The Guilderland School Board was chosen for the “nice” list because it filled a board vacancy by conducting interviews in a public videotaped session. Mark Grimm was lauded for his push for government transparency.

While the waiting list for Guilderland is long, James Mastrianni explained that just 76 of the 333 applicants on that list either live or work in town and those applicants move up the list faster than out-of-town residents.

The town board agreed to hire Core & Main to install about 10,000 water meters in homes across town for just under $5 million and also agreed to a table of updated fees, requiring building permits for the first time for projects like replacing windows, roofs, and siding.

While one board member said it feels like the Foundry Square developer is holding a gun to the town’s head, the town planner said there was no threat and the developer has made compromises and will do heavy lifting to solve longstanding pollution and traffic problems.

Sarecha has enlisted two of his Hindu friends to help him gather signatures for a petition to recognize Diwali as an academic holiday, a day off from school so they can pray and celebrate with their families.

“We have a high level of [residents] below the poverty line in this district …,” said Meredith Brière. “We have a high number of renters and we have to remember, when giving exemptions, those tax implications end up on the entire population including renters because rents will go up.” Bringing the ceiling up to $50,000, she said, “just seemed really high” while at the same time $29,000 “is really a difficult number to live on.” She went on, “So we came to a compromise of $35,000.”

“The historical anomaly here is the health-insurance increase,” said AndrewVan Alstyne. “We’re projecting a $2.2 million increase in health insurance. That is unusually large.”

The goal is to announce the new superintendent by July 1.

GUILDERLAND — Marie Wiles, superintendent of the Guilderland schools, sent a notice on Dec. 11 to parents and guardians of students, letting them know that a Level 3 sex offender has moved into the district.

Level 3 sex offenders are those, on a three-level scale, deemed most dangerous and most likely to reoffend. 

Guilderland’s forum, billed as a panel on a “distraction-free school environment,” was held the same day that New York State United teachers held a press conference at the capitol in Albany, calling on the governor and legislature to ban cell-phone use during the school day statewide.