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Endorsements
May 15, 2008
Yes to budget, Harckham and Hundt
This year’s school board race was much quieter and less contentious than it has been in recent memory, and perhaps that’s a reflection of the state of the board and the public’s perception of it. There are still distracters, and the board deserves criticism at times, but the battle line between pro-spending, education-at-all-costs backers and those who find fault with anything and everything the board does has greatly faded. And rightly so.
Now without the gavel and with microphones always turned on, the district finds itself run by a more harmonious board that is working together to advance educational initiatives and is overseeing an overhauled administration that is more public with its actions. All three school board candidates want to continue that, and have different skill sets and strengths that would serve the board well, and the district as a whole, if elected. But with only two seats available, their years of educational experience volunteering for the schools — among other impressive qualities — make Janet Harckham and incumbent Eve Hundt the right choices for the school board, despite Ken Aufsesser’s strong ideals and commitment to hard
work.
Ms. Hundt wants to continue the positive strides the board and administration have recently made to be more open with the media and the public. Her professional background in communications is a key factor to insure this continues.
She has spent three years on the board, learning the ropes quickly enough to have been elected vice president by her fellow board members in only her second year.
That experience and leadership is crucial now, as she would be the only board member besides Peter Breslin to have served at least one term, should she be re-elected. Ms. Hundt also deserves credit for voting to hire Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Roelle, who has largely done an impressive job in changing the in-house culture of the administration since taking over last year.
However, although the board has presented budgets with relatively small increases, less than 4%, in each of the last two years Ms. Hundt has served on it, she, and the rest of the board will have to do a better job of finding areas where savings can be found, in order to bring down the roughly $27,000 the district spends per child — one of the highest amounts in the county. Ms. Hundt talks about reallocating financial resources so the money is “better spent” — which is a start. Yet with enrollment and the economy stagnant, now is the time to not only reallocate money but to reduce spending.
Having Ms. Harckham on the board should help achieve that. Ms. Harckham describes herself as a fiscal conservative, who wants to save money and find other sources of revenue to help alleviate the burden on the taxpayer. She seeks to share costs with other municipalities, including with the district’s waste haulers, which could duplicate work also performed by the town, and a similar sharing of the district’s buses. She also wants to resurrect an educational foundation in the district — similar to those used by universities — that would accept financial donations to help drive down taxes.
Ms. Harckham would apply that fiscal philosophy to another one of her major goals if elected: sustainability. She plans to use performance contracting to make infrastructure improvements, with the energy savings paying for the cost of the work. She also wants to lobby the state for changes in how school districts are financed — a bold but difficult proclamation that past candidates have also made but have done little to pursue once elected.
Perhaps her greatest asset, though, is her extensive volunteer work with the schools over many years. Her various roles have included serving on school compact teams, the wellness committee and the curriculum committee for the strategic plan. She also has board experience, having been a member of the Wolf Conservation Center board of governance.
The school district will be well served by any combination of the three candidates serving on it. But the experience and the credentials of Ms. Hundt and Ms. Harckham make them the top choices to serve Katonah-Lewisboro for the next three years.
Budget
At 3.89%, the school budget increase is relatively low this year and deserves the approval of voters. It is comparable to the annual rate of inflation, and it is lower than increases in other neighboring districts with similar demographics.
That being said, the school board needs to understand that the standards of what is deemed a fiscally responsible budget are changing. The days of rising enrollment and school expansion have passed. Yes, the district is largely hampered by state mandates and set staff salaries that control a large part of the budget each year. But the fact that it is spending roughly $27,000 a year per student is alarming, especially when compared to other districts in Westchester. That needs to be reduced.
On the other hand, the board has done a very good job in reducing spending, even if it is not reflected in its proposed budget. The latest projections have the district spending roughly $98 million for this year, $5.1 million less than in the adopted budget. That’s impressive, and the board should be commended for the surplus. But what the board does with that extra money is equally important, and it is rightly criticized for its intention to place most of it, $3.1 million, in various funds instead of returning it to the taxpayers.
Until the economy begins to recover, the board will need to show restraint and postpone adding new programs or approving costly capital projects. Spending money on routine work, however, such as replacing buses, maintenance vehicles and a generator for roughly $1 million, is necessary, regardless of the economic forecast.
Be sure to vote yes for that measure, Proposition II, and the budget when at the polls on Tuesday.
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