The Road to Keeping Our Schools Great

Running for school board is a very interesting experience.  It is certainly different from writing a blog or serving on the citizens’ budget committee.  I enjoy the experience of meeting people who want to talk about our schools and their ideas about what we could do better, or what we do well.  It is amazing how really thoughtful most people are, yet it is frustrating that more of their ideas never make it to the people who can act on them.

For the last year, I have been reading about the many challenges in our public schools.  Districts in nearby communities as well as those more faraway are dealing with budgetary problems that are creating havoc.  We have been lucky in Blind Brook so far, but let me stress the word “lucky.”  We have seen a drop in enrollment recently and a hike in health care premiums that undershot our estimates last year.  There have been some teacher retirements that allow us to reduce payroll without laying off any teachers.  There have been changes in the student mix (especially special education) that helped to reduce some costs.  Blind Brook’s reduction in state education aid was not as severe as some other districts, and there was an unexpected bump up in federal aid last year.  None of those things are controlled by Board of Education, but certainly they are all welcome developments.  Unfortunately, we cannot count on such fortunate circumstances to continue, so let’s be careful when we appraise the recent budget “austerity” in Blind Brook.  There has been some luck involved lately.

I am not about luck.  I like to plan.  I have been working on ideas to make our schools run more efficiently so that we can protect the programs that our kids need – for academics and extra-curriculars.  Let’s face it.  There are going to be more financial challenges ahead.  We have to look at areas of administration where we can do better.  There is a lot of overhead that is very expensive for a small district like Blind Brook to support.  These are dollars that have to be stretched, because savings there will mean more dollars for our students.  We also have to be realistic.  Nearly 80 percent of our budget is tied up in salaries and benefits, so the contracts with our teachers, administration, and other staff have to be examined.  Archaic language has to go.  All of our teachers and district employees earn a good salary commensurate with the trust we place in them, but there are areas of their contract aside from salary that have just become prohibitively expensive.

There are things that the Board of Education can do immediately to reduce costs, but then there are some things that have to be negotiated.  That will take the cooperation of everyone.  I don’t see why it cannot get done.  We all have an interest in seeing our outstanding schools stay that way.

So, it’s back to the campaign trail for me.  There’s less than two weeks to go.  Please come read my blog, or post a comment.  Above all though, I hope that you will vote on Tuesday, May 17th.