Help Protect Next Years Budget Now

Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders are preparing to pass the most devastating tax cap in the nation, one that would permanently harm schools, SUNY community colleges and public services in New York State. It would let a minority of voters — just one vote over 40 percent — reject school budgets in a breath-taking subversion of democracy.   The bill, A- 7916 Silver, would starve our schools and community colleges, cause massive program closures and layoffs, widen the achievement gap and deprive students of a sound basic education as required under our state constitution. If you thought budget cuts were bad, this bill would cause far more permanent devastation, without doing a thing to provide tax relief to those most in need.

The very future of public education is at stake. Please call the AFL-CIO hotline at 1-877-255-9417 to speak with your Senator, Assembly member and Governor Cuomo's office. Tell them we will hold all officeholders accountable should this measure become law.  For our statement on the tax cap bill:

http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/mediareleases_16629.htm

Budget Passed!

BUDGET PASSES

Yes Votes – 1425
No  Votes – 1058

James Ayers – 1286
Kent Anderson – 1290
Peri Rainbow – 828
James Blair – 1255
Pamela Longley - 1108

Please VOTE Yes Today

And vote for Ayers, Anderson & Rainbow

We are coming down to the line

Please, please, please, do anything you can to get informed and get others informed and ready to vote on May 17th at the district office (located behind the high school).


Last year 2753 people voted. There were 1246 "Yes" votes and 1507 "No" - NOT GOOD.

Rondout school district has over 2000 kids meaning 2000-4000 potential parents, guardians, grandparents, babysitters. In other words we should have no problem passing this budget if people come out and vote.

Please call your friends and tell them to vote YES to the budget and to NOT vote for Blair. Do it today, tomorrow, Monday & Tuesday.

If you have ANY questions about any of this PLEASE email me at walterme@newpaltz.edu and I will do my best to answer as soon as possible.

Notice there are practically no "VOTE NO" signs?

Rather than posting VOTE NO those who feel like our schools should be operated like a low cost factory rather than sound, potentially innovative educational environment have been posting VOTE BLAIR as the factory, bottom line will be his approach if he gets in.

DO NOT VOTE BLAIR - Please spread the word and vote so that the good guys can get in.

Who to Vote for? BOE Candidates

Many people are asking me who I plan to vote for for the Board of Education. I have thought long and hard about this since I was not sure at first. Now I am and I will do my best to explain. I figured I would provide my answer here.

Also know that there are three slots and five people so clearly I am not voting for two candidates. This is not because I have an issue with them personally but rather I am looking for who will be best for our district going forward.

There are two new people running, Peri Rainbow and Jim Blair. I plan to vote for RAINBOW because she is intelligent, invested in the district and has ideas for innovation. I think she is strong enough to voice these opinions at board meetings even if others disagree.

I feel that Blair is harmful to our district. He is not vested in the school district success is is just a dollar minded candidate. He actually came to a number of budget meetings but he never became engaged. He did not ask the Board questions, he did not make suggestions like the rest of us. Privately, he has said that classes of 30 kids was fine when he was younger so they are fine now. He has good ideas about property tax reform. That said , if he gets in he will not be an advocate for our children, for strengthening our community. He is bad news as a BOE member.

I get two more votes but there are three incumbents to choose for. All three are good and I would be fine seeing them all reelected. However, I feel even better about RAINBOW so I need to select only two. I select ANDERSON and AYERS. This is not to say Longley is not good. However, from spending hours watching the BOE operate, I feel the other members do not respect her making her ideas often unheard. I believe ANDERSON and AYERS will be more successful at doing the right thing.

In Summary:
I will VOTE: RAINBOW, ANDERSON & AYERS
and I will VOTE YES.

More information about BOE candidates

Five candidates seek three seats in Rondout Valley school board

Sunday, May 8, 2011

KYSERIKE — Rondout Valley school district voters on May 17 will choose three of five candidates to serve three-year terms on the Board of Education.

Incumbent Trustees Kent Anderson, James Ayers and Pamela Longley are joined on the ballot by James Blair and Peri Rainbow.

Rainbow, 51, cited more use of “low- or no-cost” community resources to help meet the demands of providing a better education in a tough fiscal environment.

Rainbow cited partnerships with area higher education institutions, the use of volunteer mediators and the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network’s Safe Schools Roundtable as examples of community resources that not only can enrich students’ educational experience, but also help teachers tackle tough topics like bullying.

A SUNY New Paltz adjunct professor who teaches educational studies, women’s studies and psychology classes, Rainbow said she aims to improve the district’s culture to one in which students and teachers feel safe, accepted and included, and which allows everyone to focus on academics and improving student achievement.

During tough economic times, Rainbow said, the district should lean more on parents and volunteers to, for example, supervise students on school buses.

She said she also wants the atmosphere between the school board and public to be more open and inclusive.

Rainbow, who holds a master’s degree in humanistic multicultural education from SUNY New Paltz, lives on Buck Road in Stone Ridge with her spouse, Tamela Sloan, an assistant principal at Grove Street Academy in Kingston, and her 15-year-old daughter, a Rondout Valley High School student.

Longley, 38, cited among her top priorities finding new ways to bring in revenue or cut costs, like sharing services, contracting out in areas where money can be saved and using the district’s reputation for its “strong special education” program to get non-district residents to come to Rondout Valley and pay tuition.

A paralegal assistant at the Ulster County Attorney’s Office, Longley also wants “to improve the climate in the district for all stakeholders” along with district communication overall. She said the district should foster an environment in which everyone feels like they are heard and respected and that nurtures learning at all levels.

Longley, who is seeking her third term on the board, said it also is important to integrate technology with the academic program to give students the skills they need to succeed in 21st century workplaces.

Longley said she wants students to graduate with critical and analytical thinking skills, good judgment, confidence, a love of learning and a general feeling of empowerment that will make them succeed at whatever they do in life.

Longley, who lives on Old Clove Road in High Falls, has a child in the district.

Blair, 70, cited bringing “a more pragmatic” approach to contracts with district employees among his top priorities. He said a big problem facing the district now is the intersection between school officials’ past agreements to “generous” compensation with the current fiscal realities of declining state aid and rising pension and health insurance costs.

A retired Manhattan commercial litigation attorney, Blair said employee costs have become unaffordable, citing the approximately 50 positions being cut in the district’s proposed budget for 2011-12. He said it is important to come up with budgets that not only work for employees, but also are affordable for district residents.

Blair, a member of the Marbletown Property Tax Reform Task Force and the New York State Property Tax Reform Coalition, also is a proponent of consolidating the district’s schools, saying it seems inevitable. He said the district is paying Westchester County-like costs per student and getting only average performance.

Blair was part of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine force from 1962 to 1967, reaching the rank of lieutenant. He graduated from Dartmouth with a master’s degree in math and from Harvard Law School.

He lives on Krom Road in Stone Ridge with his wife, Wendy, a retired property administrator for New Zealand’s mission to the United Nations. They have a 29-year-old daughter.

Ayers, 67, cited renegotiating the contract with the Rondout Valley Federation of Teachers among his top priorities. The contract between the union and district calls for 4 percent raises on top of 2 percent step raises for 2011-12 and expires at the end of that school year.

The retired Rondout Valley math teacher also listed “rightsizing” the school district as a need. He said an elementary school probably will have to be closed, given declining enrollment and tough economic times. The matter, however, still needs more study, he said.

Ayers, who is seeking his fourth term on the board, said that with new statewide teacher evaluations coming down the pike next year, developing the part of the process in which there is local discretion also will be important. Issues, he said, include developing assessments, which must include ways to evaluate special education, art and physical education teachers,  and ironing out an appeals process.

The president of the Ulster County School Boards Association, Ayers also expressed disappointment in the district’s progress in addressing English language arts scores. He listed that as another priority.

Ayers holds a master’s degree in math from Florida State University. He lives on Samsonville Road in Kerhonkson and has two children, ages 31 and 23.

Anderson, 58, said improving curriculum and relationships between staff members and the administration are among his priorities. He described those relationships as strained at present.

“Both sides need to emphasize being collegial rather than adversarial,” he said.

Anderson said consolidating the district’s schools is important to him because of the district’s declining enrollment and the difficult fiscal climate.

Anderson, who is seeking his fourth term on the board, is a private-practice attorney in Kingston. He received his law degree from Brooklyn Law School.

He lives on Candlewood Lane in Stone Ridge with his wife, Gail, a retired teacher. They have two children, ages 23 and 26.

(Freeman 5/8/11)

How Does our School Budget Compare in our Region

This was posted in the Daily Freeman. Sorry if it is a bit blurry.

Get to Know the Rondout Board Candidates

I went to the open forum to hear what the people running for Rondout Board of Education. This is an important time because, although we managed to keep a school open this year, this will be pursued for next year and we want thoughtful people doing it. First I will present their introductions and then the answers to two of the questions I had time for (would you vote in favor of closing an elementary school & what do you see as the weaknesses of this year's budget)

Here is the slate and what they said:

Incumbents:
Pam Longley: Single mother with a son in Jr. High at Rondout. Strong appreciation of the importance of public primary education. Feels she worked hard for the last two terms and has work to complete, primary with the technology committee.

Kent Anderson: Been on the board for the past 6 years and prior to that for three years. Lived in our district for 29 years. He feels this has given him a lot of experience and insight into how the board functions, what prorams re essential, and what the community is willing to pay. He is critical of the Race to the Top and its impact on education. He wants to see a more integrated curriculum.

James Ayers: Previous taught here and is now retired and serving as a substitute teacher in Onteora. He went through the education to be a certified administrator but has not been one. He feel he has a strong connection to the senior citizens in our community and understands their concerns. He is also a bee keeper.

New candidates:
Peri Rainbow: Her daughter is in Rondout High School and she has been in the district for 15 years. She has been an active parent, teaches at SUNY New Paltz, and is a psycho-therapist in trauma care. She believes in stong parent involvement, an inclusive not exclusive model. She is not afraid to put new ideas forward.

Jim Blair: A resident since 1983. No ties to the district as a parent etc. Was a commercial litigator handling complex statewide assessment. He is a member of the property tax reform task force whose focus is on finding alternative revenues for schools.

Questions:
Would you vote in favor of closing an elementary school?
Anderson: This needs to be viewed as a k-12 issue, understand how this impacts students and understand parents wishes. I would need more time and information to decide.
Ayers: Agrees with Anderson, adding we are not ready to make this decision; this needs to be studied more.
Longley: Agrees with above, we need more time.
Blair: Given the declining enrollment for years, he questions why the BOE started looking at this so late. They could have started sooner and had the time this year.
Rainbow: She was impressed wiht the involvement of community members in this process. She does not know if a school needs to be closed. There are many creative solutions  that should be looked at as this process effects us all.

What do you see as the weaknesses in this year's budget?
Longley: She is unhappy that the field trips were cut. She feels with more time they could have tightened more. She is concerned about how staff cuts affect us economically and in our inclusion classes.
Anderson: He is concerned about taking so much of the fund balance this year. He feels that class sizes are getting too large and the cutting of field trips. He wishes there was better communication between the budget committee and the rest of the board.
Ayers: Feels we are getting rid of useful employees and does not like the increase in class sizes.
Rainbow: Feels the process lacked creativity, there are ways of keeping program and keeping classes smaller with more partnering and innovation.
Blair: Does not support the 4% increase when the rest of government had to make reductions.

My take you ask? (I will tel you even if you did not). While there are people I think should not be on the BOE anymore, none of them are up for reelection right now. I feel good about the three incumbents. That said, I think Rainbow would also make a great addition and if she doe not get it this year I hope for our sake she tries again next year. I respect Blair's cost cutting attitude but I feel confident that this is already well represented in the existing board. We need more innovation, less bottom line. They both can get a lower budget but the former will also make ours a better school.

Understanding the Budget #2: Getting to Know your Tax Levy

The total budget is based on the school. The impact on you as a household owner depends on the assessed value the town has for your home. I know for my home this went up in years past but actually went down last year due to the economy lower the sale price on homes in our area.

Your school tax rate is impacted by the school budget and by your town’s assessed value on your house. The rate varies across our district  but on average:

If your house is valued at $150,000 you likely paid about $3,000 in school tax last year and your total increase would be about $120/year (about $10.00 per month).

If your house is assessed at $200,000 you likely paid about $4,000 in school tax last year. This proposed tax levy increase would mean for you, an increase of about $160 more per year (just over $13.00 per month).


If your house is assessed at $250,000 you likely paid about $5,000 last year and your total increase would be about $200 (just under $17 per month)

* Note: These are approximate - it varies somewhat by town.


You should know there are property tax relief options out there for eligible people. New York State's School Tax Relief (STAR) Program provides property tax exemptions (also known as homestead exemptions) for New York homeowners. Basic STAR is available to anyone who owns and lives in his or her own home and earns less than $500,000. Enhanced STAR is available to senior homeowners whose incomes do not exceed $79,050.

Understanding the Budget #1: Our High Cost Per Pupil

I am going to try to lay out details about the budget as best as I can with what I know. As always, please remember that if I get anything wrong or inaccurate to let me know. I prefer that we all understand this based on accurate information.

A primary complaint about our budget centers on our high cost per pupil. In its simplest form this takes our budget and divides it by the number of kids. However, many factors make comparing this cost from one district to another far more complicated. Here are some of the challenges including how these impact our rate.

1. Special Education: It costs more to educate children who are poor and children who have special needs. If a district has a greater number of one or both, the overall cost per student will be dramatically influenced. In Rondout, 18% of our student get mandated services due to a certified special need. For comparison, the state average is 13.2% certified population.Our general cost per pupil includes instruction support for students in general education classrooms.  About 87% of our special ed. population get in-school instruction (compared with 67% state average). Our special education cost expenditure per pupil are similarly impacted by the fact that we provide most of our services at our district, more so than most other districts.

2. Poverty & limited English. Our population of poor children is about 24%, higher than last year and the year before. We also increased our number of children who have limited English.It is more expensive to provide the necessary services for these population as well.

3. Our commitment to smaller class sizes. Most of the cost per pupil is instructional costs. Fewer students per class means more teachers. In addition to believing that smaller classes produce better students, we also have a high inclusion rate which further requires smaller classes.

4. Our commitment to music, art and other programming. Again, the cost per student is primarily instruction. Engaging our students in educational experiences beyond reading, writing, English and science means more instructors in the specialized classes.