Chappaqua BOE Roundup: Final '11-'12 Tax Rates Higher Than Expected

The final 2011-2012 tax figures for the Chappaqua Central School District show that residents will see an increase slightly higher than projected at the time the budget was passed in May 2011.

New Castle residents will see a tax increase of 2.56 percent, explained Assistant Superintendent for Business John Chow, up slightly from the projected 2.11 percent.

Mount Pleasant residents in the district will see a tax decrease slightly less than what was projected in April. Rates will be down 6.44 percent as opposed to the expected 6.85 percent.

Chow said the change is because assessed valuations for both towns were lower than projected. In fact, the projected decrease for the Town of New Castle was double what they anticipated. That final number is $926,712,041, versus the projected 930,844,286. For Mount Pleasant, the final figure is $6,770,746, which is lower than the estimated $6,791,336, according to numbers provided by Chow.

Middle School Restructuring Update to Come in October

Superintendent Lyn McKay announced that she has looked at Middle School restructuring, which would involve studying whether to change the grade configurations for Robert E. Bell and Seven Bridges, and will bring that to the public in October.

Under the proposed restructuring, which has been discussed for more than a year, the district has been looking at the merits of changing the middle school attendence zones so that they are based on grade rather than geography. Specifically, this would leave one middle school housing grades 5-6, with the other housing grades 7-8. Currently, both middle schools house grades 5-8.

The last time findings were presented to the public was in by then-Superintendent David Fleishman. The logic of changing the grade configurations, Fleishman explained at the time, would be to leverage economies of scale, including curriculum offerings for larger grade cohorts. In the 2010 study, it was estimated that $408,000 to $471,000 could be saved annually by making the switch by the end of the decade, although enrollment will be a variable factor.

Superintendent’s Report, Other Items:

• With summer winding down, it will be back to school time soon. Schools will open on Sept. 1 for teachers and Sept. 6 for students

• Eric Byrne, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, discussed all of the new curriculum work that has gone on over the summer. He said that more than 200 teachers have been participating in this initiative all summer.

• McKay attended the Superintendent’s Work Conference at Teachers College. The three main topics that were covered include teacher and principal evaluation, budgets – creative ways to save and the 2% tax cap and professional development.