The Altamont Enterprise Feature Story for the week of August 26, 2010:

This week in Guilderland

Substitute teacher arrested on felony

GUILDERLAND — A man arrested this week for trying to send indecent material to a minor had worked at area schools, including Guilderland, as a substitute teacher.

“We’ve had no reports of anything suspicious, no complaints,” said Guilderland’s interim superintendent, Michael Marcelle, yesterday. He also said, “This individual will never be here again.”

Nicholas Cramer, 28, of Partridge Street in Albany, was arrested for attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor, a felony, and for attempted endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

He was arrested in Guilderland “at a predetermined location where he had made plans to meet two girls 14 years of age for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct,” according to a release from State Police.

“We’re not disclosing that location,” said Trooper Maureen Tuffey, spokeswoman for the State Police.

Cramer was arraigned in Guilderland Town Court and sent to Albany County’s jail in lieu of $25,000 cash bail or a $100,000 bond, according to State Police; he is scheduled to appear in Guilderland court again today, Aug. 26, at 5:30 p.m.

Cramer’s Facebook page lists his interests as “New Bands, Pizza, Laughing, Being a Dork, Movies, Video Games, Lucky Charms Marshmellows, Sports, Making Out, Massages, Texting, Ice Cream, Gummy Bears.”

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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Teen collared on fairgrounds for allegedly having a loaded gun

ALTAMONT — As the packed midway started to empty out on Friday night, word of a man with a gun spread quickly through the crowd.

The fair parking lot on the Altamont-Voorheesville Road, which had been full earlier in the evening, was mostly empty as several State Troopers along with Altamont’s public safety commissioner, Anthony Salerno, talked near a young, handcuffed man.

Michael D. Dascoli, 18, of 82 Cherry Ave. in Delmar, a former Altamont resident, was arrested at 10:40 p.m. for possessing a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle.

Altamont Police and State Troopers “responded to a fight in progress at the fairgrounds,” according to a release from the State Police, “and, upon arrival, were advised by witnesses that one of the involved parties had pulled a rifle out while still driving around parking lot #5.

“The vehicle was stopped by the Troopers and Altamont PD where Dascoli was observed holding a 9mm High Point carbine, which was equipped with a laser sight and two fully loaded spare magazines.”

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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This week in The Hilltowns

Who will GOP choose?
Dems’ Dorner and conservative Bolte vie for seat

Pictured above, left:
Dale Dorner

RENSSELAERVILLE — The fall election for town board is taking shape. The Democratic Party has nominated incumbent Dale Dorner, and the Republicans will pick their candidate at next Tuesday’s caucus. Conservative Robert Bolte is running again, and will challenge Dorner in the primary for the Independence Party line. Bolte is also hoping for the GOP endorsement, but the town’s interim Republican chairman wants an enrolled Republican on the line.

In an off year for town elections, one town board seat is open because Marie Dermody, formerly a councilwoman, was elected supervisor last November, taking office on Jan. 1. Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 3-to-1 in Rensselaerville, and the town board reflected that ratio after the November elections.

In a four-way race for two town board seats, Conservative Marion Cooke and Democratic Chairman John Kudlack came out on top, ousting Democratic incumbent Sherri Pine. Democratic Councilman Gary Chase’s four-year term ends next year.

Cooke, who ran on the Republican, Independence, and Conservative lines, received 500 votes, or 28 percent, and Kudlack, who ran on the Democratic and Independence lines, got 449 votes, or 26 percent. Bolte came in close third, garnering 429 votes, or 24 percent. This is part of what motivated him to run again, he said.

The Republican caucus will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 31, at the Preston Hollow Firehouse. The primary for the Independence line is on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

— Zach Simeone

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New vet makes house calls and farm calls

Photo: The Enterprise — Michael Koff

Pictured above:
Portrait of two redheads: Veterinarian Rebecca Krysak poses in the yard of her East Berne home with her golden retriever, Bree. She also owns a Labrador retriever named Bo and two cats. Krysak has opened a practice where she travels to her clients’ homes to treat their animals.

EAST BERNE — Rebecca Kryzak is a generalist and proud of it.

After graduating in May from Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, she has opened an unusual practice, tending to both small and large animals throughout the Capital Region. She travels from her Hilltown home to the homes and farms of her clients, packing her medical gear in a cooler.

“I had worked in several different clinics and seen how frustrated clients can be bringing their elderly pets in,” she said. Having the vet come to the animal, said Kryzak creates “less stress for the animal and the owner.”

With fewer than 30 accredited veterinary medicine schools in the United States producing, on average, fewer than 3,000 graduates annually, veterinarian services are in demand. So far, most of Kryzak’s clients are in the Hilltowns, she said, but she’s eager to expand the practice that she opened on June 28.

The cost for a house call depends on the mileage, but Kryzak’s fees are in line with area clinics, she said. “It evens out,” said Kryzak, “because the cost for a physical exam is cheaper.”

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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BKW vandalism report: $30K for cleanup

BERNE — Berne-Knox-Westerlo will pay close to $30,000 to clean up the vandalism by four seniors in June, but district residents will not have to foot the bill, according to Superintendent Paul Dorward.

At its Aug. 16 meeting, the school board learned that the district will have to spend an estimated $29,700.53 for cleanup of the motor oil that was poured over the halls at the end of the school year, resulting in school being cancelled for a day.

“The costs will be borne by the insurance company,” Dorward said this week. “Those are estimated costs, so that’s subject to change,” he said, adding that the district will have to pay a $1,000 deductable.

— Zach Simeone

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This week in our Special Section

BKW’s new budget committee, reduced tax levy

Enterprise file photo — Anne Hayden

Pictured above:
Paul Dorward, Berne-Knox-Westerlo’s new superintendent, is helping to revamp the district’s budget process.

BERNE — The Berne-Knox-Westerlo School District is revamping its budget advisory committee, in an attempt to improve on last year’s budget process, which angered many district residents. Taxpayers voted the budget down in May, calling the tax levy unaffordable, and the staff and program cuts too deep.

If the committee’s new charter is approved next week, its top priorities this year will be acting as public representatives at budget meetings with the school board, communicating with the greater district on the progression of the budget process, and clarifying for the public any information related to budgeting.

And, the board this month decided to use more of the district’s unexpended fund balance to reduce the tax levy.

When the board passed a $19.6-million contingency budget in May, the plan was to raise the tax levy by 6.5 percent, to $10,525,791.

— Zach Simeone

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BKW Sports Boosters raise funds to close budget gap

Enterprise file photo — Jordan J. Michael

Pictured above:
Pitching without a glove: When Berne-Knox-Westerlo Bulldog Josh Rebeor pitched in this game against Middleburgh, he wore a uniform that was budgeted for by his school. Now, the BKW Sports Boosters are raising funds to pay for their players’ equipment.

BERNE — To make up for budget cuts, students and staff from all teams of Berne-Knox-Westerlo’s athletic department will ring in the school year with a fund-raising barbecue and yard sale.

The BKW Sports Boosters will hold the fund-raiser on Saturday, Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Berne Town Park. The chicken barbecue will begin at 1 p.m. Each dinner will cost $9, and will include a half chicken; baked potato; coleslaw; and dessert.

“This was originally going to be a cross-country and track fund-raiser,” said Maria Tedeschi, an assistant track and cross-country coach. “I said, ‘Let’s offer it to everyone. The more people come together, the more participate, the more money we’ll make.’”

Members of all 21 teams are participating, from the fall, spring, and winter sports seasons.

“The school district has never done a fund-raiser with every sports team before, so this will be a first,” said Tedeschi.

— Zach Simeone

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GCSD board asks: Will community accept proposed changes to special education?

Enterprise file photo — Melissa Hale-Spencer

Pictured above:
“We view ourselves as a critical friend,” said Edward Shafer, senior education consultant of Futures Education, when he presented his report to the Guilderland School board in June. The district hired Futures Education for $40,000 to evaluate its special-education program, and is now deciding which recommendations in the report should be adopted, possibly as part of a five-year plan. “Guilderland is not alone,” Shafer said of school districts being faced with the challenges of delivering affordable, quality education to students with special needs.

GUILDERLAND — The school board here will be listening to the community to decide how it should proceed in changing Guilderland’s special-education programs, if at all.

The district hired, for $40,000, Futures Education, based in Springfield, Mass., to evaluate its programs for students with disabilities and to make recommendations.

The final report, presented to the district last month, says that programs and organizational structure are “inexorably intertwined with district finances.”

It recommends re-organizing the administrative staff — centralizing the committee admitting students to special-education programs and heading the process with a single point person — and also reconfiguring the teaching staff — cutting back on the speech pathologists, the occupational therapists, and the teaching assistants — in conjunction with a “bring back” and “keep in” initiative, bringing some out-of-district students back to Guilderland.

This “will result in substantive savings while maintaining the district’s well-deserved track record for educational excellence,” the report says.

Guilderland’s special-education population has grown 9 percent in the last five years, the report says, while the growth at similar districts has been 2.5 percent; the report speculates this may be because Guilderland lacks “precise quantitative parameters.”

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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Big dreams will walk down the Albany Pageant runway with Jourdin and Cascone

Two local girls who have big dreams are entering the Albany Pageant sponsored by Nationals, Incorporated.

“I am in this pageant to make new friends, have fun, gain more confidence speaking in public and, hopefully, win scholarship money for college as it is my hope to go to college, have a great career I love, buy a house, and have a family,” writes Alyssa Nicole Jourdin.

She is a 12-year-old Farnsworth Middle School student.

Justine Cascone, a 13-year-old entering the ninth grade at Clayton A. Bouton High School in Voorheesville, hopes to win scholarship money so she can go to college to become a film producer.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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New York’s Race to the Top funds come with caveats

Enterprise file photo — Saranac Hale Spencer

Pictured above:
Contemplative superintendent: On election night in May, Voorheesville’s superintendent, Teresa Thayer Snyder, waits for results on the $22 million budget vote, which passed easily. She said this week, she supports having federal Race to the Top funds go to poor city and rural districts, although Voorheesville won’t receive much. “I’m hoping it will go to the schools that are serving needy populations,” she said.

New York learned Tuesday that it will get a $700 million in federal Race to the Top funds for public education, leaving local school administrators with mixed reactions.

After missing out in the first round of funds, New York came in second this time after the State Education Department worked with teachers’ unions to develop a system to evaluate educators, in part, based on student test scores. Also, the State Legislature raised the cap on charter schools from 200 to 460.

The Guilderland School District, which has an $87.4 million budget this year, has estimated it could receive $53,000 from the Race to the Top funds.

“We’re waiting to see, like with the other money, what strings are attached,” said Guilderland’s interim superintendent, Michael Marcelle. He was referring to the $607 million in federal funds slated for New York State to prevent teacher layoffs, which the State Legislature hasn’t yet decided how to distribute.

“Fifty-three thousand dollars will be helpful,” said Marcelle. “Once we find out the guidelines, we’ll use it to benefit children.”

Voorheesville isn’t counting on any Race to the Top funds.

“It’s going to high-needs districts,” said Assistant Superintendent for Business Sarita Winchell, “which is not Voorheesville.”

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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Horan takes the road less traveled

Pictured above:
A girl amongst boys: Sierra Horan (right), of Altamont, wrestled for three years on Guilderland’s junior-varsity team before graduating in June. Horan was the only female wrestler for the Dutch, but has joined an all-women’s team at Jamestown College in Jamestown, N.D. Here, Horan wrestles a friend from Averill Park.

ALTAMONT –– Wrestling is a male dominated sport, but Sierra Horan, of Altamont, is helping to break the mold. She was the only girl in the Guilderland wrestling program for three years, and has just started wrestling in college.

“People would be like, ‘Hey, there’s that girl from Guilderland,’” Horan said last month. “Everyone would go out of their way to point me out. I was that girl.”

Now, Horan is at Jamestown College in Jamestown, N.D. after graduating from Guilderland in June. She’s a member of the women’s wrestling team, one of 15 in the country and 15 in Canada that are part of the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association.

Before traveling to Jamestown, Horan won a silver medal in weightlifting at the Empire State Summer Games in Buffalo. She started weightlifting last summer for wrestling and her trainer, Keith Nautel, suggested that she sign up for the Games.

“I was just glad to survive it,” said Horan, who wasn’t as big as the other female weightlifters. “I was like the smallest girl there. I was trying not to get crushed.”

After competing against mostly boys in high school, Horan will tussle with her own gender at Jamestown.

“I feel more confident against other women,” said Horan on Wednesday. “We have the same strength and I won’t be so overmatched.”

— Jordan J. Michael

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This week in Sports

Blackbirds’ football stacked with seniors

Photo: The Enterprise –– Jordan J. Michael

Pictured above:
The Voorheesville football team is excited for another season after making vast improvements in 2009. The Blackbirds are returning 15 starters, including senior quarterback Ryan Duncan (left) and senior running back Max Schuster (right), seen at practice on Friday.

VOORHEESVILLE –– Coaching a football team is much easier when most of the players already know what to do and what to anticipate.

The Blackbirds are returning 17 seniors and four juniors for the 2010 season and Head Coach Joe Sapienza is delighted to see everyone back.

“We’re picking up where we left off,” Sapienza said at Voorheesville’s practice on Friday afternoon. It’s his 21st year as head coach and one of his biggest returning classes ever. “I have 17 guys that know what to expect and they’re models for the younger kids. It’s a great situation.”

One player that won’t be returning is Jerry Clark, who took his own life last spring. “He was our heavy hitter,” said senior quarterback Ryan Duncan. “He was a great person.”

Out of the large number of returning players, eight come back to start on offense and seven follow up on defense. “This isn’t traditional for a smaller school,” said Sapienza. “But, we’ll take it.”

“We have amazing chemistry because everyone is back,” said Duncan, who is a starter for the third year in a row. “Everyone has improved their game.”

Sapienza and Duncan have been running the offense together for a few years now and Sapienza is “looking for spectacular games from the quarterback.” During one stretch last season, Duncan threw 80 consecutive passes without an interception.

— Jordan J. Michael

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Ciachetti and Cannistraci: Life-long friends and teammates

Photos: The Enterprise –– Jordan J. Michael

Pictured above, left:
Fancy feet: Caleb Ciachetti, of Guilderland, dribbles the ball during men’s soccer practice at the University of Albany on Tuesday morning. Ciachetti, a freshman midfielder, was a Suburban Council First Team All-Star for the Dutchmen.

Pictured above, right:
One touch: The University at Albany men’s soccer team is welcoming freshman Nick Cannistraci (left) of Guilderland, who passes the ball during practice on Tuesday morning. Cannistraci was a Suburban Council Third Team All-Star for the Dutch in 2009.

ALBANY –– Caleb Ciachetti and Nick Cannistraci, both of Guilderland, are a prime example of inseparable friends.

First, they’ve played soccer together since childhood. Second, they’re both freshmen at the University at Albany where they’ll play for the men’s soccer team, while rooming together. Third, their last names are very similar –– long and Italian, beginning with “C.” Lastly, they’re both considering a major in business management.

“People get us confused all the time,” said Ciachetti at a Great Danes’ practice on Tuesday morning. “We’ve been counterparts for a long time and we have the same tactics.”

“We just get along really well,” Cannistraci said.

Cannistraci and Ciachetti joined the UAlbany team after playing for a very disciplined Dutchmen team that won a school-record 22 games and a Class AA title in 2008. Ciachetti was a Suburban Council First Team All-Star and Cannistraci made the third team.

“They are young, motivated, talented, and have tremendous attitudes,” said UAlbany Head Coach Johan Aarnio, who used to teach Ciachetti and Cannistraci in summer camps. “That’s what a coach likes, and they fit that.”

Guilderland Head Coach Mike Kinnally was happy to hear that UAlbany recruited some nice local talent. He mentioned that the Great Danes don’t usually bring in local recruits.

— Jordan J. Michael

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