VCSD: Straut runs again, Blow undecided for two open seats

NEW SCOTLAND — Two seats on the Voorheesville school board are open: Diana Straut said she will seek re-election and President Timothy Blow is undecided about another run.

Blow was elected in 2007 and has served two four-year terms. Blow, who was the chief financial officer for Ballston Spa National Bank when first elected, has lived in the district for 25 years. His three children, two of whom are now grown, attended Voorheesville schools.

Blow will decide in the next two weeks if he will seek a third term, he told The Enterprise. Petitions to run are now available at the district office, and residents have until April 18 to file them with a minimum of 25 signatures.

Straut, who has served one full term, picked up her petition on Monday, the first day they were available.

“I’m really excited for our district,” she told The Enterprise. “We keep getting better and I find that very exciting.”

Straut holds a Ph.D. from Cornell in adult education and organizational change, and now works closely with the State Education Department as a part-time school-improvement specialist for Measurement Incorporated. Her team provides development and technical assistance to specialists in schools in New York, she said, to improve the delivery of services to students with disabilities.

Straut said that her first term on the school board has prepared her for a second.

“There’s a huge learning curve when you enter the board,” she said. “I thought I was qualified then. Now, I feel even more qualified.”

She and her husband, Richard, have three children; one is in college and two remain in Voorheesville schools, she said.

Straut said that work on the school board is “very much a collaborative effort. We’ve made a lot of gains in expanding the offerings for students.”

The board is seeking “more opportunities for enrichment,” she said. “Administrators have been homing in on what we want students to know. I feel privileged to be part of the collaborative work.”

Straut has served on the district’s curriculum committee — work that she finds rewarding, she said.

“I’ve been on that for four years. I may be asked to serve somewhere else, and I’ll be happy to do that,” she said.

Straut also serves as a board liaison to the Community Alliance for Healthy Choices, previously called the Risk Behavior Task Force, she said. The committee helps students navigate issues like drug and alcohol use, or getting into cars of those with risky behavior, Straut said.

“We want our students to make good choices,” she said.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to serve, again,” Straut said. “I hope people feel that I have made good decisions and that I’ve been transparent.”

The election will be held on Tuesday, May 17.

According to the district office, those running must be able to read and write; be a qualified voter of the district; be a resident of the school district for at least one year; and may not simultaneously hold another incompatible public office.

More New Scotland News

  • The village property tax rate is set to increase 2.25 percent next year, from about $1.32 per $1,000 of assessed value this year to approximately $1.36 per $1,000 next year. The entire village has an assessed value of about $264.5 million, of which about 92 percent is taxable, and is up from $262.5 million.

  • Atlas Copco is seeking permission from the village of Voorheesville to build a six-story, 63,000-square-f00t addition to its current 101,000-square-foot facility.

  • David Ague was arrested by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office for unlawful surveillance after a staff member at Voorheesville Elementary School discovered a cellphone on April 9 that Ague allegedly planted in a staff bathroom in order to record people. 

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