Candidates for the Board of Education

On Tuesday, May 16, voters will decide which of two candidates (listed below alphabetically) will be elected to serve on the Niskayuna Central School District Board of Education

Lillian Bertalan of 2165 Morrow Avenue is seeking her fifth term on the board. Bertalan is a nurse practitioner with a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania.
She and her husband, Michael DePetrillo, have lived in the district for 27 years. They have four children: Mike, Lili and Kati are all graduates of Niskayuna High School, while Bitsi is a senior at Niskayuna High School.
Bertalan works part-time as a sales associate and seasonal manager at the Open Door Bookstore in Schenectady, and is an active member and elected Elder of Union Presbyterian Church. She has been a member of the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) for Van Antwerp Middle School and Niskayuna High School, and served as a PTO officer and Shared Decision Team member for Craig Elementary School.
Prior to her election to the Board of Education, Bertalan was president of the Friends of Music.

Barbara Mauro of 1233 Viewmont Drive is seeking her fourth term on the board. She has a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Duquesne University, a master’s degree in criminal justice from the State University at Albany, and a law degree from New York University School of Law.
She is an attorney and former counsel to the New York State Assembly Social Services Committee. Mauro has lived in the district since 1993 and has served on the school board since 1997. Her daughters Gina and Ava are graduates of Niskayuna High School.
Mauro serves as a Schenectady County commissioner to the Capital District Regional Planning Commission. A member of the district’s Facilities Preservation Committee, she worked on the building project proposal approved in January.
Mauro was a member of the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) at Rosendale Elementary School, Iroquois Middle School and Niskayuna High School. She was a parent representative on the Shared Decision Making Teams at Rosendale and Iroquois. Mauro has served on the Health Advisory Committee since 1995, and as school board liaison to the Annual Professional Performance Review Committee.

Robert Winchester of 51 Hill Street in Alplaus is seeking his first term on the board.
Winchester retired in 2005 after teaching in the Niskayuna Central School District for 36 years. He served as the district’s director of Health Education and Services for 19 years. He currently manages his own business importing and selling original Chinese artwork.
Winchester has a bachelor‘s degree from the State University at Plattsburgh where he majored in biology and minored in chemistry.
He and his wife, Susan, a nurse practitioner, have lived in the district for 34 years. They have two daughters, Amy and Bethany, and a third daughter — American Field Service student, Ya Nan. All three graduated from Niskayuna High School.
Winchester is on the Board of Directors for the New York State Council of Educational Associations, and serves as a consultant evaluating health education programs for the United States Centers for Disease Control.