Talking with Three candidates running uncontested

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The Public Schools of Westchester County New York

Three candidates are running uncontested for seats on the board of education for the Bedford Central School District. The two new candidates are Donna Marino of Bedford Village and Frances LoMonaco Loucas of Pound Ridge. Brad Sacks is running for his second three-year term as a board member.

The current president, Elin Sullivan, and school board member Carmelo Comberiati are not seeking re-election.

At a roundtable discussion at The Record-Review office on Monday, May 10, all three candidates voiced their concerns about issues in the Bedford educational community.

Q: Can you tell us why you are seeking office?

Brad Sacks: Since Elin [Sullivan] and Mel [Comberiati] are not going to run for another term, and given the new administrators and new principals that are coming aboard, in order to maintain continuity and stability, it will be important for me to stay on. I've enjoyed my three years on the board. I've been involved on the construction committee, and I am board liaison to that construction committee right now, so I expect to be very involved for the next three years for those projects. I was also involved in hiring Dr. Jackson, our new superintendent, and I know she is going to be top-notch, as are the new principals that we also hired.

There are many challenges like "No Child Left Behind," and the continuing change in testing requirements for New York State. There's a lot of work to be done, and I'm very committed to the district and the kids.

Donna Marino: I've been involved with the school since my youngest has been in the district. Public education has been the centerpiece of our society. It was natural for me to want to run. I know there have been some impressive people working on the board, and I would like to work with them. Our education system is superb, and I would like to see it stay that way, by bringing the talents that I have to the board.

I also think that a community is only as good as the people who are willing to come up and help out, and if everyone helps in a community in the way that they can best, then our community prospers and does well. This is one way I can really be a part of the community.

Frances LoMonaco Loucas: I have been involved for the past year with the Pound Ridge PTA, acting as the board liaison, and I've been working with Brad on the construction committee. I've had the opportunity to learn some of the challenges and also some of the benefits to contributing to the public school system. I'm looking forward to it and am quite excited about being on the board.

Q: Do you think the construction in the district is proceeding efficiently?

Brad Sacks: Since I was involved in this right from the beginning, I had a great sense that the architect and the construction manager that we chose for these projects were really going to be wonderful. We've been learning that there are some things that are not in our control, like the SED [New York State Education Department] approval has been the biggest frustration.

We send a plan up and just wait. For Pound Ridge, we waited nine months for approval, and in Mount Kisco, we waited 10 months for approval, which is dead time and costing us money. We plan for an eight-month approval. The SED came up with an accelerated process for the high school, so we may be several months ahead of schedule. We already had a ground breaking in Pound Ridge. We will be having one in Mount Kisco in June and one in the fall at the high school.

Q: Do you view the high turnover in principals as normal, or do you feel

that there's a problem?

Brad Sacks: In terms of Mount Kisco [Elementary School], I would not categorize it as something normal - we did not anticipate it. Things happen, careers change, people's needs change. We are very excited about Sue Ostrofsky, who was an administrative intern there, and I suspect that she will be in Mount Kisco as long as she wants to be in Mount Kisco.

The principals that are leaving are seasoned veterans that deserve their retirement, which is a normal course of events. We were well prepared for it, evidenced by the candidates we have in place.

Q: How do you keep good teachers here while keeping costs down?

Donna Marino: I think it's a difficult balance, but the priority has to be that we have parity with the districts around us. We don't operate in a vacuum, and if people think we do, then that's a problem. Teachers can and will jump, as will administrators, but our first priority has to be to educate the children.... The taxpayers have to take

on the burden in the sense that they live here. We have senior citizens living here - people on fixed incomes - and we have to always keep it in mind as a balance.

Q: Are you comfortable with what Bedford Central teachers are paid visa-vis the neighboring districts and the rest of the county?

Donna Marino: From what I know, yes I am. I think that our teachers are

well-compensated and our teachers are amazing - I'm impressed with the ones that I've met and worked with. The children are in the classroom every day with the teachers. They've got be exceptional.

Q: Do you see any ways to lower costs in terms of teachers' benefits?

Frances LoMonaco Loucas: I think there's a balance between both the administrators and the teachers, but quite frankly the teachers are the ones that are touching the hearts and minds of the children, and I think we should focus on that as a priority. I also would like to add that change in personnel in many ways is a positive. It brings in new energy and new ideas - although it alarms people in the community.

Q: Can you comment on how you think the "No Child Left Behind" act will impact the educational system here in Bedford?

Brad Sacks: We've been grappling with that, and the good news for Bedford is that we are one of five districts in the state that is in compliance withh the testing and the types of degrees the teachers must have at every level. It's obviously a great concern, as this is an unfunded mandate. The federal government will tell you what you have to do to keep Title I money, to not be fined or have other bad things happen to you. They won't give you any funding whatsoever to help you achieve those goals and those mandates - it's something we are battling all around. We are going to keep in compliance and stay on top of it, but there already has been some resistance, and there has been some backing down by the federal government in some areas.

Donna Marino: I worry about "No Child Left Behind" because it is blanket across the country and does not take into account that a state like New York already has very high standards. We are placing on our children one standard after another, and they [the federal government] may not have the same kind of goal or the same standards.

Q: There has been an ongoing conflict with BOCES and the district. Can you comment on that?

Brad Sacks: There's good news right now on that front. We love BOCES, we support BOCES, and we use their programs. This was simply a financial aspect of how administrative costs were allocated. Every district in BOCES has to pay their share of administrative costs.

This is something we had to fight for hard for the taxpayers in the district. We've been fighting BOCES on this for years, and just recently BOCES has supported what we call a hybrid - a third way to figure out our share. It needs legislative approval, but what that will do is to phase in the average use attendance, 10 percent a year for five years, and in the fifth year we should realize a $200,000 saving for the district.

Q: Proposition 2 is funded from money not spent last year. The board has opted to spend that money this year, not to decrease taxes at a time when county taxes are skyrocketing. Can you talk about the rationale?

Brad Sacks: There is a $300,000 giveback to the taxpayers as part of Proposition 2. We have incredible financial people that have, over the years, put us in this position by funding our reserves both for employee retirement, workmen's compensation, and tax certiorari. We are in the position of not having to take that out of a budget because this year we budgeted conservatively, and because of favorable factors in retirement and health care, we found ourselves with a surplus.

What do you do with the surplus? Well, our budget-to-budget increase was under seven percent, and we've had capital projects that have been sitting there.

A lot of the criticism about the bond was that "if we took care of your buildings all along, we wouldn't need a $60 million bond project." There may be some truth to that, and this is a unique opportunity to fund many, many projects that are desperately needed in the district. It's a long list.

Q: That money also includes paying for an $800,000 artificial turf football field.

Brad Sacks: We have our neighboring school districts' fields in, and we want our children competitive. This will allow some income to come into the district from use of these fields. We are canceling games left and right. We can save as much as $30,000 to $40,000 a year on maintenance alone.

This turf is amazing stuff and very safe. We desperately wanted to get this done. We have a beautiful field now We have lights, but we don't have kids that can play on these fields.

Donna Marino: I agree with how the money is being used. A lot of these projects would be added into a future budget, and now they won't be if, we approve this. Good fiscal management gave us a gift, and sometimes you have to take advantage of what's sitting in front of you.

Q: What if some voters would rather have the money in their pockets instead of the school district deciding what to do with it?

Donna Marino: We are building buildings, and we need things like chairs and tables.

Brad Sacks: If it's not approved, it's not approved. I'm not sure what would happen to the fund balance, but Mark Betz can tell you. It doesn't get lost, but I'm not sure technically what the ramifications of that would be.

Q: What is the mood in Pound Ridge? The voters there just voted down a community center project. Is there a feeling there that people are going to come out for this budget?

Frances LoMonaco Loucas: I'm optimistic, and I hope that they do come out and vote for the budget. It was unfortunate that the recreation center was voted down. It would've been a nice addition to the community. Perhaps the vote for the recreation center was not really publicized well.

Q: Last June the budget passed by the narrowest margin in Pound Ridge as opposed to the other elementary school areas. Only a little over 700 people voted. What reason do you have to be optimistic at this point?

Frances LoMonaco Loucas: At the end of the day, I think it's important that people focus on the facts around the school budget. The percentage of

discretionary costs versus the costs of mandates is quite minimal. People need to become more informed before they react or vote it down.

Donna Marino: People find their lives too busy to vote. They are fighting around the world for the right to vote, and the people in our communities don't think about it enough. People don't take the time to see what's behind the vote. When Dr. Dennis makes his presentation, there may be only five people, but those five people will tell five more people, and maybe they'll tell 10 more people.

Brad Sacks: And an uncontested race is not going to help voter turnout at all. We are very confident in what we are putting out there - the fairness of the budget, Proposition 2. What we are not confident in is voter apathy, and that's what we are trying to fight. We want people to come out and vote, and read our literature because we are confident of the budget and proud of it. The majority, if they come out, will approve this budget and Proposition 2.

Q: This year Mount Kisco's rate increase is 10 times what it is in other districts. Is there a special effort in the goals. That is, from K to [gradel2 is 22 or 23 students; grades 3 to 5 can be no more than 28 students.

There could be exceptions - like if a kid moves in the middle of the year and you can't break the section, but the board has taken very seriously those class limit board goals.

Q: Are there any issues that you would like to initiate when working on the board?

Frances LoMonaco Loucas: I've been attending board meetings for the past year, and I am very familiar with the issues and the challenges. There is a very good focus and goals - the construction being one of them as a priority along with delivering the best education to the children and making sure that there is due diligence around the budget process.

Donna Marino: From my years in the school district, I think the school board has done a fine job in attempting to balance issues - sometimes there are very tough issues and it is difficult.

I would like to see all the schools getting everything they need. I would like to see all our elementary schools very confident and excited about what they have in their buildings. I would like them to feel that

Mount Kisco area to get the vote out?

Brad Sacks: Obviously it's a concern, and we've put it in our literature. We've tried to explain the problem with the state equalization rate, which is completely out of our control. If you defeated our budget twice and went to a contingency budget, Mount Kisco would still have a 20 percent increase. The reality is if you look at the 10-year blended average, you can see the fairness throughout the district - all are within 5.7 to 7.2 percent average increase over 10 years. But it's a concern because people are going to see that the school is raising their taxes 23 percent, and that's all they are going to see.

But over the years, Mount Kisco has been very supportive of our budgets. They are an active, wonderful community, and I have confidence they are going to pass the budget.

Q: Do you think the issue of class size in the elementary schools has been sufficiently dealt with?

Brad Sacks: A lot of it has to do with space concerns, which is why we are putting four classrooms onto the Pound Ridge elementary school. We have been consistent with our class size that is set in the board

they are all equal. I would like to see some of the BOCES projects through. I would like to visit Albany.

Q: How do you see your role in reaching' out to get more community members involved in the business of education?

Brad Sacks: As soon as the board makes a decision that they need community members on a committee, it goes to the Web site, a description is formulated, and it's announced at board meetings.

We are advertising right now for a community member for the construction committee.

We are very open and inviting. I remember learning that public forums are an option at school board meetings. You do not have to have public forums at your board meetings. You do not have to give them the microphone, but we do it every time, all the time, at every meeting.

Frances s LoMonaco Loucas: The board is also available by e-mail, and I can say from experience that they are very responsive in answering questions that may arise at board meetings. There are many different avenues to communicate with them, and they are very approachable.