Classroom Warfare or Just Bullying

There seems to be a lot of class warfare going on in society nowadays, fueled by self-appointed community leaders and especially the media - whether you believe them to be fake or not. We're always hopeful that true community leaders will do what's necessary to help our neighborhoods and its residents. Some of our community leaders seem less concerned about the community members and more about what they want. With Mr Feiner and his Board, it's all about being re-elected and making sure they don't lose their full-time salaries for part-time work. For others, it's about a legacy.

During the month of January, Greenburgh School Superintendent Dr Chase began a series of presentations about the referendum for the bond that she, along with our elected school board wanted to undertake. We missed the first meeting, but have made the last two and would have made the next two had they not been postponed. There is yet another meeting being held on Thursday night, February 7, at the Theodore Young Community Center at 7 pm off of Manhattan Avenue.

We've previously written about the last two meetings, noting that they were very different in several ways. They were both held in the auditorium at the RJ Bailey School. This one was on a Saturday at 10 am, under the guise of "hearing the community" because many people could not always make evening meetings for a host of reasons. Fair enough. Unlike school which has a finite start and end time, this meeting apparently did not and started late. Yet, once the meeting had started, introductions were quickly made. The previous evening meeting found Dr Chase making introductions at some length. It seems there were a lot of Greenburgh Central School District teachers, administrative personnel, Board members and such in the audience. Here's a thought, ask all of those people to stand, quickly identify them and then start the meeting.

Two presentations had been utilized in those two meetings. The first one was longer and more comprehensive than the second one. We wonder what is in store for the next meeting? Either way, we hope those attendees will be getting more information instead of less. We also hope that the new practice of shutting down the voice of the people will not be done again. At the evening meeting residents and taxpayers were allowed to speak, ask questions, make comments and have somewhat of a dialog with the $114.6 million referendum bond proponents. While many were protesting, others were in favor while still others were on the fence. Hearing what neighbors, not necessary employees, have to say may be helpful to the undecided.

So, the Saturday meeting found the dialog removed. Gone. Now they handed out 3x5 inch index cards and asked for participants to write down and submit their questions. The audience was told they would go through them on the bus ride to the Highview School and to the Woodlands High School. That did not happen! It was already noted that this entire plan seemed well-crafted to keep the voting public in the dark about this entire event. Now it seems that the questions and comments were too much for the pro-bond sponsors. In fact, when the ABG publisher was questioning an answer from a school board member, a gentleman in a tan suit came over and tried to stop the board member from responding!

In addition to the ignored school maintenance, the enrollment in the district of 1,757 in 2015-2016 went down in 2017-2018 to 1,734. Certainly not a major shift but indicative of a trend that was also reported in the Friday Journal News (as well as other publications) entitled, High School Graduation Rates Dip Across Westchester. "Westchester County's overall high school graduation rate for the class of 2018 dipped slightly compared to the year before, with several school districts also seeing notable declines. The Bedford school district saw a 7 percent dip in their graduation rate between 2017 and 2018, the largest decline in the county. In Bedford, 84 percent of students graduated in 2018, down from 91 percent in 2017. The state data also shows that the Greenburgh school district saw a 7 percent dip in its graduation rate, going from 88 percent in 2017 to 81 percent in 2018, but these figures are being disputed by district officials."

Dr Chase dismissed the findings as an error in reporting methodology that she was working to "correct the apparent discrepancy in the data reporting." This piece of information couldn't come at a more inopportune time for her. Ironically, we were researching just this topic as one reader asked us about declining enrollment in general and in the northeast in particular. Further digging found that the exodus of school children is directly linked to an exodus from the incredibly highly-taxed states, such as New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. No surprise there as study after study explain that taxpayers are voting with their feet. Perhaps this should be seen as a warning salvo to Dr Chase?

A reader who was in support of the bond issue made these points nevertheless:
- Does Greenburgh Central School District (GCSD) have any enrollment studies about enrollment projections? 
- Birth rates are at a 30-year low; 
- Immigration seems to be slowing; 
- NYS continues to lose population; 
- GCSD appears to be losing enrollment for at least 3 consecutive years; 
- Enrollment has dropped from Kindergarten through 12th;
- NYSED clearly indicates even the Latin student numbers, traditionally steady or increasing, have decreased; 

 All valid points. And while the questions are abundant, the answers are not. Should Greenburgh build this new mega-campus, will we have the student body to sustain it? There has not been any information forthcoming from the school district to substantiate the pro-bond proponents' claims. Another parent also in favor commented that while he sees a need for maybe a 10, 20, and 30-year plan for the district, the secrecy and lack of tangible information is forcing him to oppose this.

Recently, Mr Feiner was quoted as being upset with the Governor's plans to cut state aid to Towns and Villages. "I think it’s wrong for the state to tell local governments to comply with the tax cap — to reduce property taxes — yet the state at the same time is cutting back their financial support, making it harder for local governments to comply," said Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, adding the town would lose $409,765. That bad news, along with the fact that Unincorporated Greenburgh Central School residents might soon be saddled with a whopping tax increase of a minimum of $800+ per year for single family homes! Add to that the yearly Town, County, Fire, Sewer and other district taxes and many residents may be forced out of their homes. Let's not forget that 48% of unincorporated Greenburgh's Fairview Fire District is tax exempt - so this will further hurt the people paying double of what they should have to carry the exempted properties. Finally, Mr Feiner has said he will be proposing a $49 million bond of his own to replace the Greenburgh Police headquarters and courts. That's over $163 MILLION in additional taxes!

Two meetings have recently been cancelled due to the cold weather and yet things are certainly heating up. There has only been one counter-proposal to the $114.6 million bond option and that is to do repairs by passing a different bond issue for $79 million. Surely, our school board can draw up some alternative ideas even though they helped to put us in this mess? While we are offended by Dr Chase's cavalier approach to what this will cost residents, not many of us make the $313k per year that she does and can easily afford a specialty coffee each day or to go out to dinner once a week as she apparently does and still have money left for necessities. This mindset must change. Alternatives that are not do-or-die must be researched and all facts and figures communicated in an open and clear fashion. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.