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Board of Education

Board Meetings, Agendas and Minutes | Public Comment | Board Members

A local Board of Education is an agency of New York State that is governed by State law and the regulations of the Commissioner of Education. The North Colonie Board is composed of nine members who serve five year terms. The North Colonie Central School District’s Board of Education establishes policy, has the fiscal responsibility to provide a budget and directly hires the superintendent of schools. As your elected representatives, the Board exercises the community’s rights of citizen control over public education.

Board Meeting Schedule, Agendas & Minutes

The North Colonie Central School District will be switching to BoardDocs for the Board of Education Meetings effective 9/15/2023. On the BoardDocs North Colonie CSD site you will be able to view meeting dates and locations for upcoming meetings. The agenda will continue to be released 3 days prior to the Board meetings and you will be able to view them on this site. This process makes it easier for the public and employees to view agendas, previous agendas and minutes, we are currently in the process of having 5 years of prior meeting agendas and minutes uploaded to the site along with all of the school district policies.

North Colonie’s Board conducts two types of meetings, formal business voting meetings once per month and committee study meetings as needed. During the formal business meeting, the Board officially votes on particular items on the agenda. During committee meetings, the Board receives information and discusses the issue; however, no formal action is taken.

The Board also meets in “executive session” to discuss personnel matters, labor negotiations and other items that are sensitive or confidential as defined by the Open Meeting Laws of NYS. Executive sessions are closed to the public; however, any formal action on the passage of any resolution must be taken in open public monthly meetings. These executive sessions may precede or follow regular board meetings.

Monthly formal voting meetings are held on the third or fourth Monday of each month at 7:15 p.m. The location alternates among each of our eight schools. Board members are available to informally speak to residents 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting.

There is also a “Visitors’ Statement” period available in the beginning of each meeting. The Board recognizes its responsibility to hear public comments and therefore encourages the public to attend these board meetings.

View the full Board of Education meeting schedule.

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Public Comment

The statement below is read at each North Colonie Central School District Board of Education Meeting:

A portion of our Board of Education meeting this evening will be devoted to listening to comments from members of the public. Although the law does not require the Board to hold a public comment period, we have chosen to do so because we believe it is important for the Board to hear from our community members about their concerns and issues. We have placed a sign-up sheet at the entrance of the room for members of the public to indicate their desire to speak during the public comment period of our meeting. Only those people who have signed in using that sheet will be permitted to speak this evening. You also may submit written comments to the Board in lieu of speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting if you so choose.

The Board is here to listen to your comments. Therefore, all speakers should address their comments directly to the Board, and not to the audience or to other members of the District in attendance at this meeting. However, the public comment period is not intended to be a back-and-forth discussion. Accordingly, please do not expect the Board to respond to your concerns and questions at this meeting. We take your comments seriously and want to have sufficient time for the entire Board to review and process your comments. As may be appropriate, the Board may address your questions and concerns at a future meeting or ask a District administrator to contact you at the appropriate time.

We also recognize that members of our community might disagree with the views of other members of the community or of the Board. We hope that our Board meetings can serve as an example to our students that the Board and members of our community can deal with controversial issues in a civil manner and demonstrate mutual respect for one another. In that spirit, we will insist that all speakers and members of the audience maintain civility and respect for any divergent views that others possess. Members of the audience also must not shout out or interrupt any speakers. In the unlikely event the meeting becomes unruly, the Board will recess the meeting and return once order has been restored. Because of state and federal privacy laws, we also ask that members of the public refrain from making public comment about any specific students or personnel of the District. Rather, we would ask that you raise concerns regarding specific students or personnel directly with the appropriate District administrator.

Finally, individuals will be allotted up to three minutes to speak at this evening’s meeting. Members of the audience cannot donate their time to a speaker to increase this amount. If there are more speakers than would allow for everyone to comment during the period of time allotted by the Board for public comment, then we ask that speakers whose views already have been expressed to be respectful of these time restraints and to yield the floor to others wishing to speak.

Thank you.

– North Colonie Central School District Board of Education

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Board Members

Members of the Board of Education are elected by the voters of the district to establish policy and direct the administration of our schools.

Learn more about our North Colonie Board of Education Members.

Board of Education Elections

Board of Education elections take place on the date of the budget vote each year in May. Individuals are eligible for election to the Board if they are qualified voters of the district (district resident, U.S. citizen, 18 and older) and can read and write. New York State Education Law does not limit the number of terms of office a member may serve. Board members serve volunteer, five-year terms. They receive no salary or other compensation.

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*Important: The Board of Education of the North Colonie Central School District will hold a Public Hearing on the Volunteer Firefighter Exemption on Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:30PM prior to the Regular Board of Education Meeting at 7:15PM. The hearing and Regular Board meeting will be held at Loudonville Elementary in the Gymnasium located at 349 Osborne Rd, Albany NY 12211.