Scarsdale Residents Take Tax Cap Issue To Albany
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It’s being called a game-changer in New York politics. Governor Andrew Cuomo has worked out a deal with Democrat and Republican state senators to cap property tax growth at 2% throughout the state. The deal still needs to be worked out in the State Assembly. There are many people in Scarsdale, as well as across the state, who say that this is bad for our schools. They took their case to Albany earlier this week.
At a press conference on Wednesday in Albany, Arthur Rublin, Chair of the Coalition for Scarsdale Schools along with Jill Spieler, President Board of Education, resident Miriam Popp Seely, as well as members of Chappaqua, Ossining, Edgemont, Eastchester, Bedford and Mt. Vernon schools laid out why they adamantly opposed this bill.
In a statement the joint coalition calls this proposal “…is a punitive, misguided approach to public concerns about property taxes. Rather than provide meaningful relief from State-imposed spending requirements… this bill continues to obligate school districts to fund top-down requirements while impairing local ability to raise revenue for essential education programs. The Cuomo/Skelos/Silver Tax cap proposal is a direct assault on the quality of your schools, the quality of our communities, our ability to decide how we spend our property tax dollars and on our property values.”
Property taxes are prohibitively high in many towns in New York State with Scarsdale ranking among the highest. Cuomo says the tax cap would 
offer relief to homeowners who are feeling forced out of their homes due to skyrocketing taxes. Businesses applaud the move as well saying it will provide jobs to the state.
The argument that the coalition made on Wednesday is that a state controlled cap on what can be spent locally is fundamentally wrong. The district already votes up and down its own budget and the state should not mandate how one town spends its monies. This bill has been compared to one in the state of California which has had a chilling effect on its public schools.
The proposal in its current form would require a 60% majority vote in a town to override the tax cap.
The Scarsdale Board of Education issued a paper opposing the bill earlier this year. The Board says that the tax cap takes away local decision making and has the potential to devastate education. The Scarsdale Board of Ed along with many other school boards in Westchester say that the 2% tax cap is barely enough to cover mandates.
“On the face of it, everyone wants lower taxes, but if you look into the mechanism of this bill you can see that this is no easy fix,” explains Nan Berke, President of the Scarsdale High School PTA. “ This would force school boards to make big cuts to curriculum and staff and cut to the quick of what makes Scarsdale schools excellent. This is pennywise and pound foolish.”
From the day in Albany as well as countless phone calls and emails, Rublin says he gets the sense the tax cap legislation may not be a done deal, at least in its current form. One issue that could stop the bill from progressing has nothing to do with schools, but with rent control guidelines.
And even if it passes that hurdle, the coalition is hoping for amendments to the bill. Among them, a lower percentage to override the cap, an exclusion of pension contribution growth which is often a huge cost to the districts, health care costs excluded and a change in language allowing adopting the higher figure of CPI growth vs. tax cap growth (right now it is the lower of the two). The coalition is also hoping the bill allows for changes due to enrollment growth or considers budget growth instead of tax levy growth.
If the bill passes in its current form or something similar to it, Rublin admits Scarsdale will have its work cut out for it if the same quality of education is to be maintained.
However, everything he learned in Albany showed that numbers matter and constituent’s count. It can be as simple as clicking on a link sent to you from the PTA.
“People shouldn’t think that their voice doesn’t count on this matter,” Rublin says. “From everything we have heard that its critical that everyone who cares about this issue that people express their views even if it’s just clicking on a link from an email from the PTA. Numbers matter.”
Pictured Above: Representatives from local schools met with Assemblywoman Paulin and Assemblyman Abinanti in Albany.
Jen is a freelance journalist who has covered the economy and markets for over a decade at a major financial news outlet. She lives in Scarsdale with her husband and 2 children. Jen has yet to bake a successful batch of cookies.
Scarsdale School Board Announces Tenure Decisions
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Fourteen Scarsdale teachers and two school administrators were granted tenure at the Board of Education meeting on Monday night May 23rd. Dr. Joan Weber announced the appointments which were given after a rigorous process of mentoring, supervision, evaluations and review of the results of parent surveys and public comments.
The entire School Board, administrators and the newly tenured teachers attended the meeting to acknowledge the staff’s accomplishments and congratulate them.
The list of newly tenured staff includes:
Administrators:
- Sue Peppers: Assistant Principal
- Lynn Shaine: Assistant Superintendant for Curriculum
Teachers:
- Lisa Houston -Foreign Language
- Michelle Boyum – Elementary
- Pam Winders Elementary
- Michelle Asch – Art
- John Van Cott – Elementary
- Sima Cass – Guidance
- Cara Hiller – English
- Kristan Martin – Science
- Lauren Barton – Math
- Elizabeth Karambelkar – Math
- Danielle Koenigsberg Special Ed
- Lauren Mooney – Language
- Margaret Siegrist Science
- Lisa Yokana – Art
Also of interest from the meeting: Superintendent of Schools Michael McGill provided an update on the search for a new principal for SHS. McGill expects the search to extend into the 2011-2012 school year and has assigned Fred Goldberg and Kelly Hamm to serve as interim principals with Goldberg handling exterior affairs and Hamm charged with managing the internal doings of the school. Since McGill also expects both Goldberg and Hamm to retire by 2013 the school is also engaged in a search for a new Assistant Principal.
In addition, since Athletic Director Mike Menna is retiring a search is on for a new Athletic Director for the school. In the past this position also encompassed responsibility for Physical Education, however McGill hopes to be able to maintain two positions – one for Athletic Director and the other to head up Physical Education.
McGill also announced that New York State has issued new regulations for teacher evaluations which will base teacher success on their students results on state tests. McGill called the new system “an assembly line approach” that “eliminates human judgment” from the assessment process. McGill believes that no single person can be held accountable for variables beyond their control and said that the new regulations emphasize results on tests that do not improve learning.”
The Board considered three items relating to gifts and financial support:
First: as a result of previous discussions about the creation of an educational foundation for Scarsdale, Jill Spieler announced that there was consensus among Board members to “move forward subject to community support.” She indicated that the foundation would be a separate not-for-profit entity that would solicit tax-deductible contributions. The Board will create a steering committee comprised of a diverse group of community members including community leaders, philanthropists, business leaders, an accountant or a lawyer and district parents and a school administrator to define the mission of the foundation, assess giving levels, explore the relationship between the foundation and the Board of Education, interface with other community organizations, propose a structure for the foundation and create organizational documents.
Spieler asked anyone who is interested in serving on the steering committee to put forth his or her name, biographical information and state why they would like to serve. Requests should be submitted to Lois Rehm or emailed it to the Board of Education email address by June 20th.
Second, the Board passed a resolution to adopt a one-time exception to the district’s gift policy which now caps annual gifts at $10,000. This resolution, drafted by Michael McGill, will permit school PTA’s to give gifts of up to $30,000. These funds can be used to finance capitol improvements, and 80% of the monies will go to the designated school with the remaining 20% to be used for projects at the Middle School or High School or to fund district-wide initiatives. The funds can be contributed anytime over the next two years.
Third, the Board accepted three gifts:- $3,500 from Cablevision,
- $9,766 for a new kiln from the Fox Meadow PTA
- $13,580 from the Scarsdale Middle School PTA to the school
Edgemont's Grease Nominated for Four Metropolitan High School Theater Awards
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Edgemont's sold-out production of Grease has been nominated for four prestigious Metropolitan High School Theater Awards presented by The Helen Hayes Youth Theater. The eagerly awaited announcements came on May 16th. Grease received the following nominations: senior Isabelle Kuhn was nominated for her role of Patty Simcox in the category of Outstanding Featured Ensemble Member, junior Rebecca Gold was nominated for her role of Miss. Lynch in the category of Outstanding Comic Performance, Ms. Beth Mullin, who is a kindergarten teacher at Seely Place Elementary School, was nominated for Outstanding Costuming Achievement, and sophomore Naomi Root and junior Katie Goldman were nominated for Outstanding Graphic Design.
A full list of all the 2011 nominees can be found on www.hstheaterawards.com. The awards were created in 1998 to shine a spotlight on exceptional musical theater productions, talented actors and actresses and devoted creative teams who take to the stage every spring in our local high schools. Throughout the spring musical season, judges evaluate participating shows. In June, all of the participating schools are celebrated in an awards ceremony
Pictured at Top: Isabelle Kuhn as Patty Simcox
Caroline Tzelios is a "stay at home" mom of three kids who never stays at home. She has spent the past twelve years volunteering in the Edgemont Schools and recently completed her two year term as PTSA co-president of Edgemont High School and is the current co-chair of Edgemont's PISA Theater Committee.
Scarsdale and Edgemont Voters Say Yes to 2011-2012 School Budgets
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School budgets sailed through in both Scarsdale and Edgemont on Tuesday May 17, and two new school board members were elected to serve in each district.
In Scarsdale, the $138.4 mm budget was approved by over 70%, with 615 votes for the budget and 262 against, for a total of 877 votes. In Edgemont, the $50.7 mm budget was approved by 78% of voters, where a total of 716 votes were cast, with 561 in favor of the budget and 155 against.
A subdued group of school administrators, school board and community members gathered at the Scarsdale Middle
This year without a contested election there was little need for campaigning, leaflets, and phone banks as most residents felt certain the budget would pass, whether they cast a vote or not. Voter participation returned to traditional levels. In 2009, 722 votes were cast and the budget passed with a 76% majority.
The two new school board members also received a strong endorsement from voters with Jonathan Lewis getting 835 votes and Sunil Subbakrishna receiving 771 votes. Continuing a Scarsdale tradition, there were some write-in votes, one for Harrison who is currently serving as a Scarsdale Village Trustee. Both candidates were at SMS to receive the good news. When asked what their priorities would be as newcomers to the Board, Lewis said, “Scarsdale has a large school budget and I will listen, learn and absorb.” Subbakrishna concurred, saying, “ My first year will be a learning experience. This is a real enterprise with almost a $140 million budget and 5,000 students and faculty.”
Lewis and Subbakrishna will replace Linda Chayes and Barbara Kemp who will complete six years of service
In Edgemont, candidates Michaeline Curtis and Anish Nanavaty were elected to the school board with Curtis taking 578 votes and Nanavaty receiving 554 votes. Total voter participation in Edgemont was also lower than last year when a total of 986 voters turned out. Though voting day was rainy this year and last, local flooding may have contributed to the lower turnout on Tuesday.
School Budget and Board Vote Today!
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Today, Tuesday May 17 is voting day for school budgets across the state. In Scarsdale, the proposed $138 million school budget keeps budget growth at 2.75%, two-thirds due to state mandated retirement costs. However, it calls for a 4.81% property tax increase for Scarsdale residents and a 3.19% increase for those in the Mamaroneck strip. Well over half the proposed budget growth of 1.72% is due to required pension assessments that are determined by an independent state authority. Most of the remaining growth comes from salary increases that were renegotiated last year to reduce cost.
This year's budget protects the core curriculum, initiatives in critical thinking and begins Mandarin in the high school. The budget also allows for class sizes to remain the same in the elementary schools and for a second school nurse at the Scarsdale Middle School.
Two new school board nominees; Jonathan Lewis and Sunil Subbakrishna will also be on Tuesday's ballot.
Voting is open Tuesday the 17th of May from 7am to 9pm at the Scarsdale Middle School.
The proposed Edgemont School budget of $50.7 million represents a budget-to-budget increase of 2.73% and a tax rate increase of 2.65%. This is the lowest increase in two decades. Also on the ballot are Michaeline Curtis and Anish Nanavaty who were selected by the Edgemont School Board Nominating Committee to fill the two impending vacancies on the Edgemont Board of Education.
In Edgemont, voting is on from 6 am to 9 pm at the Edgemont High School gym. Voters may park in convenient spaces right next to the gym especially marked voter parking.
