League of Women Voters Hosts Blind Brook Candidates School Board Forum

By 8:05 Tuesday night, the auditorium was more than half full. Fathers pored over printed copies of the proposed school budget; some kids fidgeted with gadgets or did homework; mothers chatted. At the foot of the stage in Blind Brook high school auditorium, the four candidates waited patiently for the forum to begin.

The Rye-Rye Brook- Port Chester League of Women Voters, active once again, hosted the moderated panel discussion with the candidates for the upcoming Blind Brook school board election. The three newcomers and single incumbent used the tightly controlled dais to make their case for one of two spots on the board.

League of Women Voter’s local chapter president Debbie Reissner opened the evening by appealing for new members to the newly reactivated chapter. Besides the candidates’ forum, the groups also sponsors voter education and issue forums. The organization’s next event on May 24 will be the much-debated 2 percent tax cap on school budgets. Representatives on both sides of the issue will be invited. Reissner also shared, to a smattering of applause, that lever-style machines would by used at the upcoming May 17th election.

All attention quickly shifted to the matter at hand. Moderator Lindsay Feinberg, president of the Rivertowns League of Women Voters, explained the tightly-reined format– 2-minute opening and closing statements surrounding 90-second responses to 4 questions chosen by the League and 4 more by the audience. The format did not allow for much interaction between the candidates or the audience, but allowed each candidate uniform response time.

Candidates Wendy Adler and Peter Raider opposed the proposed 2 percent tax cap, while Jeff Diamond strongly supported the idea. Current school board vice president Glen Schuster described the pressures surrounding the issue, including upcoming contract negotiations and a staff reduction trend he said was “not sustainable,” but did not unequivocally state whether he opposed or supported the 2 percent tax cap itself. Raider said the tax cap “would be irresponsible” in the face of rising state mandate expenses while Jeff Diamond said that he supported the measure “until there’s proof we could do the right thing.”

Peter Raider openly criticized the Citizens’ Budget Advisory Committee which both Wendy Adler and Jeff Diamond served on last year, suggesting the committee had overstepped its bounds by making policy recommendations- “they marginalized the work of all other committees.” Adler defended a widely-scoped CBAC, pointing out that the body’s role was to provide suggestions the board was not obligated to take up. Diamond emphatically defended the CBAC’s interest in making recommendations affecting policy saying “it should consider everything in the budget.” Glen Schuster also defended the CBAC and suggested that the group be utilized to give the board more input on long-term goals in the district.

In response to an audience question, all 4 candidates agreed that Blind Brook students may currently be overburdened with homework assignements. While Peter Raider limited his objections to assignments that conflicted with school vacations,  Wendy Adler said there was currently  too much homework. Glen Schuster said that he supported a board policy statement on homework since the workload could have a significant impact on student health. He suggested a monthly weekend off from homework as a possible vent for students and families.

None of the candidates were willing to cut "core programs" affecting student instruction, each mentioned the upcoming teacher contract negotiations as an opportunity for cost-cutting compromises. All four were willing to offer lease extensions to the neighboring Arbors sub-division in response to an audience question. All also stated their support for the proposed budget.

Check out video clips from the candidates' statements during the League of Women Voters' Candidates' Forum.