Once or twice a month, school districts get together for board meetings.

Sometimes they’re fairly straightforward and provide updates on what’s happening at district schools. Other times, they can be contentious and controversial.

But when you have a bunch of adults in the room, sometimes you miss out on the voice of students. That’s why some districts are putting an emphasis on student representatives.

In Niskayuna, three students serve as student reps. Each brings a different point of view to meetings.

“Only the students really have a good idea and nuanced perspective of what goes on in the student body life, and so defying any political spectrum, I think that at the end of the day, doing whatever is best for the school and the student body should come first,” says junior Nina Knezevic.

Knezevic, senior Vera Amirbekian and junior Madhav Raj serve on the board. While they’re unable to vote, they have been able to discuss everything from bringing back the high school’s microwaves to busing shortages, issues that might have gone unnoticed.

"There’s like a disconnect between students and the board, and I just felt like I would be good at communicating, and I have those skills,” says Raj.

It’s a worthwhile practice, but it takes a lot of time. Meetings are held at 6 p.m., which is about nine hours after the start of the school day. Then there’s homework to do.

But the students believe their opinion needs to be part of the conversation, especially as meetings nationwide have become more political.

“For me personally, I think it’s the tangible evidence that we are doing something good, and especially hearing everything that’s going on in the district, just makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger,” says Knezevic.

This is also a learning opportunity.

“A lot of people are scared by the … not scared, but intimidated by, the public speaking aspect of it, but we’re all human at the end of the day,” Amirbekian said, “and I think it’s been a worthwhile experience because I’ve been able to work on a lot of skills that maybe the classroom doesn’t exactly offer.”