Latham teen running for school board hopes to be ‘bridge’ for community

COLONIE — A Shaker High School senior running for the North Colonie school board may be the youngest candidate ever to seek the position.

Fox Rifenberg-Stempel, 18, touts his leadership experience gained as an Eagle Scout and through his participation in Shaker High student government.

He plans to attend the University at Albany in the fall and major in political science. But he’s not worried about juggling school board responsibilities — which include approving curricula, hiring staff, making decisions about capital projects, and submitting the district’s $1oo million-plus school budget to voters for approval — with a full college course load.

“I guess you can say I’m not your typical teenager… I like to fill out paperwork,” Rifenberg-Stempel said. “I’m really interested in helping make things work and I have experience with that through the Scouts.”

He’s been in the Boy Scouts of America for nine years. As secretary of the Boy Scouts’ local Order of the Arrow honors society, Rifenberg-Stempel was in charge of communications for about 1,000 scouts in the region. 

He has roots in the Colonie community and he says public service is in his blood. His grandparents and his mother went to Shaker High School and his great-grandfather was the town supervisor of Berne in the 1980s. 

“That’s one of the reasons I’m running for the school board,” he said. “I want to make sure Shaker, and North Colonie as a whole, continue to educate the community effectively… I guess it’s a family tradition.”

Fox also served as a student representative to the school board for the past three years and has attended nearly every school board meeting.

“I figured why not run if I already go to the meetings anyway,” he said. At board meetings, “there is not a lot of input from the community as a whole. I think I would be a good bridge of contact … bringing up student voices on the board.” 

He is a charter member of the North Colonie PTSA and serves on the senior events committee. Despite numerous restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee has finalized plans for prom and graduation 2021, which will take place at the end of June at the Times Union Center.

“We have capacity limitations and those are always changing,” Rifenberg-Stempel said. “Up until last month, we didn’t even think we’d have a prom. Now we are dealing with capacity limits, how to serve food, social distancing and how people will get in the door social distanced; it’s a lot of rules.”

Rifenberg-Stempel said watching his teachers and fellow students struggle under the constraints of virtual education during COVID-19 has made him think about the supports they will need when life returns to normal.

“The teachers really need support from the administration,” he said. “They are under so much pressure this year — it’s just been a crazy year. And also support for the students. In online school, you don’t really learn too much and I know a lot of kids are falling behind.”

Two high school friends are helping out on his campaign, including handing out business cards to all of their friends who are old enough to vote, he said. 

He hopes his candidacy will inspire other teens to become more interested in local government and public service.

There are two open seats on the North Colonie school board. Current board member Mary Nardolillo is running again uncontested. The open seat of W. Ronald Von Dell is being sought by three candidates, including Rifenberg-Stempel. 

Mary Alber, a mother of two Shaker High School students and president of the North Colonie PTA Council, is also running. In a statement on the district website, she said through her work on the PTA council, she “brought the community support fund to life during the pandemic.”

Alber has a background in information technology and currently works for the state Teachers’ Retirement System.   

The third candidate, Nicholas P. Comproski, is a middle school social studies teacher for the Troy school district and an adjunct professor at the College of Saint Rose. He has been a firefighter at Colonie’s Maplewood Volunteer Fire Department since he was 18.

He wants to run for the school board seat because “community relationships are what make the Town of Colonie the best place to live,” he said in a statement. “As a lifelong resident, I would not have asked for a better experience growing up … My experiences in education, working with diverse learners and their families (especially as a former special education teacher) have taught me how to be an advocate that families truly need.”

The district will conduct a livestreamed public hearing on the proposed $124,977,067 budget for the 2021-22 school year Wednesday night at 7 p.m. At the meeting, the four candidates will introduce themselves and explain why they wish to serve. 

North Colonie residents can vote on the school budget and Board of Education candidates on Tuesday, May 18, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., at the Goodrich Building, at 91 Fiddlers Lane in Latham.