A letter from the State Education departments appeals coordinator, Sharon Ryan, addressed to Mr. Christe on June 12 states, "This is to advise You on behalf of the commissioner that no stay order
will be issued however upon receipt of all papers, a decision will be rendered as promptly as Possible," she wrote. A copy of the letter was provided by Neil Block of Ingerman, Smith, Bedford Central's attorney in this case.  Mr. Block stated that the school district had refuted "Mr. Christe 's charges in opposing the request for the commissioner's intervention.

He also stated that the school district's detailed response to all allegations was not due until June 20. Legal briefs will be filed 30 to 45 days thereafter, with a decision by the commissioner expected a few months after that.

Specifically, Mr. Christe accused Bruce Dennis, Bedford Centrals superintendent of schools, of "engineering false and self interested information" that was mailed to parents and disseminated at school board meetings for the purpose of "scaring parents" about the consequences of not passing the budget proposal.

In his petition, Mr. Christe cited a Court of Appeals decision that held that "a board of education may disseminate information 'reasonably necessary' to educate and inform voters about an annual budget or proposition, but that a board of education may not disseminate information, at taxpayers' expense, designed 'to exhort the electorate to cast their ballots in support of a particular position advocated by the board."'

Mr. Christe cited statistics that indicated that of the 12,000 households in the district, about 2,345 of them had children attending Bedford Central schools. He accused Dr. Dennis of sending out a letter only to households with children in the school system, saying that the letter contained "false and misleading information" regarding the consequences of adopting a contingency budget.

Since then, Dr. Dennis has cited appendices to the state Education Law that support his interpretation of what a contingency budget would require and has made public statements and issued press releases that have reiterated his views.

State law requires the school board to adopt a Contingency budget if the proposed school budget is defeated twice. Under the law, the school district would be required to limit its spending to 120 percent of the increase in the cost of living, which this year would mean a spending increase cap of 2.64 percent.