Newcomers Bill O'Bryan, Bill Riley and Mark Spence are vying to take Tom Sramek's place as an at-large member of the Albany School Board.

Sramek, who holds the No. 2 at-large position on the board, chose not to seek re-election so he can spend more time with his family.

O'Bryan has a business background and has been a volunteer in the district for the last 10 years.

With money tight, O'Bryan thinks every option to cut funds needs to be looked at, especially when staffing is 85 percent of the budget.

"We need to look at how the budget cuts have the least impact on kids and the quality of education," he said. "We need to do the best job we can the first time around."

As the general manager for National Frozen Foods, he has interviewed several prospective employees. Most of them, he said, are concerned about the schools in the area and want to know how good they are.

To increase standardized test scores, O'Bryan wants schools to focus on core subjects and examine specialty programs and how they are contributing to children's education.

"The school system is a huge part of the community," he said. "We only have one chance to get it right with each kid."

Riley is running for the school board because, he says, the panel could use a fresh perspective.

"I think I can lend a good public voice back to the community," he said. "It is the only way we are going to get through the next few years."

He wants to keep class sizes down and focus on retaining the district's best teachers.

He believes a proposed four-day school week could have an adverse impact on students, but if thorough discussion reveals it to be the best alternative, he could see himself supporting it.

Spence describes himself as commitment to public service and believes the district can neither budget-cut nor standardized-test its way to excellence.

"We need to be concerned with excellent reading and math and not worry about scores," he said. "We need to liberate the teachers in the classroom and let them be the professionals they were trained to be and that we trust them to be."

He says there is no simple answer to budget shortfalls.

"We need to talk to the teachers and decide from them what to cut," he said. "Everything depends on our goals. Once we have a clear central core principle of what we are trying to achieve, then we can come up with strategies to achieve it."

Bill O'Bryan

Age: 56.

Occu-pation: General manager, National Frozen Foods.

Edu-cation: Associate degree from West Hills College in Coalinga, Calif.; attended Oregon State University.

Community service: Albany Public Affairs Committee; Albany-Millersburg Development Commission; Boys & Girls Club of Albany board of directors; past president of West Albany High School Booster Club; chairman of the board of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce in 2004; served on the Building Schools for Kids Committee, which helped plan the Albany School District's $55 million bond measure that passed in 2006.

Family: Wife Diana and children Zachary, 25, Karsen, 22, and Elliott, 18.

Bill Riley

Age: 61.

Occu-pation: Retired.

Edu-cation: Bach-elor's degree in business and physical science from Towson University in Maryland.

Community service: Helped start the Linn-Benton Education Compact and helped West Albany High School set up its first site council.

Family: Wife Susan and children Jonathan, 37, Jason, 30, and Megan, 26.

Mark Spence

Age: 46.

Occu-pation: Self-employed historian; teaches at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon.

Education: Doctorate in history from UCLA.

Community service: Albany Public Safety Commission; Albany Planning Commission; co-president of Central Elementary parent club; church volunteer.

Family: Wife Amanda Allaback and son, Patrick Spence, 8, who goes to Central Elementary.