Scarsdale Residents Respond to Revised Budget Proposal

The mood of the audience was decidedly mixed at the June 3rd meeting of the Scarsdale School Board when the Board was assembled to propose a revised budget. In attendance were representatives from the "no" camp who brought in over 1,700 votes to defeat the first budget as well as representatives from the PTA's, interested community members, leaders of Maroon and White, school administrators and faculty. Despite the limited timeframe, Board President Liz Guggenheimer invited community comments and the level of anger expressed by some was surprising in light of the considerable cuts in the proposed budget.

First to take the mike was Mitchell Gross with a statement condemning the district for holding a health insurance reserve fund. He said that the reserve was a "fictitious account" in violation of NYS law and charged the district with violating reserve policies which dictate that a district hold no more than 4% in reserve. He claimed the district had "failed to disclose these reserves" and called it a "material and serious violation" made by the district to "mislead and misrepresent the public to obtain a positive outcome on the budget." He conjectured that this "may constitute securities fraud" and "jeopardize the district's credit rating." He then asked for Dr. McGill's resignation, called for new auditors and asked the district to consider the consequences of a budget that is not in compliance with the law.

Matt Callahan said "we're in a tight spot" and questioned the funding for the Teen Center. He told the Board that they "completely ignored Dr. McGill's recommendation not to fund it" and questioned "how many use it."

Middle School PTA President Pam Fuehrer spoke in defense of funding for the Center for Innovation and said that two center projects, service learning and time block management, directly impact student learning. She also mentioned the enthusiastic response to the food bank and said "the projects that came out of the Center were fantastic." She asked the board to put back another $25,000 into the budget for the Center for Innovation and added, "I think the helping teacher is important as well."

PT Council President Gail Hutcher appreciated the Board's response to the defeat and said, "the Community wants more transparency and greater fiscal restraint." She urged that "Savings should not come from class size or core curriculum," and warned that "quick cuts could impact education." She asked for the Board to "look for cuts that can be reinstated."

Marian Green ,a past President of CHILD, asked the Board to consider requiring tuition for the 85-95 staff children who attend the Scarsdale schools and also requested more information about the number of district cars and who drives them.

Bob Berg, who had led the opposition to the first budget, vowed to vote in favor of this second proposed budget" and "to urge fellow Scarsdale voters to come to the polls on June 18 and vote for the budget as well."  He called the budget process a "tough slog" and said, the "messy budget vote is a watershed and cathartic event in Scarsdale's history. For the first time ... the voters of Scarsdale could no longer be hornswoggled into blindly rubber-stamping yet another spendthrift budget with platitudes that "it's for the children." "This year, the budget process and its aftermath have revealed a dysfunctional school board, brow-beaten by a domineering superintendent into quiet acquiescence." He urged the Board to "take control and fulfill their fiduciary duties to the voters by asking the hard questions and not be belittled or marginalized for doing so." He ended by saying, "While I support the proposed budget and will vote for it in order to avoid Armageddon, the time has come for accountability, transparency, and new leadership."

Former School Board member Mitchell Otten said that some good ideas had come out of the process including, "zero based views, broader categories of consultancies and contractors, the need to understand levers that you do have and for more views backwards and forwards for implications of decisions made today." He told the Board that the "need to find a way to demonstrate our excellence with metrics."

Alice of Catherine Road also discussed the impact of staff children on the budget. She said, "Over 85 kids are here whose parents are teachers in the school. At $20,000 per kid that's $1.7 million in total cost. In tough times we should ask for tuition. We don't want to keep seeing our taxes going up."

In response, Dr. McGill offered an explanation of the policy on staff children. He clarified that faculty and employee children attend district schools and the Board has felt "that these children added economic diversity to our student body. This is a way of attracting faculty and telling them they are appreciated." He also said, "They earn us per pupil aid from Albany" and that the "financial burden to Scarsdale taxpayer is not significant." Linda Purvis explained that employee's children are placed where they will fit in, and additional teachers are not added to accommodate them.

Jim Labick, another leader of the opposition campaign also vowed to vote yes this time. He said, "I have lived here for 36 years and never voted no. I voted no this time because I wanted to send a message to the union that we don't have a blank check. Keep the contract to two years. I believe that the Board of Ed has listened and heard. Let's get real – I am voting yes and I am going to ask everyone I know to vote yes. I trust the Board of Ed to do the right thing and that's why I am voting yes."

Following the meeting, the Coalition for Scarsdale Schools sent Scarsdale10583 the following statement: "The Coalition for Scarsdale Schools thanks the Board and Administration for their hard work in developing a revised budget for 2013-14 that excludes the Center for Health, Fitness and Learning that had been proposed, and reduces the Budget by over $1 million. The revised Budget reflects difficult decisions, and now deserves voters' full support in the vote on Tuesday, June 18th. We urge ALL registered voters in Scarsdale and the Mamaroneck Strip to VOTE YES June 18th at the Middle School. We cannot risk a defeat of this second Budget, which would result in a state-mandated contingency budget with draconian cuts to educational programs, and would be disastrous for the entire Scarsdale community. It is imperative that we now come together to sustain a community institution of which we are justly proud. The stakes for the Scarsdale community are too high for voters to stay home."