By Ciara Meyer
The SSHS Student Guide to BOE Elections
On May 17, many Saratoga Springs High School (SSHS) seniors will be casting their first ever ballots in the Board of Education (BOE) election. Local elections are not blessed with the same level of coverage as national ones, but they are still crucial in determining what student life will look like at SSHS for years to come. This year, incumbents Dr. John Brueggemann, Dean Kolligian, and Natalya Lakhtakia and new candidates Martha Devaney, Edwin Spickler, and Billie McCann are seeking to fill the three open BOE seats.
Brueggemann, a professor of sociology at Skidmore College and a Saratoga Springs City School District (SSCSD) parent, has served on the Board since 2019, during which time he has been twice elected BOE Vice President. Writing to On Your Ballot, Brueggemann said that in his time on the Board he has “overseen personnel decisions, budgets, policy development, strategic planning, curriculum development, fundraising, governance, academic standing, benefits policies, community outreach, and event planning.”
He believes that the most important issue facing our school district is socio-emotional well-being of students, teachers, and other district employees. “We have to make sure [district employees] have what they need to be successful, that they are paid at a competitive rate, and that they are treated with respect and civility,” said Brueggemann.
Lakhtakia, a speech-language pathologist and special educator at a public elementary school, has also served on the Board since 2019, and is a member of the Policy Committee and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She worked collaboratively with Brueggemann and other BOE representatives on two resolutions that were unanimously approved by the Board: Standing Together Against Systemic Racism and A Resolution in Strong Support of Our Educators.
Similarly to Brueggemann, Lakhatakia believes that supporting and improving the social and emotional wellbeing of students should be a main priority. “Socially, we are all struggling to create and sustain meaningful relationships with others. Emotionally, we are all struggling to manage,” Lakhatakia said. “Students talk about racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, bullying, and more. Teachers and staff talk about these things, as well as the changes they see in students, some of whom are more withdrawn, disrespectful, or disconnected.”
Brueggemann and Lakhatakia are running in affiliation with Devaney, a former teacher and administrator and current Director of Finance for a non-profit. On her campaign site, she describes herself as “a builder” and she hopes to channel that energy as a BOE Trustee, saying, “Building strong, holistic, and welcoming schools builds the same in students. I am running for Saratoga School Board to add my voice–and yours–to the conversations affecting our students.”
Devaney also believes that our district’s number one priority needs to lie in helping support students’ social and emotional health. To On Your Ballot, she said, “My number one concern for education in my school district after the last two years is the safety and wellness of every student, especially their social-emotional wellness.”
Kolligian, a Vice President at the Adirondack Trust Company, has served on the Board for three years. In addition to his work on the BOE, Kolligian serves as chair of the Saratoga Hospital Foundation Golf Invitational, and volunteers with Wellspring and the New York State Troopers PBA Signal 30 Fund.
“The quality of the education that our children are receiving is my number one concern/goal,” Kolligian wrote to On Your Ballot, “We need to be aware that our children (all children) have lost out on some fundamental educational time during the COVID years.” In addition to his focus COVID education gap, Kolligian has been referenced in the Times Union as expressing great concern over the use of “anti-racist” practices and language.
Kolligian is running in affiliation with Spickler, who has been going by “Coach Ed” throughout his campaign as a reference to his experience as a volunteer coach. Spickler wrote to On Your Ballot that he “views the school district much like a sports team. Educators, parents and students coming together for a common goal, a winning education for all.”
Spickler’s priorities lie in closing the education gap caused by COVID closures and solving behavioral issues on campus. “As a parent of an eighth grader at Maple Avenue, I believe the safety and security of everyone our campuses, especially the high school and middle school, is where we currently have the most room for improvement,” Spickler said.
Kolligian and Spickler are also running with McCann, a pediatric occupational therapist, certified life coach, and self-proclaimed soccer mom. McCann said the duty of a Board member is to “be a liaison between the community and the district by creating positive relations with all stakeholders that foster open and transparent communication.”
McCann hopes to focus on improving mental health, school safety, communication, and transparency. Writing to On Your Ballot, she said, “Every student must be able to access education in a learning environment that is free from discrimination, harassment and violence. No student should lose out on the chance to learn because of their income, race, gender, or sexual orientation. I fully support SROs [school resource officers], hiring more diverse floor monitors, and considering the association of student schedules/free time on problematic behavior.”
Though no candidates are able to run with party affiliation, some partisan groups have offered their perspectives on the BOE options. Moving Saratoga Forward, a right-leaning group based in Saratoga, appears to have informally endorsed Kolligian, McCann, and Spickler.
Non-partisan groups have offered endorsements as well, with the Saratoga branch of the New York Statute Union of Teachers (NYSUT) backing Kolligian, Brueggemann, and Lakhatakia. All three candidates were previously endorsed by NYSUT in 2019.
ADDRESSING STUDENT NEEDS AND CONCERNS
For SSHS students, a matter of particular importance is ensuring that Board representatives do not just listen to their parents, but truly dedicate themselves to supporting their needs. “I think everyone at the table, the students and the Board, can do more to encourage better dialogue,” says Brueggemann, “When I first joined the Board, students had more input. I’m a big fan of that inclusive process.” He also emphasized the importance of improved communication channels, particularly with students.
McCann put it simply: to serve student needs, she said, the BOE needs listen to the students themselves, more specifically by “creating focus groups to analyze and problem solve student concerns with appropriate stakeholders to implement actionable steps that mitigate those concerns.”
Spickler similarly supported the idea of focus groups in order to help improve school conditions and prepare students for post-graduation goals. “In order to better serve student needs we have to listen to those needs as they are expressed by students and have discussions as a community about meeting those needs,” he said.
Since joining the BOE, Lakhtakia has spent time talking directly to students at club meetings and working with the student representatives. “I have publicly advocated many times during my first term on the board for more avenues to make student voices heard by board members and district leadership,” she said. By listening to these voices and working with district leaders, she aims to help develop an environment that encourages students to gain skills in collaboration, responsibility, critical thinking, and democratic participation, while fostering a spirit of equality and curiosity.
McCann, Lakhtakia, Brueggemann, and Spickler all say they are committed to responding to student emails and meeting with students in various forums to discuss concerns. Kolligian and Devaney could not be reached for comment on this issue.
SOLVING BEHAVIORAL ISSUES
At almost every recent BOE meeting, the public comment section has been flooded with concerns over behavioral problems and violence at SSHS. Though the actual data to prove any school-specific statistically significant increase in violence is yet to be seen, post-COVID problems have been prevalent across the country.
“The analytical evidence indicates that there is no pattern of increased violence,” Brueggemann said, “but there does appear to be a pattern of increasing uncivil and disrespectful behavior.” The root of this disrespect, Brueggemann said, is a need for better emotional help resources to assist students in coping with COVID problems and national turmoil. He specifically cited social media usage as a probable cause of problems, stating, “If I could change one thing in terms of all this, it would be reducing the role of social media in our community.”
In a League of Women Voters forum, Devaney similarly noted that, to the best of her understanding, there has not been data to demonstrate an increase in violence. However, when it comes to violent incidents, Devaney believes the solution is to invest more in mental health services.
Lakhtakia noted the national scale of this alleged increase in behavioral issues, saying that, “We are in a time that is difficult for everyone, unless you are CEO and entrepreneur Jeff Bezos.” Though Lakhtakia believes these issues require problem-solving on a larger scale than just in the SSCSD, she supports increasing resources and programming for those in need, listening to student concerns, and continuing district efforts to provide comprehensive behavioral health services, with hopes that these measures will help the BOE tackle SSHS-specific problems.
Kolligian, in a League of Women Voters forum, focused on what exactly the BOE can do to help. “The Board’s role in the violence within the school system is to make sure we are supporting our teachers and administrators,” he said. Kolligian emphasized that students are misbehaving and disrespecting authority at heightened levels, and said he deems social media usage as a partial cause.
Spickler and McCann both referenced behavioral issues as primary problems at SSHS, and they offered specific visions for how these issues can be addressed. Spickler emphasized the importance of restorative practices. “The victim or victims of the violator must be heard from and participate in the restoration process,” he said, “Violators must complete a punitive step, an apologetic step, a restorative service step, and when deemed appropriate, a therapeutic step.”
McCann is similarly committed to a restorative process, as well as increased accountability for students and personnel who violate the Code of Conduct, and improved efforts to analyze exactly what problems our district is facing. “I would suggest creating a committee comprised of students, teachers, floor monitors, the school SRO and ground monitors to identify potential contributing factors to the increase, and to collaboratively problem solve solutions,” she said. McCann also highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts between the BOE, schools, and parents.
HOW TO VOTE
This year’s BOE election and District Budget Vote are on May 17 between 7 am and 9 pm. Saratoga residents can also vote by absentee ballot, if they applied at least a week before the election. Not every voter will have the same polling place for district elections as they do for general elections, but it’s pretty easy to find out where to vote on the 17th—just visit SSCSDvotes and click “Find your polling place!”
Students who are over 18 and registered in New York State are eligible to vote in the BOE and budget election, but knowing exactly how to use that power is up to each voter to decide. In a sentiment shared by all of the candidates, Brueggemann said he was “focused on the mission. That means the students always come first.” On Tuesday, it is up to student voters to help determine exactly what that mission will look like.
For additional information on the candidates, visit the links below:
https://onyourballot.vote411.org/race-detail.do?id=26981683
https://www.lwvsaratoga.org/candidates
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H5J-WJ7wUbAmyKcecksd85Vly6N5PppBMFpCSHDrtPc/edit?usp=sharing
For additional information on the budget, visit the link below: