Do We Need More Elementary School Classrooms or Better Use of Existing Space?

(This is the opinion of Scarsdale10583 site founder Joanne Wallenstein.)

As taxpayers you will soon face a vote on a proposed $98.5mm school bond that has unanimous support from the seven members of the school board. The plan includes funds for air conditioning, infrastructure upgrades, and field improvements, but the lion’s share of the spending is for major additions to two elementary schools.

After watching the board discussions, reviewing their presentations and analyzing related reports, I think the decision to add six classrooms and five support rooms in a $21mm expansion of Edgewood School deserves further scrutiny.

Here’s why:

Though I am sure that the Edgewood Elementary School requires updating and perhaps more flexible learning spaces, I think there are valid questions about the plan to build a $21 mm addition, primarily to support a very small special education program.

There are currently just 21 Scarsdale students in the program, in three self-contained classrooms. Since each class has a teacher and two aids, the district has stated a goal of supporting the program by inviting out of district students to pay tuition to join these classes.

Special Ed Enrollment by Program and Grade

However, as taxpayers in Scarsdale, do we want to underwrite a $21mm expansion so that we can accommodate out of district students? Is it wise to incur a 20-year tax increase to build an addition for a small school population that varies in size year over year? It's a bridge too far.

Is there room to house the program in another school?

During bond discussions, the district proposed moving three sections of Fox Meadow students to Greenacres (redistricting) as Greenacres appears to have a lot of extra space. See the chart below of square footage per student by elementary school. Greenacres has 85,000 square feet of space with an enrollment of just 351 students. That’s 244 square feet per student, with more space per student than any other elementary school. The redistricting idea was shelved after pushback from the community.

Square footage per student in Scarsdale Schools

So why not move the SPED program to Greenacres? The district has not offered a convincing argument about why Special Education cannot be moved to Greenacres. They say they expect an enrollment increase at Greenacres, but the data is not convincing, given low home sales, lack of available land for subdivisions, declining birthrates etc. They say they don’t want to have to move the program year to year - but it appears that the program could move to and remain at Greenacres.

What is the alternative?

Greenacres EnrollmentRather than adding on so much square footage to our footprint, bond funds could be used to reconfigure some of the smaller classrooms at Greenacres to accommodate the SPED program. These rooms are in the original wing of the school that was not reconfigured during the renovation. This would allow three classrooms to be freed up at Edgewood where funds could be used to renovate and modify Edgewood to meet their current needs.

Given the strain on district reserves and health insurance costs, building more space at this time does not seem prudent. The $21mm spent to expand now will ultimately require hiring additional staff, health insurance and retirement costs, increasing custodial services and spending more on facilities upkeep for decades to come. 

The long-term financial picture for district finances is concerning. Let’s not expand when we already have ample space.