Meet the Board Candidates

Thomas Albano

How many years have you lived in the district: 7 years

What is your Occupation: Retired Peace Officer and Aerospace Engineer

Do you have children attending Churchville-Chili Schools:  Grandchildren

Please list your contributions to or involvement in the community and the community service you have done: 

·         Past chili soccer director/coach/hot dog tournament chair

·         Board of Education at CCCSD

·         Trainer at Chili Fitness

·         American Legion

·         Area retired officer of Rochester Police and Law Enforcement

Why do you want to be a school board member? To continue to support our children, parents and grandparents in the education, literacy, social well-being and special education programs for CCCSD students.

What are the two top issues facing Churchville-Chili schools over the next three years?

1.      Sustaining quality teachers and administrators

2.      Maintaining higher graduation rates

3.      Code of Conduct sustainability

Name: Steve Hogan

How many years have you lived in the district?  40+ years

What is your Occupation? Vice President, Business Development at HR Works – a national Human Resources Consulting Firm.

Do you have children attending Churchville-Chili schools? My wife and I have four daughters: Marissa (class of 2023), Olivia (class of 2024), Alexa in 11th grade, and Juliana in 9th grade.

Please list your contributions to or involvement in the community and the community service you have done. I’ve served on the CCCSD school board for 10 years, including the last 2+ years as Vice President.  I’m a part of the Finance & Audit Committee and the Safety & Security Committee.  I’m the current President of the Small Business Council of Rochester, an affiliate of the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce.  I’m an Executive Board Member and immediate past Board Chair for The Children’s Agenda – a nonpartisan think tank and advocacy organization focused on improving children’s lives and health outcomes in New York State.

Why do you want to be a school board member?  

I would like to continue being a voice for our community into the decisions of our school district.  I’m proud of the work our board has accomplished over the last few years, including hiring a new Superintendent of Schools, a multi-year capital plan and middle-school project to improve schools and facilities, ensured excellent safety and security practices and personnel, strong fiscal management and minimal tax level rate increases, and a focus on recruiting and maintaining the very best teachers to instruct our students.  With the community’s support, I’d like to continue to serve to ensure we continue improving in all these areas.  I would also like to continue working with the board to increase our Pre-K program capacity, including an expansion project to be able to serve more children.

What do you think are the two top issues facing Churchville-Chili schools over the next three years?  

Although CCCSD is in a good fiscal position, there is uncertainty at the State and Federal levels.   As we look to recruit and retain the very best teachers and staff, ensure state of the art facilities, and maintain excellent academic programs to equip students we need to balance all of this while being sensitive of those in our community living on fixed incomes – and taxpayers who are paying the bill.  Fiscal management requires careful planning to meet the many needs of a school district while working to keep any increase to the tax levy at a minimum.  

Another top issue facing CCCSD is meeting the social and emotional needs of students.  Students face many challenges today, and schools are being relied upon more than ever to support students from all socio-economic backgrounds.  Teachers are stretched more than ever to meet the needs of students.  When dealing with challenging behavior, as a district we will continue holding kids accountable.  However, when kids are struggling, resources are needed to provide support.  Staying on top of these challenges takes a multi-faceted approach and a strong commitment from the teachers, administration and the board of education.

Kathleen C. Dillon 

How many years have you lived in the district? I have lived in the district for over 40 years.

What is your occupation? I am a Social Worker; I retired as the Director of Quality Assurance from the Finger Lakes DDSO.

Do you have any children attending Churchville-Chili schools? Our daughters are graduates of Churchville-Chili. We have a grandson in 3rd grade, a granddaughter in 5th grade, a grandson on the wait list for Pre-K and an infant granddaughter who will attend CRS.

Please list your contributions to or involvement in the community and the community service you have done:
I have served on the CC BOE as the Vice President and President. I also represent C-C on the Monroe-Orleans BOCES 2 Board of Education. 

Why do you want to be a school board member? Serving on the Board of Education is very important to me. We have several initiatives that I would like to be given the opportunity to continue to work on; completion of the Middle School construction project and continuation of work on our next capital project. The new
project will address the needs in the elementary schools, expand Pre-K and explore the possibly the Operations and Maintenance Building relocating to better meet the needs of the district.

What do you think are the two top issues facing Churchville-Chili schools over the next three years? The two biggest issues we are facing include our budget and capital improvements. This year we saw a 14% increase in health care costs. Legislation was passed directing us to buy electric buses. The State Education Blue Ribbon Committee is implementing new requirements for graduation which will direct some changes in our curriculum. Taking into account all of our challenges, we must balance instruction, staffing and building needs so we can continue to provide quality instruction, employ fairly compensated staff, and have well maintained buildings and grounds. All of this has to be done while focused on our tax rate, keeping it as low as possible.

Matthew Smeltzer

How many years have you lived in the district: 1.5 years

What is your Occupation:  Pastor of Grace Covenant Church at 224 Chestnut Ridge.

Do you have children attending Churchville-Chili Schools:  No.

Please list your contributions to or involvement in the community and the community service you have done:  I oversee a homeless shelter for families and weekly food distribution. I also facilitate school supply collections and published a community resource magazine.

Why do you want to be a school board member? To help our community, empower families and support educators.

What are the two top issues facing Churchville-Chili schools over the next three years?

1.      Maintaining a standard of excellence.

2.      Allocating resources in a manner that enables students to thrive.

Jason Marsherall

How many years have you lived in the district: 17

What is your occupation: Title Insurance Policy Coordinator

Do you have children attending Churchville-Chili Schools: My wife and I have a 2nd grader at Churchville Elementary School and a 10th grader at the High School.

Please list your contributions to or involvement in the community and the community service you have done:  I am involved with the Town of Chili Traffic and Safety Committee. The committee listens to resident concerns about issues they are facing including concerns about speeding and development. I have been a part of the committee since 2018. I have been a member of the Friends of the Chili Public Library for many years and in 2024 was elected Vice-President. The purpose of the Friends of the Chili Public Library is to support the staff of the Chili Public Library by providing funds for programming and materials that goes beyond what regular funding provides. I am also the co-creator and administrator for the Residents of Chili Facebook Group. The group began in 2016 as a way to positively inform the residents of Chili in regards to items such as government actions, activities in town and through the school districts that serve the town. We also have posts that ask for advice and recommendations and we work to support local small businesses. We have also participated in drives to help obtain school supplies and food drives to help those in need. I also serve as the administrator for the Facebook group Buy Nothing Chili. This group helps people in the local area find and give away items that they may need or are ready to pass on to someone else. This group helps keep more items out of landfills. In the past I have also served as a district literacy volunteer. I went to the school and helped kindergarten students as they were beginning their reading journeys.

Why do you want to be a school board member: Working to ensure our young people have a public school district that is supportive, full of opportunities in and outside the classroom and prepares them for life after school is one of the most important things a community can provide. I want to work to help ensure all of those opportunities continue in our district. Pursuing excellence for students, teachers, staff, administrators and our entire Churchville-Chili community is what I will always pursue. I believe being a school board member ultimately boils down to doing what is best for all of our children. That's what I would vigorously pursue as a school board member.

What do you think are the two top issues facing Churchville-Chili schools over the next three years:

Successful retention of our teachers and staff continues to be a vital issue in our district. Attracting excellent employees and making sure they are able to stay and grow to ensure continuity will make our district stronger. Teachers and staff need continued support to ensure they are put in the best possible position to use their talents to help our students.

Continued efforts to support the mental health of our young people will be a vital part of their continued success. This will require board members willing to listen and react accordingly as the challenges of the current generation continue to present themselves.