Survey: Good Marks for Bedford Schools, Keep Low Spending

The results of a phone survey done for the Bedford Central School District show high favorability ratings.

The survey, done by Unicom-Arc in November, show that 76.6 percent grade the district with an A or B. Officials at the district got good marks from their constituents. The results show that the school board was rated with either an excellent or good performance by 64.8 percent of respondants. Superintendent Jere Hochman got 61.4 percent from the public, principals got 62.2 percent and teachers got 73.6 percent.

Dr. Rod Wright, who presented the results to the school board, noted that this shows “a community that’s pretty happy with the school district.” He added that this is something you lose sight of when specific questions are asked in the survey.

School Board President Susan Elion Wollin said "those are definitely outstanding results," referencing the favorability numbers.

A seperate Internet survey, which skewed towards parents and teachers - they're generally more in favor of the district - showed numbers of about 67 percent for the board, about 77 percent for the superintendent, about 82 percent for principals and almost 90 percent for teachers. The full results for that survey have not been presented.

On general values questions, 78.4 percent agreed that people move to the district because of the schools' reputation, with 62.6 percent feeling they get excellent value for the taxes paid.

With good will, however, comes a call for fiscal restaint. While a notable majority of 57.8 percent to 38.4 is willing to allow a 2-percent budget increase, a majority (55.6 percent) also wants to keep it under that amount. In contrast, just 33 percent are willing to go over it. When the initial 2-percent support question was asked again later in the survey, the numbers were even more favorable, with 62.2 percent in favor and 32.8 percent opposed.

With regards to the amount of revenue the district has, 37.4 felt that it is just enough, while 22.2 percent feel it's more than enough.

There were mixed messages on the fiscal front, too. The data show that 59.2 percent agreed with the statement that people like them can't afford to pay higher taxes, but 57.4 percent said they're willing to support higher taxes to make sure Bedford Central's quality is comparable to other district's in the area.

A majority also indicated its preference for cuts 51.8 percent, over a budget increase (it was 38 percent).

Support was also gauged for making tough choices to save money that are normally things that school districts in the area would not prefer to touch. In the results, 39.8 percent felt that the district should consider moving from full-day kindergarten to a half-day model, with 34.4 percent saying that larger class sizes should be considered. Meanwhile, 34.4 percent also felt that redrawing elementary school attendance boundaries should be considered.

The survey also gauged public sentiment on whether to support a $64 million bond for work on West Patent Elementary School, Fox Lane Middle School and a series of other capital improvements. for our story on those results.

Bedford Central residents will have another chance to weigh in tonight at the district's first Future Focus session, at 7 p.m. at the Fox Lane High School cafeteria. There will be a second session on Dec. 6, 9:30 a.m., at the high school's small gym. to learn more.