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There are four candidates running for two open seats and each will serve five-year, unpaid terms. The candidates did have to designate which seat they were running for and three picked the seat being vacated by Patrick Mason. Just Sandy Pangburn wanted to run for her seat.
Sandy Pangburn
I am seeking my third term on the North Colonie School Board.
My husband and I have two children, both graduates of Shaker High School, who are currently students at UAlbany and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I am a graduate of Niskayuna High School and I have a bachelor of science in math and an MBA from UAlbany. I am a lifelong resident of the Capital District and have lived in North Colonie for over 35 years. I have worked as an actuary for over 35 years and currently am employed by the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System. I am an enrolled actuary, Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
Q: Why are you running for the Board of Education?
A: I am running for school board because I feel, after 10 years on the board, I still have something to contribute to the School Board. The school district is embarking on a significant construction project over the next few years and I would like to see it through.
Q: The entire nation is talking about making schools more secure. How would you address that at North Colonie if you were elected?
A: Making schools more secure (hardening the schools) is part of the 2018-19 budget being voted on May 15 (voting is from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the district offices on Fiddlers Lane) as well as the $104 million capital project approved by the voters in 2017.
At the same time the district is softening the schools by adding more resources for social and mental health in the 2018-19 budget. We will need to continually assess how effective each strategy is and adjust accordingly.
Q: Standardized testing is an issue in New York state and across the nation. Are you in favor of them? Opposed? Why?
A: Unfortunately New York State standardized testing is anything but standardized. There is no way to normalize the results and effectively draw conclusions about student achievement or teacher effectiveness. I think that the administration of North Colonie has done an outstanding job under the continually changing directives and mandates coming from both the state and national level. And with funding tied to compliance, the local schools are between a rock and a hard place. Frankly, in my opinion, local school districts and classroom teachers are in the best position to judge student performance and they should be trusted to do so.
But until state and federal leaders grapple with the issues with standardizing testing, the school district must react or risk losing important funding streams.
Q: What sets you apart from the other candidates running?
A: I am running unopposed but my 10 years of experience on the BOE would set me apart from other candidates.
Alexandra Kane
I grew up in Loudonville, graduating from the Academy of the Holy Names High School in 1990. I attended Russell Sage College, class of ’94, having received a bachelors of science in nursing, I have worked in many areas of nursing, specializing in cardiothoracic surgery and heart transplant nursing. I then received my master’s of science in nursing from The University of Phoenix in Arizona in ’02. I went on to hold various leadership positions and currently am the director of GuildCare, a medical program in Albany serving those with chronic medical conditions and specializing in services for those with vision impairments. I have two children, Zachary, who is in the fourth grade at Southgate Elementary School and Julia, a sophomore at Shaker High School. This is my first run for a seat on the board.
Q: Why are you running for the school board?
A: We have a great opportunity to reach children at a young age to assist them in building a solid foundation for their adolescent years into adulthood. I am a nurse and a director for a medical day program in Albany for those 18 years of age and older. We work with individuals with a wide array of capabilities and chronic conditions. Many suffer from mental health afflictions, and the common underlying theme with many of them is a lack of a sustaining support system. Being able to assist children to best learn how they learn so they can identify their needs and seek out available resources will build stronger, more capable adults. Every child learns differently and as adults, it’s our responsibility to aide them in figuring this out so they have more successful and fulfilling educational experience and are overall more prepared for college and beyond.
Q: The entire nation is talking about making schools more secure. How would you address that at North Colonie if you were elected?
A: Anytime a decision needs to be made for a larger group, organization, or “the whole” of something, individual aspects of its entirety may become secondary, although no less present. Maintaining a level of security that can protect the district as a whole is priority. Finding the way to adjust this to each individual will be the key to making it successful. I support the addition of the newly proposed position of the School Resource Officer present on school grounds which will add a sense of presence, and should in no way infringe on anyone’s rights if policy, procedure, and rules are being adhered to. The presence of a SRO on school grounds will add an increased sense of awareness, presence, and guidance for both staff and students. While not the intent of this newly added position, this presence may serve as a deterrent for behaviors which may compromise the safety and security of students and faculty and will serve to educate the majority about community safety.
Q: Standardized testing is an issue in New York state and across the nation. Are you in favor of them ? Opposed? Why?
A: I believe there needs to be some form of uniform, formal measurement of how and what students are being taught at every level. These exams are meant to capture a subset of students and are not necessarily applicable to everyone or at every level. The exams are designed to capture the outliers and factor in both the exceptional and struggling student’s abilities. There needs to be a checks and balance system in place well before a child reaches the point where a standardized test is administered, which assesses their aptitude, their ability, and areas of vulnerability. This affords each district the ability to identify their own areas of vulnerability to address it prior to reaching the point and time of testing. Standardized testing should serve as one of many tools to assess the abilities and opportunities for children, not a sole measurement of achievement. I am in support of all children in the district being provided the exams, as the opt out feature only skews the overall numbers and does not allow for accurate reflection of the district as a whole.
Q: What sets you apart from the other candidates running?
A: I feel my experience both in my current position as a director and in my previous leadership roles in quality management setting lends to the demands of this role. I have experience assessing population need, various committee roles which have allowed me the opportunity to network and work with individuals at both the state and local level, and those with special needs and other various populations. I enjoy working with teams to achieve a common goal and I welcome the challenge of working alongside this unified group.
Michelle Dischiavo
I am the 46-year-old owner of Intuition Events, an event planning and floral design business, and am making my first run for the Board of Education. I am the mother of two children, a fifth grader at Forts Ferry and a seventh grader at Shaker Junior High School.
Q:Why are you running for the BOE?
A: It has always been an aspiration of mine to serve the high school and community that I grew up in and prepared me for my future. I believe in giving back to the community and civic duty. I have been on the Forts Ferry PTA as president, vice president and member since my children started school there six years ago.
I was a special education teacher for 10 years in public schools and feel very strongly about supporting public education. I have always felt that the school/community relationship is integral to building successful schools and students. As a member of the school board, I hope to foster and encourage more community involvement with the board and the decision making processes.
Q: The entire nation is talking about making schools more secure. How would you address that at North Colonie if you were elected?
A: The 2018/2019 budget for the North Colonie School District includes hiring a resource officer for the high school. I would help to encourage that officer to build relationships with students, administrators and the community to encourage open communication about the issues that are happening in the high school and the entire district. This officer will help keep administrators and teachers aware of issues that they may not be aware of that are happening with students and their families. The better the communication there is with the school community, law enforcement community and families, the better we can service children emotionally, socially and educationally. I also believe that having an armed resource officer is a deterrent for people who may want to cause harm to our schools.
Q: Standardized testing is an issue in New York state and across the nation. Are you in favor of them? Opposed? Why?
A: I am actually opposed to standardized testing. As a former teacher, I believe that we have a standardized curriculum across the district and we should be focusing on that. We should be testing the students based on what the teachers are teaching them. Standardized tests are not a good indicator of student performance as they do not take into account socioeconomic situations, learning difficulties, test anxiety and other issues that each district sees as a challenge on a daily basis. Students are all individuals and if you ask any teacher, one way of teaching a subject does not work for all students just as one test cannot indicate the true abilities of all students. We must trust the teachers and administrators to do their jobs and evaluate students appropriately based on what they are being taught in their home schools and school districts.
Q: What sets you apart from the other candidates running?
A: I believe that as a former teacher, a volunteer on the PTA, a graduate of Shaker High School, a business owner and a parent, I can bring a unique perspective to the board. I have always felt very strongly about the public education system and supporting it in every way. I have been involved with education ever since I can remember either as a student, a substitute teacher, a student teacher, a tenured teacher, a teacher union representative, a PTA volunteer, a Girl Scout troop leader and, most importantly, as a parent.
Timothy O’Connor
I am an attorney in private practice and an adjunct lecturer at UAlbany, teaching law and technology in financial market regulation. A proud Shaker High School graduate (Class of 1976), I have a bachelor’s degree in economics from Middlebury College and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver School of Law. Having attended numerous meetings within the North Colonie Central School District and having mentored several first generation American Shaker High School students, I look forward to continuing to serve the district.
Q: Why are you running for the School Board?
A: I look forward to further advancing the district’s reputation for academic excellence and would like to assure that the North Colonie Central School District affords all of its students a nurturing and supportive educational experience. As a member of the School Board, I will not be a rubber stamp when adjudicating the appeals of decisions of administrators. I take seriously my obligation to make unbiased and independent decisions to assure that we do not lose sight of our most important asset – our students.
Q: The entire nation is talking about making schools more secure. How would you address that at North Colonie if you were elected?
A: I support a common sense approach to keeping schools in North Colonie secure and don’t feel that an unworkable, centralized security protocol would be in the best interests of our students. Recent mixed signals on security issues has seen North Colonie schools consider cancelling or restricting access to dances, music events, award events and holiday events, as teachers and administrators are unsure how to comply. The recent decision to have an armed police officer walking the halls at Shaker High School is a decision which could surely use a more thorough vetting of procedures and protocols. When is a policeman supposed to act as opposed to a teacher, administrator or principal, when faced with a student problem? The most practical approach to security issues would be the “see something, say something” approach, coupled with safety drills, including teacher and administrative involvement, to prepare for an unfortunate event.
Q: Standardized testing is an issue in New York state and across the nation. Are you in favor of them? Opposed? Why?
A: Standardized tests include Regents exams, AP exams, SAT’s, SAT II Subject and Achievement Tests, ACT’s, as well as the separate teacher proficiency testing protocols for grades three through eight prepared by the state Department of Education. It is this last category which has been problematic, unworkable and a waste of time. I support the continued administration of all standardized testing, with the exception of the mandated administration of teacher proficiency assessments for grades three through eight. Standardized tests are still vital and motivate students to prepare and excel, and incentivize schools to make sure that all students learn the essentials in of many subject areas.
Q: What sets you apart from the other candidates running.
A: At all times, the Board of Education must exercise independent decision making in the important adjudicative processes which they are involved with when reviewing decisions of the superintendent, administration, principals and teachers. The students in our district are the district’s most important asset. As a Board of Education member, I will act with my fellow Board of Education members to advance the interests of independent judgment and oversight when asked to consider student appeals and adjudicative matters.