Who are we?
We are taxpayers and residents of the North Colonie School District who believe in the importance of high-quality public education and are proud to live in a community with excellent schools. We watched and worked with the District Administration and the Board of Education to develop a plan to modernize our facilities and prepare our schools for a large influx of new students over the coming decade. We then watched as negative media coverage and an eleventh-hour anonymous campaign led to a defeat of the bond issue required to fund the plan.
As there was no campaign to support the bond proposal and promote initiatives to pay for long overdue school improvements, a few of us district residents decided to come together and work to advocate for future efforts of the North Colonie School District. The success of the North Colonie School District is well established and is not in dispute. High-quality public schools like ours help keep our property values high and make our Town a desirable place to live and raise a family.
We Love Our North Colonie Schools, and we hope you do too! Join our efforts and help keep North Colonie Schools among the best in the region.
Founding Members
Samuel B. Johnson
Samuel Johnson is an RPI graduate and software engineer. He’s lived in the Capital District for the past eight years, and North Colonie for the past two and a half. He has two children at Blue Creek Elementary School and is active in the PTA.
Tim Nichols
Tim Nichols is a lifelong Latham resident and Shaker High School graduate. He attended SUNY New Paltz and the University at Albany’s Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Public Policy and has been active in local politics in a number of positions over the last thirty years, holding positions such as Directory of Government Affairs for the American Lung Association of New York State, Albany County Legislator, and Executive Director of the Association on Aging in New York. Tim and his wife have two children: one a recent Shaker graduate, the other a student at Shaker High School.
Kathryn Svatek
Katy Svatek grew up in the Capital District, graduating from Averill Park High School before attending the Crane School of Music and Michigan State University. She plays French Horn with several local ensembles and teaches private music lessons from her home in Loudonville.