Details on Taxes, Seven Bridges Mixed Team, Presented to Chappaqua School Board

In response to questions asked at the Chappaqua school board's , Tuesday's budget-focused meeting provided answers on a variety of fronts.

For the first time, early estimates were presented for a potential tax levy, including rates separated based on residency in the New Castle or Mount Pleasant parts of the district. Under the current scenario, with the preliminary budget calling for a 1.78-pecent spending increase, an overall tax levy increase of 5.1 percent is estimated. Specifically, this would mean a 5.93-percent tax increase for New Castle residents, while Mount Pleasant residents would see a decrease of -3.36 percent due to a high equalization rate, which is used to apportion the tax burden in multi-municipal entities such as school districts and counties. (To find out more about how the equalization rate works, )

The one scenario that would stick out, which was stressed as a given, is application of the district's fund balance money. If the district were to apply $2 million in fund balance, the levy would increase by 3.06 percent, with a rate increase of 3.88 percent in New Castle and a rate decrease of -5.24 percent in Mount Pleasant. Under a $3 million fund balance spending scenario, the levy would rise by 2.04 percent, with a New Castle rate increase of 2.85 percent. Mount Pleasant's share under this scenario would fall by -6.18 percent.

Despite the numbers, John Chow, assistant superintendent for business, stressed that they are early, and that better data, based on town assessment information, will be available later in March.

Pointing to the title of the tax portion of the presentation, Chow joked about the words, saying “the first one is draft and the second word is estimate.”

Larry Smith, a member of the tax watchdog group New Castle Citizens for Responsible Education, suggested that the total tax burden is actually higher, and said that the district could face a double-digit tax increase next year, saying they are running out of reserves and cost-cutting measures.

Responding to Smith's frustrations about the long-rising cost of taxes in the district, board members Alyson Kiesel and Gregg Bresner reiterated that many of the district's costs, such as pension obligations, are beyond their control and mandated, pointing to the state's role.

“The white elephant in the room, I can’t fix it," Kiesel said.

Zornow Tries to Assure People About Seven Bridges Team Impact

Addressing the controversial topic of eliminating an academic team at Seven Bridges Middle School due to declining enrollment (plus the cost of maintaining smaller classes as a result), Principal Martha Zornow was on hand at Tuesday's meeting to explain the changes.

The proposal would call for one team of seventh graders, a mixed seventh-eighth grader team, and an all-eighth-grade team.

Zornow explained it would not be determental to students, pointing to past use of mixed-grade teams when Robert E. Bell was the only middle school in the district, before Seven Bridges existed. She also said that students will be with those in their own grade for their classes, as well as other part so the day such as lunch. The only real change would come for teachers, who would take on course loads for both grades instead of one. She said that some teachers have been receptive to the change.

Fewer People Expected to Lose Jobs on Instructional Side

Interim Superintendent John Chambers announced that only about 6 full-time equivalents will have to be reduced through measures other than retirement or attrition, a drop from February. He pointed to an extension of a retirement announcement stipend to late February as a reason. This translates into about 11-12 people, as the FTE metric bundles part-time jobs in with full-time ones.

Technology, Curriculum Impacts Presented

Presentations were also made regarding specific budget items in areas such as curriculum development and technology. Highlights of all those numbers include the use of SMART boards at the middle school level and a rundown of tech inventory purchases that include desktops, laptops and iPads. In total, technology spending will decrease by 3.18 percent, from a year-end projection of $2,132,920 for 2010-11, to $1,995,823 for 2011-12. On the curriculum side, spending will decrease from $1,583,469, using year-end projections for this year, to $1,482,197 for next year. Slideshows for both presentations are attached for this article.