FROM Philip B. Christe 

TO: Commission Richard P. Mills

Department Of Education

Education Building

Albany, NY 12234

Re: Petition challenging 12/16/98 Bedford Central School Board Resolution

Dear Commissioner Mills,

As petitioner pro se of the enclosed Petition with exhibits, I seek your judgment on the official 12/16/98 resolution of the Bedford Central School board inventing a loophole opening the door to unprecedented, unlimited and whimsical public spending.

I have grave concerns with the District’s sloppy management style adversely affecting me as a resident taxpayer.

The 12/16/98 resolution establishes a dangerous precedent for this board and other boards to misuse public funds to subsidize private travel of district students and employees. Counsel for the district warned the superintendent that the Board’s 12/2/98 action was not legal. Rewording the jargon in a 12/16/98 resolution does not make it right

The European trips in question may reasonably be called vacations. Board Vice-President Paul Alcorn expects district employees to avail themselves of the opportunity of expense-free travel as chaperones.

Is it not possible using the Board’s rationale to subsidize with taxpayer funds each and every trip a student association wishes?

Will the District’s casualty insurance policies respond to third-party claims for bodily injury and/or property damage? The policy language may limit coverage to the continental United States. This unresolved risk-management question leaves me, as a taxpayer, exposed to a potentially large unfunded expense.

In summary, the 12/16/98 resolution is replete with ambiguity and danger. It is an unethical subversion of law. Kindly review my petition to reverse this board’s action.

Very truly yours,

Philip B. Christe

back to  Phil Christe Webpage