The Albany City School District Board of Education's newest member is bringing a fresh perspective to city schools.
Elected in May, Austin Wolfgang, the newest member of the Albany School Board in six years, is also its youngest. At 23, the Albany High and SUNY Buffalo grad is currently the Chief of Staff for State Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs, a Democrat from the 68th district.
"I do policy work," Wolfgang said. "I worked for the county originally out of college, and then now I work for the state legislature. And yeah, I'm gonna keep doing that. The school board is part time volunteer. There's no pay for it, so I gotta keep the day job."
The school district serves about 8,800 students in 12 elementary schools, three middle schools, and Albany High School. Wolfgang, a 2019 Albany High alum, recognizes the typical board member is the parent of a current student or a recent graduate.
But as someone who is only 6 years out of high school, Wolfgang says he has stayed close to the school community. He says his youngest brother only graduated high school last month.
"I started, I'd say, beginning of this year. I thought about it before, I guess I'd say, but I really got the bug the beginning of this year, talking with my brother about the new Albany High, so I started talking to some of the people I know who used to be on the school board, like friends' parents, and they helped me get in contact with some people, and that's how I found out that there was actually a vacancy opening up this year. So I decided to run for it," said Wolfgang. who adds he believes in public involvement, noting that board meetings are open to the public and include a public comment period.
"We're a public body, so that's a requirement, and we actually do have a public comment period at every board meeting, so that if people are attending or they can email us leave a message you know, on the District line, even if they leave it in another language, we have translation services available so that we are able to understand what they're trying To tell us. So every other Thursday, at 630 is when those meetings start, and they are open to the public," Wolfgang said.
The school board holds its public meetings at the Harriet Gibbon Student Success Center on Watervliet Avenue. Wolfgang says all meetings are streamed online, and encourages all members of the school community to drop by or tune in.
"I would really recommend, because even just one, you'll learn a lot of interesting things about what's going on in the schools," said Wolfgang.
