Posts tagged ‘hastingsonhudson’
THINK ABOUT THIS BEFORE YOU VOTE
I cry at summer swim meets. Daddies in crisp shirts, sleeves rolled up, leave work early to make it to the pool in time to watch their skinny seven-year-old flail down the pool. The dads scream like mad—funny, since the kids can’t hear them. But the outpouring of unselfish, unselfconscious, wholehearted parental love just chokes me up.
I feel the same way about the Hastings High School spring concert. But it’s the graduating seniors who get to me when, after they’ve played or sung, they say their farewells to Mr. Jernigan, Mr.Kerness, and Mr. Rubino, who have taught some of them for almost half their lives. “You’ve been ‘a huge part of my adolescence’ or ‘like a second father’ and ‘shaped us as people,’” they say. For teenagers, tight extrafamilial relationships like these are conduits of adult wisdom that may not be acceptable coming from the mom or dad who drove their five-year-old selves to their first music lessons.
Last night at the coffee, Mr. Shaps emphasized the importance of maintaining the current tenor of student-teacher relationships as we face the future—it’s at the core of the learning experience. The seniors’ relationships with their music teachers perfectly illustrate how and why. The affection between students and their teachers, in addition, is one of the best parts of Hastings.
TIME FOR CHOICES
Now, with rising costs of funding federal and state mandates and generous teacher contracts in the context of widespread economic uncertainty, pressure is on the district to cut back.
I wonder what aspect of the music program on view tonight should be cut? Should it be the ten-person percussion ensemble that did the amazing all-clapping piece (perhaps inspired by composer Steve Reich’s)? Should it be the madrigals, with just sixteen kids? Mr. Shaps, who was bopping along to the jazz band, won’t want to cut any of it. He’ll certainly target swimming, golf, and wrestling, which nearly hit the budget cutting room floor this year because they were small programs attracting more limited numbers of students. Sports have been an inexplicably easy target in many communities.
What about having parents or students raise money or otherwise fund some or all of the costs of activities? The school’s well-reviewed theatrical production raised $14,000, according to my daughter. This is not to say that that’s 100% accurate, but there were five performances ; the auditorium was nearly filled for every one. All the parents who wanted to see their kids perform had to pay $10 to get in—and some of us saw Rent more than once.
Should taxes be raised instead? Music, theater, and sports have always been part of the school, supported by the whole community. Is it right for longtime residents, whose children have had the benefits of a school full of programs community-supported, to deny that access to others?
Under what circumstances is it acceptable? When the tax rate has gone up 50 percent? 100 percent? 300 percent?
Snip by snip, the board has pruned the current budget spreadsheet into acceptability—well, more or less, and I suppose it depends on what any given person considers acceptable. The point is that even getting this far took cutting jobs and dipping into the reserve fund. Next year, with the easier, more obvious cuts made and the reserve fund spent down, it won’t be possible to defer the harder decisions. And the budgeting process for 2010–2011 will start sooner than you think.
What do you want Mr. Shaps and the Board of Ed to know as they consider the options?
--Posted by Karen Cure
Opinions are those of the individual blogger
School Tax Q&A
HASTINGS ALLIANCE FOR AFFORDABLE TAXES
hastingstaxes@gmail.com
To join our mailing list send email with SUBSCRIBE in subject line
Q: What is the current 2009-2010 proposed school budget?
A: $42,485, 795, representing a 2.05% increase in the budget and a 1.78% increase in property taxes over 2008-2009. The original proposed increase of 2.89% was reduced to 2.05% at the 3/30/09 budget meeting.
Q: How much have school taxes grown in recent years?
A: According to the school board our school taxes have grown $12.8 million since 2004-2005, representing an overall 41.39% budget increase and a 43.13% increase in property taxes:
|
|
Budget to Budget Increase |
Property Tax Rate Increase |
|
2004-2005 |
11.13% |
8.90% |
|
2005-2006 |
7.94% |
10.57% |
|
2006-2007 |
8.23% |
7.85% |
|
2007-2008 |
6.69% |
6.91% |
|
2008-2009 |
4.51% |
6.12% |
|
2009-2010 (proposed) |
2.89% |
2.78% |
|
Total increase |
41.39% |
43.13% |
Q. How much of my overall property tax goes toward school tax?
A. The lion’s share; 77% in ’08-’09.
Q. What is the proposed school tax rate per $1000 of assessed value?
A: $754.44 per $1,000, up $20.43 per $1000 from ’08-’09.
Q: How does that compare with other villages?
A: School property tax rates were as follows for ’08-’09: Hastings $734; Dobbs Ferry $686; Ardsley $582; Irvington $568; Edgemont $578.
Q: Are we paying more because school enrollment is growing?
A: No. Projected enrollment for ’09-10 is 1569 students versus 1713 students in 2004.
Q: How much are we paying per student?
A: With expected enrollment of 1569; $27,301 per student versus $17,330 per student in ’04.
Q: What are the next steps in the budget process?
A: The Board of Education will present its budget on April 20th at 8:00 in the High School. There will be a budget hearing on May 5th at 8:00 pm, also in the High School. Citizens will vote on May 19th, 7:00 AM-9:00 PM.
Q: How did residents vote on the ’08-’09 school budget?
A: Of 1164 votes, 663 were “yes”, 501 were “no.”
Q: What happens if the proposed budget is voted down?
A: The Board has two choices. Either present another budget to be voted on or adopt a state-mandated contingency budget without a vote.
Sources: http://www.hastings.k12.ny.us/board_of_ed1.htm
Convenors: Jane Cody, Naseem Jamali, Marlene Piturro
Most recent comments