Blind Brook Parent Forms Community Group to Cut Spending in School Budget

In 20 years, Blind Brook parent Jeff Diamond said he has seen his taxes increase by nearly $20,000, with school taxes accounting for the largest portion of the rising costs to live in the community.

Diamond, a father of three whose youngest child attends Blind Brook High School, said as the recession continues, the economic reality has changed and it's time for the school district to take a closer look at unnecessary spending in its budget.

To that effect, Diamond recently formed a community group that hopes to influence the school board as it begins discussions involving its 2011-2012 budget.

Diamond has even created a blog called "Freeze the Budget," in which he discusses everything from state mandates' effect on the budget to questionable spending that the district could cut to provide tax relief to residents.

The group's objective isn't necessarily to freeze the budget, Diamond said, but to make the school district more conscientious about its spending of taxpayer dollars.

"There's a lot of waste in there that could be cut and not damage the quality of education at Blind Brook," he said.

According to Diamond, that waste includes things like paying teachers stipends to mentor other teachers and paying teachers to sit in empty classrooms when some students are participating in the Senior Options program, which allows 12th graders to get real world work experience during their last year of high school instead of sitting in a classroom every day. The district also pays a teacher $4,500 to coordinate the program, all of which Diamond said needs to be reevaluated.

"What is the mindset that allows them to do this with taxpayer dollars? It just seems very disrespectful to the taxpayers," he said.

Diamond recently held a meeting on Oct. 25 at Blind Brook Middle School to discuss school spending. He said about 60 people attended the meeting. One of them, 30-year Rye Brook resident Bill Laufer, said his taxes have risen 30 percent in the last seven years.

"This is about cutting fat. This isn't about cutting the budget," Laufer told Rye Patch this week.

Though a large portion of the school budget contains state mandates, Laufer said, there are still some areas the school district could examine to lower spending, such as staffing and the percentage it contributes to medical benefits.

He said things like stipends, which were used to boost salaries when teachers were underpaid, are no longer needed because many teachers in the district now make six figures a year.

"I've supported the school budget all along," said Laufer, who no longer has children in the school district. "I just think it's gotten to a point where someone has to start looking at what we're spending and what we can categorize as fat, and down the road, what the teachers are getting in today's reality versus five or six years ago."

The district likely will begin teacher contract negotiations in December. Blind Brook Superintendent William Stark said the district is mindful of how the economy has changed, but its job is to provide children in the community with the best education possible while also having consideration for local taxpayers.

He said the district's only increased the tax levy by .98 percent.

"That's as close to freezing the budget as you can get," Stark said.

"It's not that we don't get it. We do get it," Stark added. "We really have to strike that balance between the financial circumstances and providing the kind of programs the community expects."

Stark said Diamond's community group does raise some valid points, but it's difficult for the district to drastically lower spending because the vast majority of its budget is comprised of mandates from the state, which include things like retirement contribution costs.

"He's not being critical of the educational program; he's raising the question of whether or not the community is getting value for the money that it puts in," Stark said. "Myself and the board [of education] have a responsibility to answer that question."

Stark said the district has tried to be more transparent in its spending. Next month, he will begin having a "Superintendent's Conversation," so that community members can ask him any questions they may not feel comfortable asking during public board meetings. After complaints from the community, Stark said, the district also has eliminated confidentiality agreements for members of the citizen's budget advisory committee, an advisory group comprised of residents who make suggestions to the district during the budget process. He and board member Lawrence Engle will also begin discussions with the neighboring Port Chester school district to determine ways they can share services.

Stark added that in December he would present an outline of what a zero percent tax increase would mean for the school district. Stark said no increase would result in fewer faculty and support staff, bigger class sizes and fewer custodians.

"It's not an impossible situation and the district could function, but it comes back to the question of 'is this the district we call Blind Brook?'" he said.

Diamond, who will serve on the citizen's budget advisory committee, said he hopes the school district will consider the suggestions the committee makes. He said Blind Brook could still be a high-performing school district without exorbitant tax increases and wasteful spending.

"This community will pay whatever it takes to have the best schools," Diamond said. "On the other hand, these are public schools. Do we really need the best that money can buy to educate our kids?"