, but only know the bare basics,” wrote Putman in her email.  “After so many years of budget and program cuts, it is exciting to see new opportunities added to our school’s curriculum.  I know that the PLTW is a proven STEM [science, technology, engineering, math] curriculum which is already in use in many neighboring school districts — Bethlehem, Guilderland, Colonie, Schalmont, Mononhasen, Shenendehowa, Niskayuna and Albany — as well as nationwide.

“I like that it is project based learning and feel that such an approach can be extremely effective.  I also appreciate that the program provides teachers with resources and professional development.

Gilker said that the program is interesting.

“Will it work? I don’t know. At what cost? I don’t know,” she said. “It’s enrichment or acceleration? The two seem to be conflated. Enrichment and acceleration are not the same. Acceleration is not for the entire student body.

“It has a lot of potential,” Gilker continued, “but not all the questions have been answered, in my mind.”
Sports

Candidates were asked about Voorheesville athletics, and sharing teams with other districts.

“When you are in a small district,” wrote Putman in an email, “I think you have to be willing to collaborate with other districts whenever possible — whether it's sports, curriculum, transportation, or whatever else makes sense.  It seems mutually beneficial to me.  It keeps expenses down and allows more options for our students.”

“I think it’s great to combine resources,” Gilker said. “We could look at doing that academically.”

McDonnell had no comment about the sports teams between districts, but said that her family is involved in Voorheesville athletics, including in soccer, track, cross-country, and softball.

One of Straut’s children was also involved with athletics in Voorheesville, she said.

“Athletics is a valuable part of a student’s experience,” she said. She noted that, in addition to the combined Guilderville swim team, the board recently approved an agreement to share a wrestling team and a hockey team.

“We’re trying to make opportunities for kids who want to participate,” Straut said. “Our athletics, our athletes, bring a lot of pride to our school.”

“I’m excited about the opportunity to serve, again,” Straut said. “I hope people feel that I have made good decisions and that I’ve been transparent.”

Straut picked up her petition to run for a second term on the first day they were available.
“I’m really excited for our district,” she told The Enterprise. “We keep getting better and I find that very exciting.”

“The candidates running — they are a lot of wonderful candidates,” Gilker said. “It...makes me proud that people want to support this community.”