Two new leaders have been selected to head up the Guilderland Board of Education, and the body has also chosen a new assistant principal at the high school.
Guilderland school board members on Tuesday, July 2, voted to elect long-time member Barbara Fraterrigo as president and Allan Simpson as vice president for the 2013-14 school year. The previous president was Colleen O’Connell and the former vice president was Gloria Towle-Hilt. Board members elect the leadership positions annually.
Catherine Barber was also nominated for president, but Fraterrigo was elected by a vote of 6-2. Simpson was elected to vice president in a 5-3 vote, with past vice president Towle-Hilt also nominated. O’Connell was absent from the meeting.
Fraterrigo thanked board members for electing her and placing their “trust and confidence” in her leadership.
“I think I have a reputation for fairness, for being levelheaded,” Fraterrigo said before the board voted. “I love the colleagues I have here on the board. I think we make a great team and whoever gets the election I am sure will do a great job.”
Barber, who previously served as vice president for two years, said she returned to the board after leaving because she missed it. After her son graduated from high school, she had left the board. This is her eighth year serving.
“It is my passion, that is why I wanted to serve again and that is why I would like to serve as your president,” Barber said.
Simpson, entering his fourth year on the board, said his time has been a “very rewarding experi-ence.” He said serving on the board is very different from being a taxpayer and only “reading things.”
“I spend a lot of time preparing for things, so I can be as knowledgeable as I can about the subject matter,” Simpson said. “I listen to everybody’s input and I try to offer logical and reasonable feedback.”
The board on July 2 also unanimously appointed Rebecca Gleason to the position of assistant principal at the high school.
Gleason will fill the vacancy created by Aaron Sicotte, who left the district at the end of this school year to “pursue other career opportunities,” according to the district. Gleason will begin her position at Guilderland on Aug. 19 with an annual salary of $90,000.
Gleason started her career as an English teacher at Waterford Central Catholic School. She continued on to teach at Greene and Lansingburgh school districts and also was an adjunct faculty member at Hudson Valley Community College, Schenectady County Community College and the College of Saint Rose.
Most recently, she was the assistant principal and director of high school counseling at Niskayuna High School. Previously she was an English teacher and summer school principal at Niskayuna Central School District.
At Niskayuna, she was involved in several school activities and organizations, such as being a member of the Wellness Committee and Block Advisory Committee. She also mentored district faculty and staff and was active in the Parent Teacher Association.
Gleason received her bachelor’s degree in English from Elmira College and earned a master’s degree in reading from The College of Saint Rose. She received an administrative certification from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
In other news, at the board’s June 18 meeting it unanimously approved extending Superintendent Marie Wiles’ contract to June 30, 2016, with an annual salary of $178,518.
