S C O T I A & G L E N V I L L E School board candidates address PTA forum Proposed budget would hike taxes nearly 6% By MARY MARTIALAY Gazette Reporter     Two of the four candidates for the Scotia-Glenville Board of Education cast themselves as the voice of experience and moderate change versus the reformer in a forum sponsored Wednesday by the PTA Council.     Kurt Ahnert and Jerry Moore appeared in a brief forum after a public hearing on the budget at the Scotia-Glenville Middle School.     During the hearing, board president Margaret Smith outlined the proposed $40 million budget, which would raise taxes 5.95 percent, or about $164 on a tax bill of $2,750 for the typical Scotia-Glenville home assessed at $100,000 without STAR reductions.     No questions were asked or comments offered by the public during the budget hearing. Voters will be asked to approve the budget, and elect candidates for three three-year board seats on May 17.     The PTA Council had hoped to host all four candidates for the forum, but incumbents Pamela Carbone and Benjamin Conlon were unable to attend.     Ahnert and Moore are both familiar figures on the campaign trail. Ahnert has served nine years on the board, and Moore is running in his sixth election in seven years.     Moore said his near-annual candidacy has been tiresome for some, but for others, he is welcome opposition to the status quo.     "Some in suits, some in jeans and some in their pajamas open their doors with familiar smiles saying, ‘I’m glad you’re running,’ " Moore said. "They believe what I believe: We are not powerless to lower our costs, improve education services and reverse the trend of escalating taxes."     Ahnert said he wouldn’t campaign as a candidate for change, but that won’t stop change from coming to the district, and he is ready to tackle it. Whether welcome or not, he said, the district is growing and is under tighter financial pressure from increasing costs in health care, pensions and energy.     "I hope you’re pleased with what you’ve gotten over the past nine years, because you’re likely to get it again if you vote me in," Ahnert said.     In one word, Ahnert said he offers "experience."     Serving as an effective board member takes a certain amount of experience in school budgets and education law, which he has accrued over three terms.     And he offered his expertise in management — he works as a reactor engineering manager at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna — and his years of experience on the board as valuable traits for a board member.     "You need to hire good people, give them the tools to do the job, and know how to interact as an effective manager," Ahnert said. "Those are all skills I’ve been polishing for 15 years."     Moore pushed for a larger state role in education funding and cost-saving collaborations between schools.     One example would be to push the state to reimburse districts annually for 76 percent of their expenses on major building projects. If realized, districts could plan a regular schedule of maintenance rather than larger bond-funded building projects.     Moore said the current board leads with haphazard decision making, and offered his "sevenprong approach to decision making" as an alternative. Moore is an attorney and has worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney and served in the Navy as an electronics technician.     Without change, Moore said, he fears that Scotia-Glenville will fall behind, losing talented students to communities like Niskayuna and Saratoga Springs while concentrations and costs of special education needs increase.     "I want our children to have a dramatically better education than in the past," Moore said. "Our challenge is to innovate with a lower tax rate. In addition to collaboration, outsourcing and resource-sharing, some school districts have found ways to generate revenues through programs and services they offer, most notably distance learning and virtual schools."