FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 5, 2005

Four candidates file to seek three seats on the Scotia-Glenville Board of Education

Four community members – Kurt Ahnert, Pamela Carbone, Benjamin Conlon ane Jerry Moore – have filed petitions to seek three seats on the Board of Education. Each candidate collected at least 55 signatures from district residents and submitted them by 5 p.m. Monday. Each term is for three years and the positions are unpaid. The candidates are:
• Kurt Ahnert, of 3 Heritage Parkway, is seeking a fourth three-year term on the board.
He was been board vice president for two years and president of the board for two years.
He is a reactor engineering manager at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna. He supervises and manages about 30 scientists and engineers.
Ahnert holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from Cornell University and a master’s in nuclear engineering from Cornell. A 29-year district resident, he and his wife, Donna, have two children: Heath, 23, and Laurel, 19. Both are in college.
• Pamela S. Carbone, of 20 Vista Drive, is seeking a fourth three-year term.
She is a science teacher at Oneida Middle School in Schenectady.
She holds a bachelor’s in math and physics from Transylvania University and a master’s in physics from Wright State University.
A 20-year S-G resident, she is currently treasurer of the PTA Council and has been active and an officer for in several PTAs.
She received the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) Award of Distinction for Leadership Development. She has been president of the Capital District School Board’s Association for two years.
She has one son, Drew.
• Benjamin A. Conlon, of 235 Bolt Road, is seeking a second three-year term on the board.
He works as an associate attorney with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and an adjunct professor at Schenectady County Community College.
He holds a bachelor’s in accounting from Siena College; a master’s in business administration from the College of St. Rose and a law degree from Albany Law School.
A 23-year district resident, he and his wife, Laurie Sweeney-Conlon, have three children: Christopher, grade 7; Nicholas, grade 5; and Brittany, grade 2. Their children attend Glendaal.
• Jerry Moore, of 122 Jay Street, is seeking a first term.
He and his wife, Ann, have a daughter Kezia, who graduated in 2004.
He is an attorney and has worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney and served in the US Navy as an electronics technician.
He is a former Schenectady County human rights commissioner and co-chair of the county’s Jail Oversight Committee.
He received a bachelor’s degree in economics and a law degree from Ohio State University.
He also received a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University at Albany, where he taught courses in law, courts, ideology and juvenile justice.
He has been a district resident for 14 years.
Board of Education adopts budget for 2005-06
On April 13, the Board of Education adopted a final budget of $40,059,876, a 7.25% spending increase over this year's budget. The estimated tax increase would be 5.95% or about $164 for the typical Scotia-Glenville home with a $100,000 assessment before reductions from the STAR program.
The public hearing on the budget will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4, at the Middle School. It will be followed by a Meet the Candidates' Forum sponsored by the PTA Council at 7:30 p.m.
Voting on the budget will be held from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17, at the Senior High School.
The approved budget adds two items that were discussed at a Community Forum April 11:
• a teaching position at Glendaal was added to keep class sizes in check;
• $15,000 in funding was restored for interscholastic athletics to allow for non-league games and scrimmages. That money was cut two years ago. The Sports Boosters had raised the money over the past two years to keep that part of the athletics program in place.

MEDIA: For more information, contact Robert Hanlon, Communications Office, at 386-4343