Desire to guarantee good education prompts runs for Batavia school board

Strong beliefs in the value of public education to improve society motivated eight people to run for the Batavia school board in April.

But one also cited concern about the district's finances, and another cited worries about the district's practices and staff morale, during a Daily Herald endorsement interview.

They seek three, 4-year terms.

"I am running for the school board for more than tax purposes," said Melanie Impastato, who was appointed to the board in July 2013. As a parent of three school-age children, "I demand a good school district," she said. Impastato is corporation counsel and chief executive officer of a business, and oversees settlement trust funds that are invested in the municipal bond market. She says she has "a skill set" unequaled by anyone on the board on in the field of candidates.

Bill Gabriel, Ron Rechenmacher and Michelle Olache are running as a team, GROBatavia.

Because he has four children, Gabriel said, he is "really looking forward to all of them having a quality education in Batavia for their whole childhood, and I want to be a part of that process. I want to help lead and guide the direction of the district over that time." Gabriel is an analytics team lead and quantitative developer.

Rechenmacher said, "I do care about public education and I do care about the care and formation of children," he said. Another reason he is running is that he finally has time to do this, as his oldest child is in college and the second is in high school.

Olache said that finances also prompted her to run. "One of the most important reasons I am running is that in the oath of office that the board member takes, one of the important things that they swear to is to represent the taxpayer, and I don't believe that the current board is doing that," Olache said.

She said she has met many people who no longer have children attending schools, and are unhappy about their school taxes. "I don't think their voices are being heard, even though they are a majority of the community," Olache said.

She is a stay-at-home parent teaching at home, with a master's degree in social work.

Ellen Knautz is also a stay-at-home parent, with a bachelor's degree in music. Receiving public education improved her parents' lives, she said, and that inspires her. "When they (people) are faced with life's unexpected moments, whether that is the loss of a job or other factors, that education allows them to perhaps be more resilient than if they didn't have a quality education," she said.

Lowe cited his interest in politics, and his volunteer work in his children's elementary school. He is a stay-at-home parent and former architect. Lowe said children grow up to be taxpayers. "If we provide them a bad education, our tax base is going to go down. If we provide them a good education, hopefully they are going to keep that money in town and our tax base will go up," he said.

Dryden retired in October from Batavia High School. In 2013, the board disciplined him for several matters, including telling students they had a right not to incriminate themselves on a school survey about their social and emotional health, including drug and alcohol use.

"It became clear to me a couple years ago, and more increasingly over the last couple of years, that there were fights that had to be fought in terms of policy, in terms of procedure, in terms of curriculum, morale, and climate in the buildings. Educators needing to be heard," he said. "I retired from my teaching position specifically so I can run for the board."

And for board President Cathy Dremel, wanting a second term is part of her commitment to the overall community.

"I am a huge advocate of public education. I am a huge advocate of our community," said Dremel, citing her involvement in several nonprofit efforts. She is a stay-at-home parent, with a master's degree in business administration. "In a town like Batavia the two are tied together. You can't separate them."

"I think we are doing a disservice to our community if you don't have people who are committed to exactly what public education is all about," she said.