Q&A with Rye School Board Candidates: Robert Zahm

On May 21, Rye residents will cast their votes on the proposed $76.6 million Rye City School District 2013-2014 budget and will elect two school board members. Three are vying for two open seats on the Board of Education. Board member Kendall Egan is not running again and Nicole Weber and Robert Zahm are running for her seat. Incumbent Katy Keohane Glassberg's term is up this year and she is running for re-election. 

Rye Patch asked this each of this year's candidates the following questions. Read candidate Bob Zahm's answers below.

All candidates submitted their answers by May 1 and none saw each other's responses before submitting their own. For voting information click here. 

Why are you running for Rye school board?

I am seeking to return to the Rye school board because I believe I can help enhance the quality of a Rye education, identify and implementing ways to keep the cost of Rye education under control, and improve communications with the entire Rye community. 

Why should district residents elect you to the school board?

My previous 6 years of Board experience, on-going participation in the Audit Committee and Tax Cap Task Force, previous financial management experience, and previous participation in curriculum evaluation provide me with the skills needed to be an effective board member.  In short, I have already completed the learning curve required to be a productive Board member from Day 1.

 Do you have-- or have you had-- children who attend/attended Rye schools?

All three of our children have attended Rye schools since Kindergarten.  The oldest two are now in the high school and the youngest in the middle school.  Time sure flies.

What experience-- either personal or professional-- do you have that makes you a strong candidate to serve on the Rye Board of Education?

In addition to my previous Board experience, my professional career has focused on the introduction and use of technology to improve organization performance.  This includes running a $100+million/year IT department, defining and implementing change strategies to achieve adoption and use of new processes and tools, and evaluation of metrics to systematically identify improvement opportunities with the biggest payback. In my personal life, I remain connected to and involved in our community which is critical to effectively hearing what’s on our neighbors’ minds.

What do you consider the three top concerns in the district?

First is maintaining the quality of a Rye education in the light of tightened financial circumstances.  This means finding additional ways to reduce costs without reducing instruction quality.  It also means agreeing appropriate contracts with all 5 of the District’s bargaining units.

Second is taking advantage of the plethora of standardized testing results to systematically identify ways to improve curriculum, teacher and administrator training, and student instruction.  Doing so will provide Rye with some value from this unfunded mandate.

Third is making sure that construction of the HS extension is completed on time, within budget, and with minimal disruption of HS and MS learning.

 What is your tentative plan to address these issues?

Each individual Board member must work with the others as decisions are made by the group.  So, my first step is to ensure that my concerns about school performance, financials and HS construction are shared by a majority of Board members.  Next is to work with the Board to include these items in the 2013 – 14 list of District objectives.  Finally, as a Board member, monitor the Administration’s development and execution of a plan of action.  These steps should be started as part of the Board’s summer planning sessions.

 How do you think the mandated 2-percent tax cap will impact the future of education?

Without the mandate relief promised by governor, the long-term impact of the tax cap will be a reduction in the quality of education in New York.  Those communities willing to pay to maintain the quality of their schools will support necessary tax cap overrides.  I believe Rye is such a community.  Fortunately Rye’s reserves and additional near-term opportunities to reduce spending mean that a tax cap override should not be needed here for the next few years.

 What is your opinion of the proposed 2013-2014 budget and the impact of the cap on the tax levy?

The Board has advanced a budget that is very conservative fiscally.  That is consistent with previous Boards and the primary reason Rye has the reserves and flexibility to maintain the quality of a Rye education while staying within the tax cap.

What organizations/groups do you belong to?

My family attends the Rye Presbyterian Church.  We are members of the Rye Golf Club, the Rye YMCA, Rye Historical Society, Rye Arts Center, and the Rye Nature Center.  I am an adult leader in the Rye Troop 2 – of which my son is a member.  I am also a member of the American Philatelist Society and the Association for Computational Machinery.  I recently became the president of my home owners association.

Is there anything we haven't asked you about that you would like the public to know about you or your candidacy?

While still being “new” to Rye after only 12 years of residence, I am committed to keeping Rye a great place for families and empty nesters alike.  The schools are a starting point for that effort as they, in addition to our wonderful location, are what bring many of us to Rye.