Voters in the Kendall Central School District will have a choice between two candidates when they go to the polls on May 15.

Newcomer William Ottman will attempt to unseat long-time board member Donald Snyder for the one five-year term that is available in the district.

Ottman said his reason for running for the school board is he wants to become more involved in the community he calls home. He said he feels his experience in education as a teacher and as Director of Science in the East Irondequoit school system will stand him in good stead as a board member. Both he and his wife, Angela, are involved in the districts in which they work.

"Educating a child both academically and socially is an important function of any school district," he said. "This is a nice size district in which to foster the interaction between the school and the community."

Ottman is involved with the State Education Department’s re-vamped learning standards and will be traveling to Albany to work with other educators on writing the standards for the state assessments. He is also a trainer for BOCES 1 for the state assessments.

Running against an incumbent didn’t affect Ottman’s decision to run. "I have been involved in the school and am part of an ad hoc committee in the district," he said. "I have helped introduce some of the science curriculum that I had written."

Ottman also said he volunteers for many committees in the school district.

He gained experience as a leader, he said, while attending Fredonia State College, as he was president of the Student Body Association. "I am familiar with Robert’s Rules of Order, running meetings, working as part of a team and helping bring people together to accomplish a common goal," he said.

A believer in the approach that it takes a community to raise a child, he said he wants to get the community more involved in the educational aspects of the Kendall district. "I would like to see more community events and bring various groups of people together… parents, teachers and administrators," he said. "I believe the focus for any school is its teachers. They need to be provided with quality staff development and resources."

Ottman invites community members to contact him at home at 659-2283 or by e-mail at bottman@rochster.rr.com

School Board President Donald Snyder is seeking a third term as a member of the school board. He has served on the board for the past eight years, having first been chosen during a special election to fill the remainder of a five-year term from a board member who resigned.

"When I first decided to run I had two reasons – one was 10 and one was seven," he said, referring to his two children. "We were spending so much time in the school because of them that it seemed natural for me to run for the board."

Snyder said there is so much for a new board member to learn that he felt it took him almost three years to gain a full understanding of the concept of being on the board. "There is a lot to understand about what it means to be a board member and what it means to help with the operations of a school district," he said. Snyder’s daughter, Stacey, a freshman in high school, is one of the main reasons he is seeking re-election. "I want to be a part of the district while my daughter continues her high school career and there is a lot of unfinished business I would like to see through to completion," he said.

The unfinished business to which he refers is the bond issue that was passed last year for the completion of the high school sports fields, ground works and remodeling. "I truly enjoyed my time on the board and the opportunities I have had to work with the fantastic people that sit on the board with me," he said.

Snyder said he would like to see the district continue the improvements they have been making on all levels of the academics within the district. "We have seen an increase in the numbers and percentages of our students who are graduating with Regents diplomas," Snyder said. "We have always been in the forefront of the other schools in the county."

Kendall was recently rated first in academic excellence by "Buffalo Business First" magazine. Snyder acknowledges that the district did have some low test grades on the state administered eighth grade tests but they have implemented changes and are looking at ways to improve those scores.

Snyder has lived in the Kendall area since 1983 with his wife, Betty, son, Philip and daughter, Stacey. He is a parole officer for the State of New York.