SARATOGA SPRINGS — While many school board races around the region are uncontested this year, this city’s district vote to fill three seats continues a yearslong ideological battle between those who want police in the halls and those who want to take a broader approach to school safety that includes improving its climate.
Five candidates are running in Tuesday’s vote, which includes a $142.7 million budget proposal. Sharon Dominguez and Joe Sabanos are taking issue with incumbents Tony Krackeler and Anjeanette Emeka for voting “no” last January to hire a fourth school resources officer. Dominguez and Sabanos are lumping in a third candidate, Beth Braxton, with the incumbents to warn parents that these three are not prioritizing school safety.
“A concern has been expressed that the reelection of the two incumbents and their running mate could jeopardize preserving the SROs that were added,” Sabanos said. “This is based on the incumbents’ history of voting not to add the two additional SROs.”
However, Braxton, Emeka and Krackeler are arguing they are not against SROs and that school safety requires more than armed security.
“They have zeroed in on SROs,” said Braxton, a mental health counselor and professor at SUNY Adirondack. “To me, it’s a much broader conversation. It shouldn’t be just about SROs. It has to be about the emotional well-being of our students and teachers, safe and well-maintained buildings, hiring skilled staff and building a sense of community is all safety … it’s foundational and so much more than SROs.”
Emeka echoed that, adding the vote to hire a fourth SRO, one stationed at an elementary school, came in the middle of the budget year.
“I voted against them because it was not part of the regular budget process,” said Emeka, who has sat on the board for six years. “I never said if I…
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