Running for the Board of Education

Election Overview

The South Colonie Board of Education is made up of nine volunteer citizens who are each elected on the third Tuesday in May each year to serve five-year terms. 

A school board member takes on one of the most important citizen responsibilities: overseeing the education of the community’s youth. School boards are comprised of volunteers within the community who dedicate their time to better public education. The Board of Education oversees and manages the community’s public school system. It ensures the public schools are flexible and responsive to the needs of the community. Election to the Board of Education is an extremely important responsibility.

Responsibilities of a School Board Member

  • Create a shared vision for the future of education.
  • Set the direction of the school district to achieve the highest student performance.
  • Provide rigorous accountability for student achievement results.
  • Develop a budget and present it to the community, aligning District resources to improve achievement.
  • Support a healthy school district culture for work and learning.
  • Create strategic partnerships with the community stakeholders.
  • Build the District’s progress through continuous improvement.
  • Adopt and maintain current policies.
  • Ratify collective bargaining agreements.
  • Maintain strong ethical standards.

Qualifications

In order to qualify to run for a seat on the South Colonie Board of Education, you must meet the following requirements:

  1. Must be able to read and write.
  2. Must be a qualified voter of the District:
    • You are a citizen of the United States
    • You are at least 18 years of age
    • You are not adjudged by a Court to be mentally incompetent
    • You are not a convicted felon (Election Law 2012, Section 5-106)
  3. Must be and have been a resident of the South Colonie Central School District for a continuous and uninterrupted period of at least one year immediately before the election.
  4. Must live in the South Colonie Central School District.
  5. Cannot be employed by the Board on which they will serve or live in the same household with a family member who is also a member of the same school board.

Candidate Nominating Petitions

Qualified residents who are interested in running for the South Colonie Board of Education in May 2024 may pick up contact the office of the District Clerk at lanigana@scolonie.org. All school board candidate nominating petitions must be filed with the District Clerk no later than 4:00 pm on April 22, 2024.

Candidate Bio information

Candidate Bio Form

Questions

Any questions related to running for the Board of Education may be directed to Amber Lanigan, District Clerk at 869-3576, ext. 0442.