Five candidates vie for two seats
on the Board of
Education
All candidates
run at large. The two candidates receiving the
highest vote totals will serve three-year terms
beginning July 1, 2008. Eligible voters may vote
for up to two candidates. Candidates running for
the school board will participate in the PTO
Council’s annual “Meet the Candidates Night” on
May 5 at 7 p.m. in the Van Antwerp Middle School
auditorium.
 Ronald
Anzalone
Ronald Anzalone of
4001 Windsor Drive is seeking a first term on
the Board of Education.
Anzalone has worked at General Electric Energy
as a finance manager for human resources
organization for the past 34 years. He is
responsible for providing leadership and
guidance on all financial matters, prepares and
submits yearly budgets, and provides guidance on
GE’s Growth Playbook Process. Anzalone is a
graduate of Christian Brothers Academy and
earned his bachelor’s degree in business
administration from Russell Sage College.
Anzalone is a member of St. John the Evangelist
Church and participated in Reading Partners, an
after-school reading program for fourth-grade
students from 2003-2006.
He and wife, Linda, have lived in the school
district for 18 years. Their daughter,
Justine, is a graduate of Niskayuna High School
and Plattsburgh College, and is currently a
teacher in Saratoga Springs.
Robert
Gardner
Robert Gardner of
786 Lisha Kill Road is seeking a first term on
the Board of Education.
Gardner retired eight years ago after owning and
operating his own distribution business
for 15 years. Prior to that, he audited schools
for New York State and served as comptroller of
a residential school for the disabled. He
currently dabbles in antique furniture
restoration.
Gardner earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees
in accounting from Clarkson University, and has
a master’s in Public Administration from the
State University at Albany. He was Scoutmaster
for Troop 36 in charge of outings for 10 years,
has taught Sunday school and served as a Stephen
Ministry leader at Niskayuna Reformed Church,
and has been a member on the Wildwood Programs
Finance Committee since 1983.
He and wife, Linda, have lived in the district
for 36 years and raised two sons: Will, a
graduate of Wildwood School, and Geoff, a
graduate of Niskayuna High School, Union College
and the State University at Albany.
Peter
S. Glaser
Peter S. Glaser of
1469 Baker Avenue is seeking a first term on the
Board of EDucation
Glaser retired last June after serving as the
principal of Gloversville Middle School for
eight years, and assistant principal for seven
years. As a school administrator, he was
responsible for operations and management,
budget development, curriculum and instructional
development and improvement, community relations
and New York State assessments evaluation.
Glaser earned his bachelor degree from Hunter
College in Manhattan and his master’s degree
from the State University at Albany, and is a
certified school administrator.
Glaser received the Gloversville PTA Lifetime
Achievement Award, and was the recipient of Big
Brothers Division of Youth Award. He also
coached basketball in Schenectady City schools.
He and wife, Rise, have lived in Niskayuna for
34 years. They have one daughter, Jennifer, who
attended Niskayuna schools and is now an
instructor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Deborah
Oriola
Deborah Oriola of
1226 Viewmont Drive is seeking a first full term
on the Board of Education.
She was elected in 2007-08 to serve out the term
of a school board member who resigned mid-year.
Oriola served as the Rosendale Elementary School
PTO treasurer (2003-05) and co-chair of the
school’s Learning Fair (1999-2004), and as a
member of the PTO’s Long-Term Planning
Committee. She had participated on Rosendale’s
Shared Decision Making Committee (2001-2003),
and also served on Niskayuna High School PTO’s
Shared Decision Making Committee. Oriola is a
member of the district’s Gifted Learning and
Enrichment at Niskayuna (GLEAN) Committee, which
is exploring new program options for
high-achieving students. She is the current
board liaison to Iroquois Middle School, and is
a co-leader of Girl Scout Troop 2441. She earned
a master’s of business administration from the
State University at Albany, and is employed as a
program manager for the University’s School of
Public Health. Oriola received her bachelor’s
degree from the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst. She and husband, Chuck Batzinger, have
resided in Niskayuna for over 10 years and have
two children: Peter, a sophomore at Niskayuna
High School, and Kate, a sixth-grader at
Iroquois Middle School.
Terry
Weiner
Terry Weiner of 53
Dublin Drive is seeking his seventh term on the
board.
Weiner is a professor of political science and
sociology at Union College, where he also served
as chairman of the Department of Political
Science for seven years and is a former
Associate Dean of Faculty. He has a bachelor’s
degree in sociology and history from the
University of Illinois-Chicago. He has a
master’s and a doctorate in sociology from the
University of North Carolina.
Weiner currently participates on the district’s
Foreign Language Early Start (FLES Committee)
that is exploring the potential implementation
of foreign language instruction at the
elementary level. As a member of the district’s
facilities committee, he was also instrumental
in building support for the successful January
2006 building project. He is the board liaison
to Rosendale Elementary School. Weiner
previously served as president of the Niskayuna
Board of Education and completed nine years as a
member of the Wildwood School Board in 2007.
Weiner and his wife, Victoria, have lived in the
district for 34 years. They have three
daughters: Melissa and Sara, both Niskayuna High
School graduates, and Kerry, a Wildwood School
graduate. Their two grandchildren currently
attend Niskayuna schools.
(May 2008)
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