WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. March 16, 2006 UPDATED 11:55 P.M. E.S.T.: In a Board of Education work session Thursday evening at Education House, the Board of Education agreed to submit a referendum to the district voters for a bond issue for infrastructure and district facilities improvements in mid-October -- the amount to be determined over the summer.

Board of Education deliberating the schedule to bond or not to bond and how much to bond at Education House Thursday evening. Photo, WPCNR News

The board agreed by consensus they would decide on the amount of the bond in late August or early September after a Steering Committee was appointed to scrutinize the architect's proposals: Priority 1 & 2 items  for $25 Million at 11 district buildings; construction of a new Post Road School for $36 Million, and installation of two synthetic turf stadium makeovers for $10 Million.

The Board expressed they were  buoyed by the Annual Budget Committee show of support for the bond proposal Wednesday evening. (12 of 20 ABC members voted to do all the projects now.) Photo, WPCNR News.

This evening, the board had further discussion with the architect Russ Davidson of  Kaeyer, Garment, and Davidson who sat in at the Board of Education table (far left of your picture). Davidson is seen joining in the discussion of the pros and cons of the proposals, even debating alternatives when his firm's recommendations were questioned, and suggesting how they could make a successful campaign to convince voters to approve the bond. Davidson said he thought the ABC Committee showed a good cross section of the community.Photo, WPCNR News.

The Board said they would form a "steering committee" to go over the architectural proposals the next five months. (Kaeyer, Garment, and Davidson conducted the District Facility Review, and is the only architect that proposed how the facilities should be upgraded to meet the facility needs. )

The Steering Committee makeup is yet to be determined and the members' job would be to help the board "sharpen their pencils" and  advise the Board in making the final decision of which projects to execute and how much of a bond referendum to submit to the voters.

City Needs to Step to the Plate Despite "Tough Year Financially."

Whatever form the city commitment on the projects was to be was needed now according to Terry McGuire and Maria Tratoros, Peter Basano Bill Pollack.  Pollack said, "The Mayor has to come forward and tell us what he's going to do or not (to help the capital improvements)." He said the city government in White Plains had to "step up to the plate...Talk is Cheap,"

 Donna McLaughlin said the Mayor was willing to help. Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors advised that  Common Council members said the city was having "a tough year financially," and taxes were likely to go up. (This news came less than two months after all on the council said the city was in great financial shape in January both in the Mayor's State of the City Speech and Common Council President Malmud's speech.)

Planning Study

In addition, the Board agreed to conduct a Strategic Planning Study which would take about a year to complete. Superintendent of Schools Connors said that that planning would not tell the Board whether or not the infrastructure needs covered by the proposed bond projects were the right course to take. Mr. Davidson said he had just the right consultant in mind who could conduct that kind of strategic planning, but the board did not take him up on that suggestion. Davidson also advised the Board that hiring a Construction Manager would most likely verify his firm's cost projections of the project on the money. 

Filleting the Budget.

On the School Budget, Terrance Schruers, Assistant Superintendent for Business, announced a further cut of $300,989 in the 2006-2007 School Budget, easing the total down below $166 Million to a new total of $165,841,434.  This translates to a 7.16% year-to-year budget increase.

The action fillets the tax rate increase down from 9.45% to 9.3% and the tax rate down about $1 to $448.67 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.  (The previous Tax Rate released March 6 was $449.64. The School District is saving you 97 cents/$1,000 of assessed valuation.)

The $301,000 in cuts were achieved by eliminating a clerical position at Rochambeau, a teaching position at Mamaroneck Avenue School, and retirement at Highlands, a revise in the fuel estimate and reductions in health insurance, subsitute salary needs, clerical overtime and natural gas savings.

Schruers also announced to the Board that he was in Albany earlier in the day and learned that the Assembly and the State Senate were looking at agreeing on "adding a significant amount of money over the Governor's project budget," that would lower BOCES payments primarily.