Board of Education

The Bethlehem Central Board of Education is composed of seven members who serve three-year terms. Members are elected by the voters in the district to establish policy and direct the administration of our schools. As your representatives, the Board exercises the community's rights to citizen control over public education. Every Board of Education in the State of New York has legal and financial control over local school matters, subject only to limitations imposed by the United States Constitution, federal law, state law, regulations of the Commissioner of Education and, of course, the will of local residents as expressed in local elections.

 

James E. Dering

2009-10 Board President

Term: July 1, 2005-June 30, 2008 

Jim Dering was elected to the Bethlehem Board of Education in June of 2005. He grew up in Bethlehem and graduated from Bethlehem Central High School. Jim earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Ithaca College and a law degree from Albany Law School. He is Bureau Chief of the Office of the New York State Attorney General’s Health Care Bureau. Prior to that, he served as Deputy General Counsel of the New York State Department of Health and as a partner in an Albany law firm. Jim and his wife, Cynthia, have a daughter who is a Bethlehem elementary school student. Jim coached in the Bethlehem Soccer Club for seven seasons. He was formerly on a corporate board and is a former church trustee.

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Lisa Allendorph

2009-10 Board Vice President

Term: July 1, 2007-June 30, 2010

Lisa Allendorph was first elected to the Board of Education in May 2007. She has lived in Delmar for the past 13 years with her husband, their two children, three dogs, a rabbit and dove. She has been active in the school district for the past eight years serving on the board of the Slingerlands and Middle School PTA, Presidents Council and Citizens Budget Group. She volunteers as financial secretary for her church and has served on its governing Session. Lisa previously served as Treasurer and Board member of the S.I.D.S. Alliance in the late 1990’s. Lisa grew up New Jersey, earned a BS in Business Management with a minor in Psychology from Plymouth State College (now Plymouth State University) in Plymouth, NH. Before moving to NY she has lived and worked in Pittsburgh, PA. and San Francisco, CA. She volunteered with SF Lighthouse for the Blind which started her desire to work with the blind and she and her family have volunteered since 1991 with Guiding Eyes for the Blind in NY, raising 4 guide dogs. Currently she holds the position of Finance Manager for Prevent Child Abuse New York, a private not-for-profit in Albany.

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Laura Ladd Bierman

Term: July 1, 2008-June 30, 2011

Laura Ladd Bierman was first elected to the Board of Education in 2008. Laura grew up in Connecticut and holds a BA in political science from Colgate University and a MA in public administration from the University of Virginia. She currently is the Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of New York State. For over 8 years, Laura served on the school board in a school district in the suburban Chicago area. She first moved to Delmar in 1982, and has lived in the district for a total of 11 years, returning most recently in 2005. She and her husband, Luke, have three children: Becky, a recent graduate of Middlebury College; Molly, a junior at Connecticut College; and Abbey, a sophomore at BC High School.

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Matt Downey

Term: July 1, 2008-June 30, 2011

Matt was first elected to the Board in 2008. He and his wife, Debra, have two children, Peter a BC High School student and Laura a BC Middle School student and have lived in Bethlehem since 1991.
Matt graduated from Siena College with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in Accounting.
For the past 20 plus years, Matt has held various positions in New York State agencies. He is currently a member of the executive staff at New York State Higher Education Services Corporation serving as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Matt is a former board member of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Albany County and the Bethlehem Soccer Club.

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Lynne L. Lenhardt

Term: July 1, 2006-June 30, 2009

Lynne L. Lenhardt was first elected to the Bethlehem Central Board of Education in 1988 and has served as President and Vice President. She has also been a member of the Capital Region BOCES Board since 1997 and is currently President. Since 2005, Lynne has served on the newly established Tech Valley High School Board of Education. In 2001, Lynne was elected to the New York State School Boards Association Board of Directors and represents approximately 70 school districts in seven counties around the Capital District. She serves on the Board of Directors’ Executive Committee and Investment Committee, and chairs the Task Force on Raising the Graduation Rate.  Formerly, Lynne was President of the Capital District School Boards Association and was a member of the Commissioners Advisory Council of School Board Members. She also chaired the Capital Area School Development Association school board institute steering committee and participated in CASDA’s Select Seminars on Leadership and on Collaborative Leadership to Improve Student Performance. Lynne is an “Ambassador” for the New York State School Boards Association, speaking on educational issues to the media and to community organizations. Lynne is also a member of the College Council of Empire State College. 
Prior to election to the Bethlehem School Board, Lynne served as President of the Slingerlands PTA and chaired numerous committees. She also taught creative problem solving as part of the Math Olympiads program for several years at Slingerlands School. Lynne received a master’s degree from the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy and formerly taught high school social studies. She also served as an adjunct college instructor of mathematics and worked in the New York State Legislature. Presently, she is a substitute teacher and does private math tutoring. She is an active participant in the Slingerlands Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Bethlehem Historical Association, and also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Bethlehem Central Endowment Fund. Lynne lives in Delmar with her husband George. They have two grown children, Brian and Kimberly.

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Diane Giacone Stever

Term: July 1, 2007-June 30, 2010

Diane Giacone Stever was first elected to the Board of Education in May 2007. She is a special education teacher for Questar III BOCES, and a lifelong district resident. She and her husband, Patrick, have three children, two at Clarksville and one attending BC High School.

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Charmaine Wijeyesinghe

Term: July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010

Charmaine Wijeyesinghe has lived in Bethlehem for 12 years, and is an independent consultant and author. She received her Bachelor of Science, Master of Education (higher education administration), and Doctorate of Education (organizational development) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her professional background includes several positions in student affairs at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Dean of Student at Mount Holyoke College, and National Program Consultant for the National Conference for Community and Justice (NYC). Charmaine has been a consultant on issues of social justice for two decades, and has taught at the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and the School for International Training in Vermont. Currently, she lectures at colleges and universities around the country on issues of race, multiracial identity, and other social issues. Charmaine is working on a second edition of her co-edited volume (with Bailey W. Jackson) New Perspectives on Racial Identity Development: A Theoretical and Practical Anthology (NYU Press, 2001). Before her election to the Board of Education, Charmaine served on the Board of the Elsmere PTA for 4 years. She and her husband, Christian Lietzau, have two children, Andreas (Middle School) and Rebecca (Elsmere).