William Farmer

William Farmer seeking his first term on the Board. He has been a district resident for 15 years and employed by Creatacor, Inc., in Clifton Park for 20 years. As vice president for client services, William supervises 11 Creatacor staff members and oversees marketing functions. He volunteers with the Southern Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, has served on the BH-BL Citizens Review Committee to evaluate critical school infrastructure needs and has coached T-ball. He and his wife live in Glenville, where their two sons attend Pashley Elementary.
 

    “For the last two years, our district has struggled with a sagging economy and a state government that is providing less and less. The response of the district includes a raise in taxes and a decrease in services. Both the taxpayer and more importantly, our children are suffering. The children spend 13 years in the school system, each year represents almost 8% of their academic career. Wasting just one of these precious years can’t be tolerated so we must maximize their experience every year and provide each student with the appropriate challenge in order for them to achieve later in life. Today’s children are our future and we have a responsibility to provide the highest caliber education we can offer.

    But we need a new approach because the current model is broken. Continual tax increases are not sustainable. Rising costs and lower quality are not in the best interests of anyone. Quality teachers are the key to education, there is no substitute. With the current budget, we will have lost almost 20 teaching positions the last two years. While BH-BL is currently a top area district, if we keep cutting programs and teachers, our rank will fall and more importantly, our children will pay the price.

    In a downward budget cycle, we need to take more advantage of shared services, not less. We need to look at the entire system and develop creative, new approaches for spending that improve the educational system. The time to re-evaluate and change the system is now. Time and money are not on our side. As Albert Einstein is famously credited for saying, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’  We need creative solutions, not the same old cuts.  

    I care deeply about our children’s future and I respectfully request your vote on election day.”

Lee-Ann Mertzlufft

Lee-Ann Mertzlufft is seeking her first term on the Board of Education. A BH-BL resident for four years, she is the director/owner of Options With Learning, LLC, a 10-person agency that has provided services to students with special education needs for 17 years. A Girl Scout leader for 10 years, Lee-Ann is a member of the BH-BL Business & Professional Association, the Town of Ballston Ethics Committee, and a past member of the Ballston Community Library Strategic Planning Committee. She and her husband live in Ballston Lake. They have one child at the BH-BL high school, one at the middle school, and a preschooler.

    “Superior BH-BL Schools are central and vital to our community and way of life – we all know that inferior schools shortly lead to inferior community – nobody wants that. 

    Unfortunately, we all are living through an unprecedented combination of events – deep recession, lack of clear, responsible leadership at the state government funding level, already high taxes … the list goes on. Closer to home, our district faces immediate issues of shrinking revenue, critically aging infrastructure, projected increasing enrollment and pre-negotiated cost of services increases for years to come.

    It is my belief that both present day financial realities combined with the opportunity to take advantage of new, innovative technologies will push school districts to places we have not yet explored.  Can we cut costs AND advance our educational system?  Yes.  It will require new and different thinking at every level and from every constituency in our district – from parents of school children, teachers, administrators, tax payers and from our State’s leadership.

   I believe that my nearly 20 years experience as an educator and director of an independent, for-profit, educational agency leaves me uniquely qualified to help explore opportunities and implement solutions to some of the district’s most pressing needs.   Knowledge, drive and courage are required in difficult times – I have these and ask for your vote.”

Robert Speck

    “This is an exhilarating and challenging time to be a BH-BL school board member. We must continue to exercise our role as a policy-making body and support our superintendent in the administration and operation of our school district.

    One measure of our success as a team of educators, students and community is the Business Review’s ‘School Report’ issued in June 2009. This report ranked BH-BL # 5 of 85 districts in the Capital Region. BH-BL was also highest ranking district with an average needs to resources ratio as a measure of the effective use of our resources. Congratulations to our staff, students and community on this achievement.

    At the PTA Founders Day dinner in February, Mr. Schultz made available to the community a paper titled ‘Who will carry the torch next for BH-BL?’ Prior to this I was considering not being a candidate for another term. After discussions with my family, I decided to run again. Within about two days, I obtained the required signatures and submitted my petition.

     Budget development has been an open process, involving many people accepting the challenge of difficult decisions and a demanding schedule of meetings and community decisions. I am proud of our Board of Education, district personnel and community in accepting the challenge of tough times as something we can all build on in the future. In summary, I believe the message of our current focus on Culture – Team – Data presents the challenge for district and community. We have experienced difficult situations before, by working together we can regain our long-standing continuous improvement plans to promote excellence. I do want to be part of that challenge.”