Eight candidates are running to fill three seats on the BCSD Board of Education, only one of whom is seeking re-election. President Matt Downey and board member Joanne Cunningham have chosen not to run for another term. Board members volunteer to serve unpaid, three-year terms beginning on July 1.
All eight candidates have responded to a series of questions regarding the motivation, qualifications and priorities of each.
Responses, below, are presented in the order candidates will appear on the ballot.

Ryan Richman
Delmar
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Physician
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As a Bethlehem resident for 6 years I’ve always planned on finding various ways to serve my community. The national political situation over the last 12 months has galvanized this desire and I feel that I am in a position to give back. With my son now in Kindergarten, we have become intimately involved in the school system and this has led to my interest in serving on the school board. James is the first of 3 children who will eventually all enter the school district. We have been happy with his experience, but feel it could be better. I am happy that there are several other candidates with elementary aged children running, but the current board has no one representing the interests of the elementary community. I feel that this should change as the elementary kids are the future of the district. I feel that the primary issues facing the district are STEM education and the changing educational landscape. As a scientist, I feel it is my duty to bring scientific principles into the public sphere and use evidence based methods to ensure we keep Bethlehem the leading school district in the Capital region.
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First and foremost I am a father of 3 wonderful children. They have taught me that patience and understanding are the keys to dealing with and caring for children. I am also a physician and a scientist. The future of education is a changing landscape and being able to evaluate and apply scientific evidence for policy applications is key to making sure that we do not waste time or money on unproven techniques or technology. I am an analytical person and I have an ability to build consensus among many competing interests. As an ER doctor I am also adept at multitasking and improvising solutions to complex problems.
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We have several big issues facing us today. The first is the fact that the educational system of today will be totally different from the educational system when my youngest son graduates from BCHS in 18 years. Time passes quickly and change is happening at an ever increasing rate. In the last 10 years the world has grown from a place where you occasionally checked your e-mail on a desktop, to a place where the vast majority of humanity has a super-computer in their pocket with instantaneous access to the sum-total of human knowledge. How we as a school district navigate this change and the changes coming in the next 10 years is the biggest issue facing us all. We need to plan for the future and adapt our strategies to avoid wasting money and time on legacy technology that will not help our students learn and grow. We have to change our mindset to create and graduate a community of life-long learners. In addition the current push to increase STEM education weighs heavy on the district. To make informed decisions on these issues we need school board members who are trained in STEM and can guide the district. The current board does not include anyone with a scientific background and I am the only candidate running who has this background.
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As a physician and a scientist, I am keenly aware of the importance of STEM and technological education in education. As a school board member I will use evidence based strategies and apply my scientific background to guide the future of our district. We must ensure all graduates have a basic understanding in programming and coding. I propose that this become a prerequisite for graduation. These skills are no longer optional in today’s changing environment and will only become more integral to the success of our students in the future. To accomplish this in a way that does not increase costs and taxes we must partner with local non-profits and create our own new partnerships with local institutions. We can and should create a Bethlehem STEM center in town. As a local “maker-space,” the center could provide classes and instruction to students and allow students to provide instruction to the community. This will be for the benefit of all citizens and will provide a central location where all students in the district can come together and learn about the most current STEM subjects and use the latest and greatest technology. By partnering with local businesses and the Bethlehem IDA we can use PILOT funds and provide the students and citizens of the district with an environment and location stocked with technology without breaking the bank of the district or increasing property taxes.

Patty Michaelson
Delmar
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Community Volunteer serving on the boards of Bethlehem Central Community Foundation, The Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region, and The Aloha Foundation
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I am running for a seat on Bethlehem’s Board of Education because I have always been an advocate for public education and feel that my skills and knowledge would serve the district well. As a long-time resident and parent of two students, an 8th and 11th grader, I have given countless hours of my time promoting, advocating, and enhancing Bethlehem Central schools. My work as a PTA President and Grant Chair for Bethlehem Central Community Foundation (BCCF) demonstrates my leadership, interest in all of our students and schools, and respect for those who work for the district. As a Board member, I will support the district’s current goals regarding Academics, Character, and Value, be a spokes-person for the community, and advocate for public education on the state and federal level. Becoming a member of the Board of Education is another way for me to give back to the district at a time when I have the ability to dedicate myself to fulfilling all the responsibilities of the role.
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Throughout my life, the education of children has been a constant. My experiences as a camp counselor, MS and HS math teacher, HS guidance counselor, and tutor provide me with insight into the running of a school district and the educational expectations and demands. As a parent and active community leader, I have knowledge of the programs that the district offers and have long-standing relationship with many constituents throughout the district. I also have 9 years of experience serving on non-profit boards, so I come to the table understanding fiduciary responsibility, good governance practices, policy-setting, strategic planning, and how to conduct an annual performance review of an Executive Director. As a mathematician and a counselor, I approach problems logically and empathetically and try to gather as much information regarding pros and cons of a proposal prior to making a decision. Those who have worked with me comment on my thoughtfulness, willingness to ask tough questions, and ability to develop coalitions and consensus. To learn more about my background, visit my website,www.MichaelsonforBethlehem.com
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The biggest challenge facing the district is the uncertainty of regulations and funding on the federal level. Even though Bethlehem does not receive significant funding from the federal government, any change in funding that the state receives would have consequence for the district. We’ve seen before that when the state is having trouble balancing the budget, funding for education gets reduced. Balancing unfunded mandates, educational law, preparation of all student for life after high school, education of the whole child, and taxes on our community continue to be a challenge for the district.
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As a member of the Board of Education, I would serve as an advocate for the district and our students both within the community and on the state and federal level. I will develop relationships with our legislators and actively voice our concerns to those who determine our funding and the laws we must follow. The district has worked to develop long-range financial plans that have allowed us to enhance our offerings to all of our students while staying below a 1% tax rate as well as maintaining a fund balance that would allow us to deal with potential financial changes. I will work with our administrators to make sure that our budgets continue to reflect education excellence as well as value to our community.

Holly Dellenbaugh
Delmar
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Self-employed, Legal writing consultant
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As a parent of three daughters attending 1st, 4th, and 7th grades in BCSD schools, I have a personally vested interest in making sure that our schools are the best that they can be at all levels of education. Our district has a long tradition of excellence. As we move forward, we must acknowledge the numerous strengths of our schools while boldly considering how our schools can push to even greater levels of excellence. We must constantly re-evaluate and ask ourselves: are we preparing our children to meet the demands of the 21st century? Are the benefits of our great schools extending to all the children of our increasingly diverse district? And, are we safeguarding the dignity of all students? I am running for a seat on the Board of Education so that I can be an integral part of tackling these questions and can work to afford every student the opportunity to reach his or her fullest potential.
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As an attorney with more than 17 years of experience in both the private and public sector, I have honed advocacy, communication, critical thinking, and reasoning skills that I will use on behalf of our district as we navigate the challenge of developing and implementing education programs within the context of changing laws. My practical experience with drafting, reviewing, and analyzing contracts and requests for proposals will benefit the district and the Board. Moreover, my professional experience in mediation and negotiation, working as a problem solver, will serve as an additional strength on the Board – especially when the district balances the budget priorities of our community’s stakeholders.
Furthermore, the knowledge I have gained as a parent of three children attending BCSD schools, and as a resident of Bethlehem for 10 years, will help me serve the district. I have been an active member of the Hamagrael PTA, coordinating and volunteering for various PTA-sponsored activities that enrich the academic and social aspects of our children’s education. I served as President of the PTA for two years and as Vice-President of the PTA for an additional two years. I have also had the pleasure of working in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade classrooms as a Junior Achievement program volunteer, volunteering in the library at Hamagrael, and serving as a speaker for the BCMS 7th grade Career Day. In addition, in 2016 and 2017, I served on the BCHS Lab School Board of Examiners, evaluating student papers and presentations. -
In preparing for this election, I have sought out the opportunity to hear from educators about the issues they face on a daily basis that make it extremely challenging to be an educator today. Most often, I heard that our teachers and students must navigate a constantly shifting educational landscape, because of changing demographics, curriculum, technology, and federal and state demands. We must ensure that our educators and students have the resources that they need to excel within this environment.
We also face the challenge of long-term planning for an uncertain future. We do not know, for example, what impact forthcoming initiatives at the federal and state level may have on our district. Similarly, while we have projections, we cannot say for certain what our district’s enrollment numbers will be in 5-10 years. Nevertheless, we must be prepared to be flexible and responsive to meet the needs of our schools and community and unafraid to make changes when necessary. -
We must be willing to take risks and implement creative solutions so that our district remains a leader in education. To enable our educators to succeed when faced with changing curriculum, I would encourage initiatives to provide increased support, coaching, and professional development. Likewise, I would support initiatives that would help our educators study how to use technology purposefully and effectively in the classroom. I would also support initiatives to provide students with increased academic enrichment opportunities. At the same time, recognizing that we need to care for the whole child, I would encourage initiatives to explore whether we are satisfactorily supporting mental health services for our students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
I would also promote continued advocacy on behalf of our district to our state representatives, particularly on issues that may uniquely affect BCSD. We need to continue taking advantage of opportunities for community engagement – educating not just legislators, but teachers, students, and community residents about critical issues that affect our educational programs. Most importantly, I would support an on-going, open conversation between the Board, our educators, and our community so that the Board stays informed about the realities inside and outside of our district’s classrooms and can consider initiatives that respond to changing needs.

Erik J. Smith
Delmar
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Director of Internal Controls & Enterprise Analysis for the Albany Port District Commission
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As the parent of two elementary school students, I wish to serve so that I may offer that perspective to the Board. With my unique professional experience I will work hard to ensure that ALL students receive the programming, support and opportunities to reach their full potential in a fiscally responsible manner.
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I have over 20 years of financial and budgetary experience and I have spent the last decade serving as a financial executive. In this role, I am an experienced leader with expertise in developing, managing and measuring budgets and budget performance within the public not-for-profit and governmental sectors, in an open and transparent manner.
I have a proven track record of developing consensus around issues and working creatively and collaboratively to solve problems. -
The issues I am most concerned with are student anxiety, mental health and emotional and social support. I am pleased that the proposed 2017-18 budget allocates resources to fund investments in staff and technology to support and assist both students who are struggling learners and their teachers. Adding professionals to focus on social, emotional health and behavior needs of the students is something I strongly support and is a mission-critical initiative as it directly impacts our students’ ability to learn.
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As a Board of Education member, I will support the investments and the development of additional programs and allocation of resources to ensure the district’s dedicated regular and special education professionals have the tools they need to support our students.

Samuel L. Spitzberg
Slingerlands
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Director of Administrative Hearings, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
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The Board is primarily responsible for the budget. I am an accountant with Big Four experience, an attorney, and manage a large unionized staff with an annual $30M budget. With children in elementary school, I am committed to our community.
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As a former Army officer, I am trained to assess a situation, consider options, and make decisions necessary to accomplish a mission. With my finance, management, and military background, I have the knowledge, background, and drive to help our community maintain excellent schools.
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The biggest challenges facing the district are community engagement, technology, and the unknown.
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I want to see Veterans like me more actively engaged in the schools. Our Veterans answered the call before and can help our teachers and students with civics, history, and the specialties each learned in the military. With Dr. Sal leaving for a position in Columbia County, we need to continue leading in technology. Finally, I have a proven record of overcoming unexpected obstacles to reach success.

Meredith Moriarty
Delmar
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Attorney
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I am running for a seat on the school board because I care about our school district and want to ensure that it is a safe, supportive environment that provides true education for our students, encourages innovative teaching, and provides our community with the value that comes along with a top notch school.
I grew up in Bethlehem and attended Hamagrael, BCMS, and BCHS. I left the area as an adult, but I decided to move back to Bethlehem because I knew it would be the ideal place to raise my children. The reputation of the school district was a major factor in my decision. I am dedicated to this school district, and will have children attending its schools for the next fifteen years.
Elementary schools have seen many changes within the last decade. As a mother to three young children (a second-grader at Elsmere Elementary School and two preschoolers) I have experience with a primary school on a daily basis. Currently, there are no members of the Board with children in an elementary school. With over 1,800 students in our five primary schools, I am running for the Board to make sure that these early learners have a voice at the table. -
As an attorney, I have experience in negotiation between parties with opposing views, finding solutions to complex problems, critical analysis of complicated contracts and documents, and advocating for my position.
I previously worked for the Children’s Law Center in the Bronx, serving as an Attorney for the Child. There, I represented children in custody disputes and domestic violence situations. I was tasked with interviewing children to understand their viewpoint, advocating for their position in court, and explaining to them the consequences of the judicial proceeding. That experience taught me that, when adults make decisions that directly affect children, the voices of the children need to be heard and respected. -
School districts will always face fiscal challenges, as there is a tension between providing the best quality services to our school and keeping property taxes down. Additionally, required New York State tests are developmentally inappropriate, fail to provide accurate and current information about the student’s growth, take up valuable time that could have been spent on actual instruction, and put unnecessary stress on administrators, teachers, and students, without providing adequate educational value. Young children need time spent on experiential learning, not test preparation.
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Students in New York State are constitutionally entitled to a “sound basic education.” In 2006, the highest court in the state established a formula for determining the minimum funding each school was entitled to from the state. Since that time, the State has refused to adequately fund schools. According to this formula, Bethlehem Central School district is owed 3,692,532 and is entitled to additional funding from the state going forward. We must advocate strenuously for this funding at the state level, which would take pressure off of our immediate community to shoulder all of the costs of improvements to our schools.
As for testing, the Board of Education can make it clear to parents that they have the right to opt-out of New York State testing, and assure parents that the school district will not lose funding if they do so. We can also create alternative learning environments for those students who do not take the tests, so that they are not forced to lose days of education due to testing. We can encourage our teachers to spend more time on actual instruction and less time on test preparation. The Board must also use our power to advocate for changes to educational policy at the State level.

Christine Beck
Selkirk
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Sr. Internal Auditor
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I have just completed my first term with the Bethlehem Central Board of Education and have found the past three years to be an extremely rewarding and fulfilling experience. I have been actively involved in our District since 2002 and being a board member was the natural progression for me and my involvement with education. I have enjoyed being immersed with our students, collaborating with our teachers and working with our administrators to ensure the continued success of our District’s missions and goals. I feel that over the last three years I have contributed to making sure that our resources have been invested wisely in our classrooms and that our tax dollars are used effectively and efficiently. I am a candidate again because I feel that I will continue to make significant contributions and bring added value to the Board. I would like to continue to represent our students, teachers and community members in an appropriate, thoughtful and effective manner.
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I have demonstrated over the last three years that I am an effective listener, a good communicator, a collaborator and a decision maker. I am not afraid to ask hard questions, advocate on behalf of our students and teachers, and promote the use of our tax dollars wisely.
I have over 25 years of business and finance experience which has proven beneficial to the Board over the last three years. I also bring to the Board experience in the field of auditing, quality assurance, risk management, compliance, litigation handling and project management. I have had the great pleasure of having three children attend Bethlehem Central School District which has given me an in-depth understanding of the curriculum at all three levels and the opportunity to work with our teachers, students and administration. -
The biggest issue facing our District is the potential for reduced aid at both the federal and state level. The financial landscape is changing due to the competing financial needs of charter schools, under performing districts and the possibility of funding being funneled to private institutions. There are over fifty-one million public school students who need their Districts to champion funding with their local and state legislators. I think this is an issue school boards across the country need to be proactive in addressing because the potential ramifications of aid changes could have long-term devastating effects on our country’s public education system.
Mental health issues are also on the rise due to increased academic pressures, over-testing, social media, cyber bullying, depression, anxiety and lack of friendships. Our District should seek ways to identify those students that are affected by these issues and provide the proper support to ensure students can learn and grow as healthy individuals in a safe school environment. -
As a Board we need to set the example by advocating on behalf our students by ensuring that we involve our community members, students, teacher unions, administrators and local legislators to ensure that funding is still available for public school students and that they receive a quality educational program with great educators. This will involve significant involvement by all stake holders with local and state legislators.
To address the rising mental health issues affecting our student population the District needs to continue to test different models that can identify students who are in need of additional support from over-testing, academic pressures, social anxiety and the potential effects of social media. We need to be able to help our students cope with the pressures that affect them in their pursuit of academic achievement and growth as healthy individuals.

Willow Baer
Delmar
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Attorney
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We are living in an uncertain time in terms of federal and state priorities and fiscal resources, as well as of support for continued excellence in public education. As a mother and as a community member, I am so proud of what the Bethlehem Central School District accomplishes on a consistent basis and I am invested in ensuring its continued success. I am a candidate for the Board of Education because I want my children and my grandchildren to enjoy the well-supported and well-rounded education that BCSD offers and because I have a unique skill set to help make the work of our Board as successful as possible. Additionally, I would like to see our Board of Education be more reflective of and more accessible to our diverse and increasingly progressive community; a quality I feel will strengthen the Board’s ability to continue its successful leadership of the District
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As the mother of young children, one of whom works every day to overcome his significant health and developmental challenges, as well as someone who has worked with foster children and other at-risk youth, I have demonstrated commitment to and strengths in zealous advocacy, active listening, and local and global citizenship. Similarly, my professional career has been one dedicated to public service, advocacy and government policy. I have excelled in the areas of effective leadership, collaborative problem solving, quality assurance, negotiation/mediation, and critical thinking, all of which lend themselves well to the duties of the BOE. In my current role with State Government, I collaboratively develop policy and service initiatives, and provide legal oversight and support for quality assurance, as well regulatory and fiscal compliance for services and service providers statewide. I also sit on a number of intra and inter-agency committees aimed at providing innovative and high quality services to children and adults. As an appointed member to the Albany County Legislature’s Charter Review Commission, I was tasked with reviewing Albany County’s Government/Agency structure for quality assurance and fiscal efficiency and to provide recommended changes to the Legislature. I am assertive and not afraid of asking difficult questions and I value transparency and accountability. Not only would I bring these attributes to the Board, but I would add diversity of thought and demographic, as well as a fresh perspective, which can only work to strengthen the Board’s position as a conduit to the greater Community.
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Maintaining and expanding upon the level of excellence we have achieved in the BCSD should be everyone’s goal. One of the biggest challenges to that is managing an overachieving and high performing district in a time of diminishing fiscal resources and increasing expectations.
We have an obligation to continue to produce outstanding academic achievers, artists and musicians, engineers and programmers, athletes and government leaders, as well as productive and open-minded global citizens and lifelong learners. We cannot achieve this goal without attracting and maintaining the highest quality teachers and making sure they feel supported in implementing best practice education models. Achieving these goals while remaining as fiscally responsible as possible, in an uncertain time, is an incredibly hard balance to strike. -
As a Board member, I would seek input from students, teachers and community members about those needs that remain unmet or underserved, as well as those initiatives that have proven successful. The District will need to continue innovative thinking about alternative sources of revenue and support including: community support, grants, boosters, more efficient ways to utilize empty classrooms, environmental sustainability and long term capital investments. Proactive and mindful planning is essential in maintaining the continued and long term success of the District.