WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. May 17, 2005, Updated with Reaction, Interviews 11:09 P.M.: At 9:23 P.M. at Education House this evening Michelle Schoenfeld, Clerk to the Board of Education chalked up the last results from Mamaroneck Avenue School, and the $154.7 Million 2005-2006 White Plains School Budget had passed. The result, 1,063 Yes's to 331 voting "No", representing a turnout of 5.5% of the 25,000 voters eligible to vote in the election, was a continuation of the series of 3 to 1 approval margins that the school district has enjoyed in recent years

William Pollak (Center)  was reelected to his second three year term on the school board, and Rosemarie Eller (Left)  was elected to her first. They were unopposed for the two seats. Timothy Connors, Superintendent of Schools, right, joins them in front of the vote tally board at Education House Tuesday evening. Photo by WPCNR News.

Ms. Eller told WPCNR, " I'm very happy and it is a privilege to be part of the White Plains School System. I'll work very hard for this very good team."

I'm forward to working on the Achievement Gap and to really close that gap, monitor our performance better and work towards that end. It's a primary interest. We need to evaluate our resources, what's working and what's not working and address that and move forward."

Asked about her thoughts on reining in the "ever escalating school budget," Eller said, "I have thought about that. There are certain financial things going on  and I hope to learn more about it and provide more input as I get more intimate with the details surrounding it."

WPCNR asked Mr. Pollak why he returned to the Board for a second term. He explained:

"I decided there were still a lot of important things to do. I didn't see any exciting candidates on the horizon to do them, so I felt a responsibility to step up to the plate."

Asked what he hoped to achieve, Pollak was strong on the issues he is known for:  "I think we've made some significant strides in trying to narrow the achievement gap. I still don't think we have the tools we need to evaluate test results and I'd like to keep the pressure on to make that happen. I'd like to continue the process of evaluating our curriculum and see if we can do a better job of reaching out to the community at large."

Superintendent Attributes Vote as One of Confidence.

Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors told WPCNR: "We're appreciative of the community's coming out to vote and the 76.23% of the people who voted in favor of the budget. We're also very pleased with the Board Members who are here, that Mr. Pollak is back and he is a known quantity and has been very supportive. We're going to miss Maria Valentin, but we welcome Rosemarie Eller, I think she's a smart woman who will provide good leadership and fit into the overall dedication to our youngsters that our Board of Education has. We're happy with the outcome of the budget vote and we'll continue to strive to earn the support of the community in trying to provide the best quality education we can  for the youngsters in White Plains."

Asked if he would be involving the Annual Budget Committee in the 2006-2007 Budget process earlier this year, as the ABC Committee requested, Connors said: I think, as you know, John, we got some good suggestions. I believe a large part of our success in getting the budget passed is the support of the ABC Committeem the fact that they come, ask the tough questions, take a real interest and go back out in the community and tell the folks what we're doing and what are the issues. I think that perhaps the two most important groups in getting the budget passed are the Board of Education and their concern for being fiscally responsible, and the ABC Committee for their concern for that same fiscal responsibility but asking the tough questions but causing us in the schools to make sure we've got an eye on the bottom line as well as to provide a quality education for all our students."

WPCNR asked what the top budget priority next year's budget considerations. Connors said, "How do we make sure we use the dollars we have wisely for the things they were budgeted for, so that hopefully we can generate some reserves so we can look at those things such as tax certs and the retirement issue that we need to try to always be cognizant of those. Our top priority across the board is we need to watch our programs. Is this the best use of dollars?"

Apathy or Confidence?

Asked if this was a confidence vote or an apathy vote, Connors came down on confidence:

"I don't think it's apathy. When you get large numbers, it usually says there's a problem. I'm proud of the fact that our administrators, our teachers, our staff, our Board of Education and the City we all work closely to do the best job we can for the children. If we definitely weren't doing that the folks would be out in different numbers. I think it's a vote of doing well and knowing what we're doing. I don't see this as apathy at all. I know this district, if they weren't pleased with the schools they'd be out in large numbers.

Because things are moving in the right direction.We've got good leadership from our Board of Education, from our school Principals, and great things going on in our classrooms, I think the community is pleased with what they're seeing." 

Getting the message out.

In his message to the voters before today's vote, Connors noted the budget just maintains existing programs in place. He reported only three new teaching hires (at the high school), no funding for new programs, and that class size at five elementary schools will be maintained at 19-20 students.

He reported the Math scores at the 8th grade level have shown gains, as have results on 4th grade Languare Arts Chores.

Goals for the District.

The District goals for the year are to

1.) Enhance student achievement for all students with the goal of closing the achievement gap.

2.) Maintain essential programs and services.

3.) Provide professional development for staff.

4.) Maintain favorable class sizes.

5.) Implement new New York State curriculum and assessment requirements.

6.) Support technology initiatives.

7.) Expand enrichment programs and opportunities for all students.

8.) Develop a 3-5 year capital improvement program.

9.) Undertake program evaluation for cost effectiveness and efficiency.