MR. SHAPS TROTS OUT A BUNCH OF REASONS TO VOTE ‘YES’ ON MAY 19

Advocating for his budget, Mr. Shaps has been making the rounds of the community at coffees hosted by school boosters. Last night I attended one of these coffees. Of the ten participants, four were 100% in his court (one of them a school board member), three seemed neutral, and two forcefully pushed back against rising school taxes in this time of job loss and economic uncertainty. I had my questions and my doubts—based on so many years of self-congratulatory district  hyperbole. Last night’s conversation encompassed Mr. Shaps’ vision for the district’s schools and current improvements; the option for additional revenue streams; and ways of economizing. Mr. Shaps began by saying that this year’s conversation about the budget is the beginning of a longer strategic conversation. 

NEW REVENUE STREAMS

• The district received $365K for special education from stimulus funds.
• The district applied for and received a $120K grant from the Dormitory Authority to improve the sandstone settee, rusting wrought iron, and other features of the historic HHS façade.
• Briarcliff and Pleasantville kids are paying tuition for kids with autism from their districts to attend the Hillside “communications classroom” program.
• Some out-of-district parents, priced out of Fieldston, are looking at Hastings as an alternative; they would pay tuition. One attendee suggested that the  district raise tuition.
• One idea is to hire a full-time grant writer to be shared among the quad villages.

THE 85 PERCENT OF THE BUDGET OUTSIDE COMMUNITY CONTROL

To start, Mr. Shaps  noted that 85 percent of the district’s $42.6 million budget is out of our control, devoted to salaries, benefits, and mandates handed down from state and federal level or provided for in the teachers’ contract. This leaves, by my calculation, around $6,393,719 that we do control.

•  Teacher salaries are currently being negotiated with the teacher’s union. Economic outcry from taxpayers gives the district an edge. Some districts’ contracts came up for renewal during the boom years—too bad for them.