SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Independent School (SIS) is hosting their 15th Annual Kite & Flight Festival on campus on Saturday, Oct. 1 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. This free event is open to the public.

This year’s festival will provide families the opportunity to embrace flight, in a fun and creative way, with many new activities. Planes, rockets, birds, butterflies, kites, bees, hot air balloons… It’s time to celebrate all things that fly!

The festival will feature a hot air balloon on display (weather dependent), radio controlled planes, a climbing rock wall, flight themed crafts, face painting, room to fly kites, DIY kites, kites & frisbees for sale, Kite & Flight swag for sale, self-guided nature trail walks, local food vendors such as Kaleidoscope Café, Jay’s Pizza, and more. The event is free to attend, and while many activities will be free, some will require a small fee.

The event will be outside, rain or shine, with an open air tent.

SIS is located at 459 Lake Ave., Saratoga Springs. For more information visit www.siskids.org/giving/kiteandflight.cfm

SARATOGA — As the world slowly recovers from the pangs of the COVID-19 pandemic, many employment issues still loom large. Perhaps none have been more glaring for parents this fall than the area’s ongoing bus driver shortage. In school districts throughout the region, many bus routes have been cancelled or delayed, oftentimes with little notice to parents. For those that work fulltime, this means taking time off work to drop off a child or working from home so the child can receive remote instruction from their teachers – for lower income parents that rely on public transit, it means their kids can’t attend school. In fact, the regular driver shortages at Ballston Spa City School District have forced teachers to devote two hours after school for remote “tutoring” sessions devoted to children that had their bus route fall through for the day and were forced to stay home. “While we normally have enough on any given day, it’s the unexpected absences from bus drivers that make for gaps we can’t fill,” said Ballston Spa City School District spokesman Stuart Williams. 

Although the driver shortage has been ongoing for the last two years, it only seems to be growing – even though COVID concerns in schools seem to be weening. About 88% of schools nationwide are dealing with these shortages, that is, according to a survey from HopSkipDrive, a school ride-service company. Reasons cited by districts across the nation for the shortage include: losing drivers to private industry (31.3%), COVID-19 concerns (32.8%), drivers retiring (37.3%), driver pay (40.3%) and issues recruiting new bus drivers (67.2%). Locally, this has forced the hand of many districts to increase driver pay and provide a more flexible work schedule.  In Ballston Spa, for example, a full-time driver has a starting pay of $22.88 an hour, along with insurance benefits and a paid training period. Importantly though, even if the district can gather interested employees, the training period for drivers can last up to 10 weeks, so an immediate solution seems out of reach, at least for now. 

In a recent statement, Saratoga’s Superintendent Michael Patton said, “Because we are very thin, all the folks that are working in the offices in transportation, whether it be routing specialists or dispatchers or mechanics, [but are cross-trained] they’re all driving a bus, so these are long days for these folks.” 

“What ends up ultimately happening is my men in the garage, here, end up filling in that void, and if they’re filling in the void out there, they’re not doing what they absolutely need to do here,” said Saratoga Bus Fleet Manager Chuck Tanzer. According to Tanzer, he has “never seen a shortage this severe.” 

To get the word out and attract potential hires, the Ballston Spa Central School District is hosting a “Come Drive a Bus Day,” on Saturday, October 1 from 10am to 2pm. The event will be held at the school’s transportation facility located at 1458 Saratoga Road, Ballston Spa. For more information on the event, call 518-884-7140.

SARATOGA  SPRINGS — Author, news anchor, professor and more recently, Albany County Legislator Mark Grimm, visited Skidmore College on Monday, September 26. Grimm made a guest appearance in Professor Ronald P. Seyb’s political science class to field questions from Skidmore students. “The students were so bright and engaged,” said Grimm. “They peppered me with questions about how campaigns work, how the Internet affects politics and how messaging works best.” 

And Mark knows a thing or two about this subject matter, he conducted one-on-one interviews with Presidents Bush and Clinton and was an adjunct media professor for 11 years. He has a master’s in Communications from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s in English (magna cum laude) from Siena College. Mark was elected to the Albany County Legislature in November 2015 and re-elected in 2019. He represents the Carman Road-Western Avenue area of Guilderland. He also served on the Guilderland Town Board from 2008-2011.

Ronald P. Seyb is a Professor in Government at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. He received his B.A. in 1982 from the University of California, Irvine and his Ph.D. in 1988 from Yale University. He teaches courses on the American presidency, the United States Congress, political psychology, and the media and politics.

LATHAM — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany celebrated a unique milestone Thursday, September 15 when Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger officially opened and blessed Catholic Central School (CCS), the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany’s first Pre-K to 12th grade school, located in Latham. The new consolidated school, a partnership between St. Ambrose School in Latham and Catholic Central High School in Lansingburgh, provides a continuum of Catholic education from Pre-K to 12th grade in one convenient location. 385 students are enrolled for the fall semester this year. 

Located on Old Loudon Rd off Exit 7, CCS will be created in phases over the next few years. 2022-2023 will be a transitional year, according to school officials. Students are currently sharing the existing 20,500-square-foot building. Wings and multiple entrances enable administrators to keep the three distinct age groups – Pre-K and kindergarten, grades 1-5, and grades 6-12 – separated and, when needed, allow for purposeful interaction and mentoring opportunities. The new school affords families the option to enroll their children at any stage of their education, accommodating the varying grade level configurations of any surrounding public or private school. For more information, please visit: CatholicCentralSchool.org or call 518-785-6453 to learn more. 

SARATOGA — The Academy for Lifelong Learning continues its 30-year tradition of presenting educational and social opportunities for adults 55 and over by offering nineteen, 5-week courses starting the week of October 17. Registration is now open.

Course brochures are also available at SUNY Empire State College 113 West Ave., local libraries, YMCA’s and retirement communities or by request at (518) 587-2100 x2390 or reaching out to jeff.shinaman@esc.edu. Registrations will be accepted throughout the term until courses are full. Some courses will sell out. Annual membership is $75 and goes for 365 days from join date. Five-week courses are $50.  

Topics for these volunteer-led, noncredit courses include but are not limited to: music, literature, mindfulness, poetry, the solar system, senior issues, the Italian language, Ian Fleming/James Bond, history of Russia, ancient game of Go, writing, hiking, fly casting, art, science and more. Join A.L.L. locally for classroom and outdoor courses, or from anywhere with their new Zoom options. 

Founded in 1992, the Academy is a nonprofit, membership organization whose members share a love of learning. A self-funded entity, A.L.L. is sponsored by SUNY Empire State College. Designed to offer lifelong learning and comradery among seniors, A.L.L. also offers a winter and spring term, Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and special events that are held throughout the year. If you would like to support the Academy by becoming a member or for more information, go to www.esc.edu. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — In an unprecedented move by the city, Public Safety Commissioner James Montagnino employed city police to “walkthrough” local elementary schools unannounced. This came as a shock for some concerned parents because these acts were not acknowledged publicly, nor was there a formal agreement between the police force and the city school district. Montagnino said the idea came to him after parents reached out following the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas – but many at the last school board meeting held on Tuesday, September 13, were in opposition to these walkthroughs, especially without a formal admission from the district or police force. 

For context, the New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal, or NYSIR is the leading insurance provider for public schools in New York state. This October, NYSIR will be conducting an audit for the Saratoga Springs School District on their safety plan(s). Unfortunately, in this day and age, that means protection from active gunmen via the acquisition of school resource officers (SROs) – police trained for the school environment. In a past audit, it was recommended that the Saratoga Springs School District add an SRO for its middle school, which the district obliged. Currently, two school resource officers are employed by the district full-time. One officer at the high school and another at Maple Avenue Middle School, while splitting some time at schools like Greenfield Elementary. Recently, the debate has ramped up at school board meetings as to whether full-time SROs are necessary for Saratoga’s elementary schools. And district parents seem to be split on this, and the budgetary costs to hire four more fulltime SROs is another factor that can’t be ignored as they are salaried at $75,000 per year. 

Take for instance, a concerned mother of two and career Special Victims Prosecutor Deidre Chuckrow. Chuckrow approached the school board last week and said, “I know what the research says, and the research says that adding SROs are not making our kids safer. The research says that the chance of a child dying in an elementary school is 1 in 10,000,000.” Chuckrow continued, “It is your job as members of this board to do the research and spend the money where our kids need that money to be spent [for Chuckrow, that means more social outreach, social programs and school psychologists]”

Other parents, like Mechanicville teacher and mother of two SSCSD students Julie Marshall told the board, “As a teacher to someone else’s children huddled in a corner, [during lockdown drills at Mechanicville] I really like an ounce of prevention.” Even if it’s just a “ounce,” many parents agreed SROs are worth it because the provide a “line of defense” if the unthinkable were to happen.

This coincides with Commissioner Montagino’s stance, he was quoted saying, “we will provide SROs on request, even if the school district doesn’t have them in the current budget. If the board were to say, ‘We want them, we just don’t have the money for them,’ I’d say, ‘You’ll see them tomorrow morning.’” Importantly, though, police interaction with students in schools that don’t have a formal agreement with the district is seemingly a gray area. Say for instance, a physical altercation breaks out and an officer intervenes, or a student is in need of disciplinary action and a police officer is nearby – something that was also brought up by parents at the contentious school board meeting. This story is ongoing and will be further discussed as NYSIR makes their recommendations to the district. For future meetings dates and agendas, visit: www.saratogaschools.org/boe/board-of-education-meetings. 

BALLSTON SPA —TCT Federal Credit Union, a longtime supporter of the Ballston Spa Central School District, has recently donated 100 backpacks full of school supplies for the upcoming year. The supplies will be distributed to students and families in need. “We are so thankful for all of the ways TCT supports our students and recognizes our outstanding staff throughout the school year” said the school district in a statement. Families in the Ballston Spa schools who need assistance in obtaining school supplies for their students should contact Deb Dugan, 518-884-7195 X1356 or ddugan@bscsd.org. 

BALLSTON SPA —The Ballston Spa Central School District Board of Education has appointed Mr. Gianleo Duca as the new Interim Superintendent for the 2022-23 school year. 

“Mr. Duca’s experience as a strong instructional leader within our district uniquely qualifies him to support our students and staff as we continue to move forward with district initiatives and the search for a permanent Superintendent during the coming school year,” said School Board President Jason Fernau. 

Duca holds a bachelor’s degree in History Education from Western New England University, a master’s degree in Education from Salem State University and received an Administrative Certification from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. In December of 2019, he received his Doctorate Degree from the Sage Colleges, Esteves School of Education. He holds a New York State Certification as a School District and a School Building Leader. 

“I am grateful for the opportunity and truly honored to lead our district, said Duca.” “I have a tremendous respect for the students, staff, caregivers, and the community of Ballston Spa. Together we will continue our work on developing innovative programming options while simultaneously meeting the needs of all our students.”  

Mr. Duca, who has been with the district since 2015, served as an Assistant Principal and Interim Principal before being appointed Principal in July 2018. The school currently has over 1,200 students enrolled in the 9th-12th grades. Prior to his service at Ballston Spa, he held Social Studies teaching positions at South Colonie High School and Medford High School (MA). Dr. Duca currently resides with his family in Waterford, NY.