3 Educators Announce Candidacy For Greenburgh School Board

Existing School Board Needs Improvement
The beleaguered Greenburgh School Board of Education is rife with issues – mostly stemming from years of the status quo by people unwilling or unable to comprehend change. While slowly improving under the latest and deeply involved newer Board members, The Board needs additional trustees who are clear, decisive and open minded thinkers.

Leadership Takes Hold
Under the leadership of current Board President Antoinette Darden-Cintron, who is running for another term, we've finally seen the Board make progress. She has aligned with two new candidates who are also educators, Kiana Washington and Eric Bitterman. These three experienced educators are the only candidates who are totally invested in our children’s education and ultimately their futures. They recognize what needs to be done to improve our schools: repair our existing buildings, provide a quality education for our children, keep the costs down in the District and plan for the District’s future both in the short and long term.

Lying Through Omission
For every step the current Board has taken forward there have been opposing forces who sabotaged the Board. The sabotage and resistance from Superintendent Chase and Trustee Terry Williams (an 18-year Board member) has prevented the current Board from swiftly addressing the needed building repairs and curriculum reviews to improve our student achievement. Their combined goal, supported by Trustee David Warner, appears to be to continue to foist the school consolidation onto the public by not being truthful with the taxpayers about the true costs associated with this grandiose plan that was ultimately rejected by the voters. Thankfully, the taxpaying public saw through their slick presentations and smoke and mirrors.

Candidates Focus

These three candidates are experienced educators running for the Greenburgh school board. Together, they have combined expertise spanning grades pre-K through 12. Their shared vision is to provide a robust educational experience that prepares all GCSD students for a life of learning and success.

Read more about these three solid candidates at:

https://educators4boe.org

List of the candidates: 
Eric Bitterman* - Former New Rochelle and current Scarsdale teacher
Antoinette Darden-Cintron** - Dean in NYC School System, Guidance Counselor
Kiana Washington - Ass’t. Principal NYC School System
Jamaal Thomas - n/a
Sarah Lazzari - n/a
Christine (Chris) Valin - n/a
Terry Williams***

* Former GCSD7 Board trustee 

** Incumbent (1 term)

*** 18-Yr incumbent, under review for violation of policies

Greenburgh School Administration and Board Proves Incompetent

Studying the statistics for the Greenburgh School District can be disconcerting if not downright confusing. We've seen a drop this year of 56 students from the Greenburgh Central School District.  Here is a simple chart showing the decline in the Greenburgh Central School District enrollment numbers, as well as in other Westchester districts. (The exception is the Pocantico Hills School District). 

What is happening in these communities that is responsible for declining public school enrollment? There are certainly people who leave the district due to reasons such as work relocation, high cost-of-living, or the need to take care of elderly parents. We fear that a significant amount of the loss is due to dissatisfaction with the school districts in these communities and we believe this is very much the case with the Greenburgh School District. In studying other published articles, we learn that parochial schools are having an influx of students, even from revered districts such as Scarsdale.  These affluent parents are placing their children in parochial and/or private schoolswith hefty tuitions, ranging from $3,000 to upwards of $25,000 annually for in-person learning at a smaller school. 

In the latest rankings issue of Westchester Magazine* on public schools, the Greenburgh Schools rated 37th out of 47, ranking just higher than schools in the large cities. While analyzing the data from these various reports, ranks and standings, the unpublished stories inform us what's really going on to cause parents to enroll their children in private schools. For instance, it's alleged that in 2014, when searching for a replacement for Ronald Ross, a Greenburgh School Board Trustee contacted the Search Committee to influence their decision regarding candidate Tahira Chase, to place her name first on the list of recommended candidates. We cannot corroborate this allegation. (Ross was dismissed for discrimination and creating a hostile work environment, one of many unsuccessful Superintendents)

Two years ago, Superintendent Chase pushed a $200+ million dollar school campus consolidation pipe dream. Long-time Trustees Williams and Warner, after having presented multiple budgets that failed to provide adequate funding for building repairs, both supported this project, seemingly without regard to the negative costly impact to the taxpayers.  The bond referendum was defeated by the Greenburgh taxpayers nearly 2-to-1 when it finally came to a vote! Clearly the community mandate was to repair the existing buildings and stop wasting time doing so. After that overwhelming defeat, Chase, Williams and Warner began to push the narrative that they had done a poor job informing the public as to their plan. Quite the contrary!  The voters were well informed.  We had been informed that the cost to taxpayers was $114 million dollars, however the NYS Board of Education's own figures were $200+ million dollars. Lying to the public by omitting the true cost of the project is never the less still a lie.

We have heard the Superintendent and Trustees Williams and Warner tout programs that at face value should be a source of pride. Specifically, we are regaled with the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and the Mandarin language program. In time, we've learned, however, that the IB program was failing because too many teachers weren't prepared adequately to teach it. The Mandarin program failed because the school did not have teachers for it for most of the year! We learned from students who complained that courses necessary for graduation, such as Physics, were not available. Those students were told to take an additional Chemistry class. World class indeed!

In October the Board of Education, after completing their annual evaluation of the Superintendent, decided not to renew her contract. During the course of a search for her replacement, the Board made a decision to offer the position to a Long Island superintendent who had interviewed very well for the position. Trustee Williams violated his responsibility as a Trustee by discouraging the agreed upon candidate from accepting the position. This action might have resulted in an extension of Chase's tenure through next year. If the allegations regarding his interference in her hiring are true, this would be the second time that he has violated his duty as a Trustee and manipulated the Superintendent selection process.

There is a long list of deficiencies of our school district.  The most recent is the continuing use of remote learning due to the pandemic. Schooling has always been an interactive event and while many have tried to pawn remote learning to us as the panacea for education during the pandemic, it is not. The Greenburgh Central School District distributed Chromebooks to most students in an effort to help them with remote learning but let’s put yourself in the students shoes. When you're at work and instructed to take online training, how attentive and focused are you? You probably start out enthusiastically, then your attention wanes and your mind becomes less focused and starts drifting. Our children are no different and they have been forced to do this day after day for the past year!  It's time to get our kids back into school. It's time for administrators, teachers, and parents to stop talking about following the science and implement a plan so that our children can attend school safely!

School board members Williams and Warner have been there for too long. It's time for new blood, new thinking with thoughtful and cost-effective action. When we see something amiss, we must question it without resorting to hysteria, vile attitudes or violence.  The Board and the community must come up with a balanced plan of action to repair our schools and teach our kids.  

We need to have a school district that people embrace instead of fleeing to private schools. We can collectively do this and do it well. It's how we'll get A Better Greenburgh School District. 

* March 2021, Pg 50

A Failed Education

Covid-19 has exposed the financial instability and struggles of many of the residents of the Town, highlighting the disparity along economic lines between the educational offerings afforded to our students. We continually witness the failures of the school district, as highlighted by Superintendent Chase, and with long time School Board members whose agenda for consolidation does nothing to address improving education over a marginal one. The diminishing test results saga over the last umpteen years highlights the failures of the district and the Board of Education. English Language Arts (ELA) scores have faltered despite the fact that immersion in English is a proven, successful educational standard adopted throughout the world for over a century, but just not in Greenburgh. Similarly, math scores continue to plummet, further exposing these two increasingly problematic failures.

Yet through all of the “feel good” discussion of graduation scores and college admissions, we're asked to believe that every child, whether enjoying breakfast and lunch at school, or those who simply turn on their computer for 5 seconds during the school day, are accounted for and learning. These same students, we're told, will graduate at the end of the year with an academic degree, although that degree will hardly be worth the paper it's printed upon. These success stories are as disingenuous as saying we have a thriving Mandarin program!

Incredibly, no child in the Greenburgh Central School District is ever left behind. Indeed, they move through the system and graduate every year collecting their high school degrees, ready to enter the reality of hopelessness and despair as they learn it has little value in the "real" world. This practice of graduating students who fail needs to end no matter how catchy the "no child left behind" mantra sounds! Some observers of the system choose to blame the teachers, but clearly the fault for the conditions of the school system and its graduates resides in the conduct, demeanor and callousness of the Greenburgh Superintendent of Schools and the Greenburgh Board of Education members. Those teachers who fail to stand up for their students must shoulder some of that blame. But how many have been intimidated and coerced to accept these policies or fall out of favor with the district and jeopardize their livelihood? Could this be why we experience such a high turnover of teachers in our schools?

Parents cannot be blamed for not understanding test score results or the subject matter. In some cases parents have difficulty understanding the English language or dare we say, were a product of the Greenburgh School system? This basic flaw of failure to meet the basic educational needs of most of our children needs to be addressed before we lavish praise on initiatives such as a Baccalaureate program or Mandarin language courses. Having a 35% success rate in Math and English is an abomination. Work on transforming and improving the standard courses that most of our children take and only then should we look to expand into others. Stop projecting the image of a small group of  children that are academically gifted as the face of the entire school system!

Society has promised it was all knowing and capable of teaching our children proficiently so that the children could succeed upon graduation and delve into the "real" world. But parents and guardians have clung to a promise that the school no longer fulfills. Society in general is at fault; as well as are our parents who falsely believed that the school system would do right by their children. It has not. Parents have shirked their responsibility to ensure that the school system works for our children. Our collective mistake is that we believed the District knew better than we did as to how to educate our children and we left this crucial responsibility up to them. Even though it began with good intentions, Greenburgh Central has failed those of us seeking a better life for themselves and their children.

It's been said that education is the elixir of success. And, while we can certainly place blame for our failing school on the District, the Superintendent and the Board of Education -- and we should -- we must also blame ourselves. We forgot to demand what our grandparents and parents expected our schools to offer our children, which is a well-rounded education, enabling them to be able to earn a living and be productive in society. Our forgetting is not an excuse. Resolution of the deficiency exhibited by the present Greenburgh Central School Board of Education, is imperative. The Board, who are in fact the “employer” of Greenburgh Schools District Superintendent Chase, have not only dropped the ball, and still seemingly struggle in correcting the circumstances they've allowed for too long.

Parents, taxpayers and all stakeholders must make it known to the Greenburgh School Board of Education that they have failed to deliver on our collective trust of them. It is time we force them to step up their game plan and for us to do the same. Let's stop lip-syncing, "For the children!” Nothing less than change at the Board level is acceptable, academic improvements must take place to wake up this current Greenburgh Central School District and nothing else, such as consolidation, will improve our children's educational well-being. It's time we make a significant change and remove the long time trustees who have wallowed in their own self-grandeur and archaic functionality. We need new ideas, new blood and new people who can help to improve our schools and propel our children into a successful future. It's the only way to get A Better Greenburgh School District!

Greenburgh Central School District Vote Passes and Disappoints

In reviewing the numbers after an election of any kind held in Greenburgh, the apathy and blasé attitude of voters has reflected poorly on the vast majority. It seems that particular causes may unite a certain part of the citizenry, and there are groups in our community doing the same things at the local level.

The School Board elections and the School District’s budget vote took place after being delayed by NYS and rescheduled from May to June with a mail-in vote as opposed to an in-person vote at the polls. Good or bad, the numbers were somewhat the same as many more people had the opportunity to vote but again, did not bother to vote. It seems the only time we see a spike in voting is when there is a project(s) in a certain neighborhood that literally affects them in their backyard. Hence the term we’ve coined called OIMBY: Only In My Back Yard.

There are roughly 90,000 residents in all of the Town of Greenburgh. There are six Villages including an seventh possible new one with the Edgemont incorporation looming near. The Villages in the Town are Elmsford, Ardsley, Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown. Interestingly, they have their own elections yet are also allowed to vote in Town elections, which many feel is just seems wrong. But because of this, Mr Feiner and his Board play the Villages like a fine instrument to ensure no matter how much they touch that turns to crap for Unincorporated Greenburgh, Mr Feiner, et al, will get their votes to remain in office and not be held accountable or culpable for their misgivings, lies and illegal actions.

So, while we know there are 90,000 residents, we also know that not all can vote. Greenburgh School enrollment is about 1800 kids. So roughly speaking, without fact-checking the dual-parent vs single-parent households status, there could be up to 3600+ voters participating in a school vote. According to information provided by School District Clerk Ivy Krauss, the actual count of ballots that were distributed to registered voters was 16,563. The amount that was returned of votes cast was 3,594. So 78.3% of the voting population did not participate. Those voting for the budget approved it, 1,968 to 978, roughly a two-to-one victory. Or was it?

Out of those numbers there were 619 votes that were disqualified because the voters didn't read the instructions, understand the instructions or thought their votes would be counted regardless of what they did or didn’t do correctly. So 3.74% of the voters who thought they voted weren’t counted. A breakdown is as follows:
401: oath envelope not signed; 190: oath envelope not provided; 15: oath envelope contained extrinsic papers (ie more than one ballot); 9: ballot torn and/or defaced; 1: signature did not match that of the voter; 2: ballot was blank; 1: oath envelope did not contain any ballot. Apparently, everyone is okay with these amounts being dismissed. Why? Probably because the budget passed.

What we are struggling with is that out of 16,563 people who could vote, only 3,594 did vote - a slight increase from the usual amount. We’d have thought that those who don’t usually come out to vote would have thought this mail-in style voting would prove more convenient and garnered more votes – but that doesn’t appeared to be the case. In fact, statistics show that senior citizens typically vote against school budgets for a host of reasons. And, when the School District and the Administration pushed the ill-fated consolidation bond proposal, a two to one defeat was confirmed to be in part due to the senior citizens vote. And, knowing Mr Feiner has injected himself as the caped crusader of poor mail delivery, how much of the votes cast never made it beyond the mailbox they dropped it in? We may never know.

There was also a proposition to move money from one part of the budget to a reserve fund for maintenance and repairs. That passed with 2519 votes for and 445 against. Previous Boards have failed to adequately fund the repair budgets for years causing much disrepair of our school buildings and an excuse to consolidate. Still, the taxpaying public saw past the incorrect information provided and shot the consolidation down. The several proponents of the consolidation were Superintendent Chase, who appears to be trying to develop herself as a brand; Trustees David Warner and Terry Williams. In fact, both of these gentlemen have been on the School Board for years and hold responsibility for the lack of repair funding which has led to the degradation of the buildings. Could this have been a covert plan all along?

Two School Board members were running for re-election, Tracy Mairs and Ashley Pineda*. Ivy Kraus, the School District Clerk, shared the totals for their re-elections: 2441 and 2391 respectively. We have no problem with either candidate seeking a second term of office and believe they can make a difference in that period of time although we prefer term limits. We’ve seen Ms Mairs openly participate in school district related conversations but hardly ever witness Mr Pineda getting involved in the discussions. Granted this was his first year in the position and may taking some time to get up to speed and comfortable. As such, we believe he needs to step up his game.

Voting during this primary coincided with the School District/Board elections were fraught with problems. The voter sites that were trimmed back seemingly experienced problems that caused hours-long delays in voting. Some have claimed this falls in Mr Feiner’s lap. While we never hesitate being critical of Mr Feiner, it does not. But he did say he would write a letter or two to the appropriate parties involved. Translation: send a letter and out of his hands and done. Move on to his next contrived issue.

This election was rushed by the School District per the mandates of Albany and the Governor. While we're sure everyone involved tried their best, it still seemed unorganized to some extent. If this is the precursor to the November elections, we’re not hopeful that we’ll be seeing results on election night. This has to change and get better. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

* A one-year incumbent filling the balance of a term of a Board member who resigned and needed to run for the position.

School Administrators Arrogance Ignore Taxpayer Pleas

Numerous taxpayers have reached out to the Greenburgh Central School District (GCSD) Board to implore them to adjust the budget to accommodate the recent financial shortfalls every level of government and the private sector are subjected to. Recently, the Governor issued an Executive order on May 1st specific to election changes.  

School Board/Budget elections have been rescheduled for June 9, 2020 and will be held via mail with return postage included. Each School District will send a postcard notice which details the date of the election, date of the budget hearing, definition of a qualified voter, and an absentee ballot.  Other voting changes for this years elections have also been put in place. 

The GCSD Board published their proposed budget on their website for 2020-21. There are actually two documents, a 2-page summary document and 27-page full/detailed document that show how the $70,274,612 budget for 2020-21 will be spent. The previous year’s budget expenditures was $70,752,506. In total, the decrease between the two budgets is a measly $477,894 or a negative .675%, not even a half a million dollars! So we'll be generous and say it's -.68%!

With only a minus .68% decrease, it’s logical that it would be easy to cut more. But this administration maintains a privileged mentality and apparently wants no part of helping the taxpayer. While the GCSD apparently doesn’t feel the pain the residents do, other municipalities have already adjusted for shortfalls that may impact them with local, state and federal reductions. In fact, most governmental administrations are dipping into reserve funds as well as tightening the “budget belts.”

Another point of contention with this budget is that they are asking teachers to freeze their salaries while Dr Chase and Mary O’Neil get their $2,300 and $2,800 raises respectively. They should be embarrassed to accept this. Recently, Mr Feiner threw out an uncorroborated figure out there, as he often does without validation, that 23% of Greenburgh residents have lost their jobs due to the Covid19 pandemic. Let the administrators take pay cuts before the teachers. 

Finally, the School Board has been holding pseudo-live Zoom meetings. In actuality, what they are doing is holding a Zoom meeting amongst themselves and then someone with a video camera and live feed is filming and broadcasting the meeting. Not only is this ridiculous and cumbersome, it assures the Board a modicum amount of insulation from the public by keeping them at bay. What they should be doing is allowing people to sign up to the Zoom meeting that they are in and let the Host mute them. If they have any questions, they can submit them utilizing the chat feature in Zoom.

The GCSD held a Consolidation Bond vote over a year ago when money was not as tight as it’s going to be now. They threw away a lot of money on slick brochures and mailings (and probably more) to try to pull off the bond. That bond was defeated by a two-to-one margin which spoke volumes. This Board hears, yet they didn’t listen. They claimed the budget was shot down because they did a poor job presenting it. That is true. They did a bad job and they lied in an attempt to convince the public that it was something it wasn’t. 

The public knows more than they let on and still doesn’t trust the administration or the Board for that matter. A negative .68% reduction is about what an austerity budget might be which would mean no sports or busing. We are way beyond needing an austerity budget. They’re still not listening. It’s time for some new thinking on the Board and the administration. It’s the only way to get A Better Greenburgh School District.

Note: This article was written prior to the May 11th Board meeting and may be updated.

Be The Voice Of The People: Vote

Voters will hopefully head to the polls today, May 21 to vote either for or against their school district budgets – all within the tax cap that “Governor Tappan Zee” enacted into a permanent tax cap, proposed bonds and of course, School Board races. We have been following the Greenburgh school board race which features six candidates. Two are incumbents and four are new faces. While all of the candidates seem to be very nice people, we were most impressed with Tanya Dragic.

Multi-million-dollar bond proposals will be voted on in four school districts - Briarcliff Manor, Irvington, Pleasantville and Somers. Whether or not there are tax implications from them remains to be seen. Most people are inclined to go along with tax increases if the are logical, within reason financially, adequately explained and communicated to the public clearly. After all, this is their money that’s being sought.

In this day of instant news feeds, 24-hour cable news, neighborhood blogs such as this one, podcasts, radio and residents talking amongst themselves, taxpayers (stakeholders) need to feel assured that their money is being well spent and with meaning. This was not the case with the recent $114 million bond the School Board and Dr Chase tried to foist upon the public in the 11th hour two months ago. They got their heads handed to them with a two-to-one defeat.

The take-away that the Board members and Dr Chase seemed to believe is that they did a poor job communicating their “vision” to the stakeholders. If that’s all they got out of this defeat, they really aren’t paying attention. What they also did was hide information. They repeatedly told the public that the $114 million was including interest. It was not. The interest alone would have been almost the face value of the note, coming in at $83 million. With a bond total of $197 million, and the yearly budget of $71 million ($70,752,506 actual), taxpayers will be on the hook for $267 million! In Mandarin, it’s 2.67亿美元！

When asked why the bond should be supported, we were told that the Bailey and Highview schools were in such disrepair that we needed to jettison them as soon as possible and build two new schools to replace them – at the Warburg campus. When asked why, one School Board trustee had the backbone to tell us, “The Board made a conscious decision to not maintain the schools to save teacher’s jobs. Others on the Board believed having all the schools on one campus would be their School Board legacy – as did Dr Chase. Sadly, their legacy will be the disrepair of our schools.

While this revelation was a stunning admission, the honesty and openness of the Board member was refreshing and what a dialog should be. During the entire event the age-old mantra was, “Do it for the children.” In fact, on a community gossip board, several residents kept posting to vote yes for the bond and saying those against it were lying with the facts they presented. They were not. But for Phil, Matty, Mona and a handful of others aligned with the School Board supporting a radical tax increase, many could or would not go along! Can they be persuaded to vote for it now? We’ll see...

The budget vote is upon us, with a small cheerleading crowd in the gossip sites trying desperately to convince those gullible enough to not learn the facts on their own to vote for the budget. When a question was posed on the site if Matty worked for the district and if he ever ran for the School Board, the conversation was closed down. Apparently, just as in Town Hall and the School Board, the flow of information works only one-way. It's ironic that after 3,000 people mobilized and voted "no" that the Board did not capitalize on the obvious interest of the public.

Briarcliff Manor’s $3 million bond proposal would include a roof replacement at the middle school, a track resurfacing, and infrastructure improvements district-wide. Irvington would see renovation projects, conservation initiatives, expansions and modernization efforts. Pleasantville will make repairs to school buildings, increase security, and asbestos abatement in school floors. Somers seeks to increase security, and if approved, would include a partial roof replacement at Primrose Elementary School.

These districts clearly show it is possible to do ongoing repair and maintenance without financially hammering the district residents. Those that can afford it will scrutinize the budget less than those who cannot. We need a Board that understands that it's our money and then their money and that it doesn't grow on trees. The current Greenburgh School Board and its Superintendent seem oblivious to this. Again, they’re not listening. In the Fairview Fire and the Hartsdale Fire Districts, 48% and 42% respectively are tax exempt. That means about half of the taxpayers are paying double of what they should have to to compensate for the tax exempt properties who still utilize their services. The school district suffers from the same malady with little recourse.

Consider how the current School Board behaved during this last episode when you go to vote. If you want more of the same you already know how you’re going to vote. If you want more transparency, open communication and budgets that are reasonably planned out and presented, think about voting differently. It’s one more way to get A Better Greenburgh School Board.

Continued Subterfuge

ABG has just recently discovered that the suspension of a Woodlands teacher accused of alleged inappropriate conduct may not be true. Our sources informed us that the issue was over a grade the student received from the teacher who works/worked at the school. We have yet to be able to verify this information with theGreenburgh Central School District Board or Superintendent Chase. And if it truly was over a grade, why the subterfuge? Didn’t we have enough of that during the school consolidation proposal that was overwhelmingly defeated by a 2-to-1 vote?

You’ll recall that the teacher who works at Woodlands Middle/High School in Hartsdale, was placed on leave on Thursday, April 4. Greenburgh Central School District Superintendent Tahira A. DuPree Chase said in a statement, "The matter has been referred to the proper authorities, including the Greenburgh Police Department. However, please know that the District places the utmost importance on our students’ safety and well-being and that all of our actions in this matter have been for the purpose of ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of our students," she added. But was safety really the issue?

The superintendent went on to say that while many may have questions, she cannot provide further comment as this was turned over to law enforcement and that it is a personnel and student matter. We see another executive session in the School Board’s future. As you know, they usually adjourn to executive session in the middle of their Board meetings, leaving those taxpayers from the public in attendance for up to an hour wondering if they will return and continue. Executive sessions are primarily used to discuss personnel issues. And, while we find the Town Board's meetings reprehensibly convoluted to the public they supposedly serve, at least they hold their executive sessions at the end of their meetings - especially when the audience is in a particularly hostile or disagreeable mood based on the Board’s actions.

The Greenburgh School District recently came under fire for almost secretly crafting a scheme to allow the current school buildings to deteriorate to further their agenda of creating a unified, one-location Warburg campus where the Woodlands High School campus now exists. On top of being derelict in executing their required duties, they rebuff claims that they put the children's lives in jeopardy. Yet their plan was touted by the School Board and Administration as necessary because the new classrooms would affect the students’ learning performance. If that were really true, then well-maintained classrooms would have been vital. 

During this gestation period, we viewed classrooms in several similarly aged schools, such as Sacred Heart in Hartsdale, Pocantico Hills Central School in Pocantico Hills to find condition similarities to the Greenburgh schools. When it comes to student safety, we were told that the NYS Board of Education has safety standards that have to be met but that the Greenburgh schools were deficient. If this is the case, obviously these standards are simply recommendations. Otherwise, wouldn’t the NYS Board of Education intervene and make sure these safety standards were being met? Isn’t it always about the children?

Legacy dreams were openly discussed by the Superintendent and long-time Board members later on as resistance to their dream grew. Perhaps that was the issue all along: the dreams of the few were pushed regardless of the requests many people made, asking to slow the bus down and provide answers that had to be acquired elsewhere. It seemed they even "doubled-down" as opposition grew. An example at one of the meetings was made of a superintendent who made changes to his district from the west coast. Dr Chase said that person was his own "brand" when it came to the transformation he was able to perform. It seems as though Dr Chase might be trying to create her own brand - not for anything as noble as the children, the taxpayers she answers to or anything else.

During the entire discovery of, and resultant exposing of the consolidation plan that had been kept well-hidden from the taxpaying public and the information people requested, the questions that remained unanswered and the lacking nature of the presentations and subterfuge ultimately led to the downfall of the proposal. The fact that we saw the same Board members speaking out in favor of the proposition and one Board member violating the law and illegally sending an email pushing the proposal only later to apologize to say he used the wrong email account speaks volumes. Those Board members not in attendance speaks volumes as well. Now we wonder if the suspension of this teacher has to do with something else going on that we’re not being told. Security at the schools has been increased and their security programs have been reviewed by other school districts according to Superintendent Chase. Was this really a safety issue or an excuse to address a personnel issue of a different nature?

Our school district seems in turmoil and begging for real leadership, accountability and results. While teaching Mandarin and STEAM/STEM classes may be all the rage, getting our students English and Math proficiency up from 35% should be a priority. Truthfulness, openness, and a willingness to improve the buildings we own, improve the education our students receive and work with the community to effect a competent change should be their agenda. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh School District.  

School Board Discusses Proposing Defeated Bond In May

The School Board’s referendum bond proposal was defeated by a wide margin of Greenburgh School District voters during Tuesday’s vote. The final tally was 1,257 (35.5%) in favor and 2,284 (64.5%) against the proposal, with a difference of 1,027 votes against. The taxpaying public, including some students’ parents, voted overwhelmingly to stop this project. There are roughly 1800 kids in our district’s schools. Assuming that there is a variety of dual and single-parent households, some with one child, some with more, there could be an equal number of parents that would have voted. It’s apparent that while many student parents favored this, some of those parents did not. 

This was a record setting turnout vote for the Greenburgh School District. In our previous article we mentioned that the Board and Dr Chase poked a sleeping giant. People who usually don’t bother coming out to vote for school board events obviously had had enough. 

The various Greenburgh Civic Associations within the School District were invited by Dr Chase on November 7, 2018 to join her on November 14, 2018, “... for delectable treats at my Superintendent’s Dessert... The Superintendent’s Dessert will be a combined gathering with the Community Engagement Committee.” The meeting was to discuss the progress of the schools and status of the facilities. See below:

The back side of the letter was a flyer asking to please join them for Dessert & Discussion. The key point was conversations about our latest initiatives, which one would have to go there to learn about. See below:

So an effort was made back in November to feed dessert to community leaders without actually revealing much if anything about the gist of the meeting. Those we discussed this with felt at the time it would be a waste of time as having dessert with the Superintendent, while pleasant, was imposing on their already busy schedules with no fruitful reason to do so. Little would they know.

Having just been handed a humiliating defeat at the hands of the sleeping giant, the School Board refuses to take “No!” for an answer and we’re told at their Board meeting they contemplate proposing a reintroduction of the Referendum Bond yet again in May when the school budget vote comes around! They’ve done this before when their budgets were voted down. They would state that they would have to adopt an austerity budget  “to get by” cutting busing and sports. They are well practiced with the “austerity argument”, having learned and provide a response claiming their hands were tied and they would have to rework the budget. Then what they did was reintroduce the same budget that would not get much exposure and usually passes. Is that the ploy here?

Several other issues relating to this failed proposal need clarification , such as Trustee Terry Williams’  apparent illegal blast email from his official School Board email account to the residents to vote for this proposal as well as his robo call. School Board members are prohibited from actively promoting certain things, such as this type of proposal. Honest mistake? Perhaps if this were a new Board member we might believe so, but Mr Williams has been on the Board as well as been President during a fifteen year tenure.

Then there’s the offer to bus people to the Woodlands High School from the Theodore Young Community Center on the Royal Coach buses. See below. Royal Coach is the bus company that is used by the School District to bus our students. We’re all for helping people get to the polls but if someone “put the arm” on the bus company or requested it with payment coming from the District funds, we deserve to know as well as know by whom.

The mantra the School Board members used every time they were challenged about past performance was, “That was the old Board, not us. This is the new Board.” Dr Chase also repeatedly stated, “We’re moving forward. That was a previous administration. we’re moving forward.” True, it was an old administration and a partially new School Board. But it’s still the same old taxpayers being disrespectfully treated. Old Board indeed! 

If you want to work with us, we’re willing to have an open an honest dialog. And just because “your side” disagrees with the “other side” doesn’t mean you try to shut them down. There’s no rush here if we are going to do things correctly, which means ALL of the facts and figures should be transparently presented to all of the School District’s residents. Let’s all stop the phony arguments and plan something that we all can get behind. It’s the only way we’ll get A Better Greenburgh School District.

Poking A Sleeping Giant

The School Board’s dream of having one campus on the Warburg property was defeated by a wide margin of Greenburgh School District voters on Tuesday. The final tally is 1,257 (35.5%) in favor and 2,284 (64.5%) against the proposal, with a difference of 1,027 votes against. That’s a significant amount of votes! Dr Chase was quoted in a statement saying, “Although we are disappointed in the outcome of our Capital Project vote, we are unbowed in our determination to improve our school surroundings and the education of our precious students. I am humbled by the massive turnout, and I respect our community’s decision."

Humbled? She should be embarrassed. And, there’s that word again, respect. It was the one thing that appeared missing during many of the meetings as Dr Chase, the primary moderator for the “information sessions”, chose to brush past questions raised by the very concerned taxpayers, telling them their 2-minutes were up and to let others have their turn to speak. While this may work well for her in a school environment, the stakeholders for all of this deserved better. Instead of trying to shut residents down, she should have embraced them. She did not. Had they been open and transparent with all the facts & figures to all the GCSD residents from the start of this proposal, maybe the outcome would have been different. Respect.

Then there’s the issue of the School Board’s questionable behavior during this entire event. At first they remained silent except when Dr Chase introduced them and other employees, educators, students, former students, parents of students and others in attendance who favored the proposal. While it’s nice to have a packed audience, it seemed there were more employees and Board members than the residents these sessions were designed to inform. We have maintained as the opposition’s voice grew, “running out the clock” became more and more prevalent at these meetings. So, not only was valuable time eaten away with introductions, accolades and anecdotal stories, but the 2-minute limit was strictly adhered to unless the speaker had something in support of or in favor to say about the proposal.

On the evening before the vote, Trustee Terry Williams used the Greenburgh School District email to send an email to residents asking them to vote yes for the proposal. This is clearly in violation of the law. Yet after he made sure his message was sent, he later cried mea-culpa begging forgiveness for using the wrong email account. We don’t buy it. He has been a Board member and even President for far too long to not realize what he was doing. He should at least be reprimanded for this action and possibly removed from the Board. They’ve poked a sleeping giant with this proposal. We’re sure that potential candidates are being solicited to change the makeup of the Board. It's time.

Contrary to finding excuses that bemoan the victory by those opposed to this proposition, there is little solace in this otherwise hollow victory. What the majority said was no to moving forward with this idea, but recognize that the buildings still need attention. To what level remains the uncertain. We believe many conditions were thrown into the mix to validate the proposal’s urgency. Some might otherwise remain dormant and able to be addressed in a more planned and scheduled fashion. Perhaps now the School Board, flaws and all, Dr Chase and others will work in concert with us. Mr Falcone, who seemed open and honest during these events, should discuss building needs with everyone and detail the emergency needs, would-like-to-haves and the can-wait-to-haves. Then maybe we can discuss a plan of attack that will accomplish what we all want: A Better Greenburgh School District.

Taxpayers Speak Loudly And Say, "NO"

Awaiting the outcome of today's Greenburgh School Referendum Bond Vote has been a roller-coaster of a ride for many with vested interest in the results. But with a final tally of 1,219 in favor and 2,101 against, Dr Chase's legacy proposal crashed and burned. Residents of the Greenburgh School District handed her a resounding defeat, even factoring in the 244 absentee ballots, enough people said, "No!" by participating in this historic, record setting vote. Rarely can we recall seeing this kind of turnout.

Once the dust settles, we implore the School Board to actively and earnestly seek to work with the resident taxpayers, the real stakeholders, by putting all of their cards on the table, openly and honestly, and look to develop a plan that will not cripple the taxpayers, our schools and not rely on talent shows and obfuscation to make a change for our future.

We will follow up with more information as this story progresses. It's how we'll get A Better Greenburgh School District.

Vote NO!

Talent Show Scheduled, Opposition Member Threatened, A Failing Grade

We’ve readily admitted that Greenburgh School Superintendent Chase is a dynamic personality. She’s also very smart. As the referendum proposal supporters encounter more and more resistance from the community, they keep dropping back and regrouping. We keep digging in and writing about it. Armed with real information, those against the referendum proposal have been exposing the flaws in what little has been presented to the public. But Dr Chase needs this win. It’s her and the Board’s legacy. So in a move right out of another School District’s play book, she has scheduled a Talent Show for Tuesday night (tomorrow) at the Woodlands High School to ensure that parents will be in attendance to vote. What it doesn’t ensure is that they will vote in favor of it.

ABG now has learned that a bond supporter has threatened an opposition member because they received an unsolicited email containing a flyer from concerned citizens stating facts regarding the referendum bond proposal to Vote No. What hasn’t happened thus far from the School Board or the supporters is an explanation with a detailed plan of what they want to do with costs and real figures attached to it. Why have they purposely remained obscure about all of this? We believe there is something amiss. But more importantly, why threaten someone over an unwanted email? Their claim was that the GBList was used. That person is correct. There have also been robo calls to everyone and there haven't been any threats made over that.

As one of the interested parties in the GBList lawsuit, ABG as well as many civic associations felt handicapped in getting information to affected parties when Mr Feiner would do one of his email blasts. Specifically, this happened during the GameOn 365 assault on the Worthington Woodlands community. What was frustrating to all of us was that Mr Feiner had been compiling this list under the auspices of the Town, using it for Town email notifications and to push his own views on GameOn 365 and other topics. Everyone involved felt there often needed to be clarification, explanation or elaboration of points he was making. To that end, we decided to go to court.

A suit was filed. The courts found in our favor. We could access the list through the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) but could not use it for political or commercial purposes. In fact, Mr Feiner has said, “In 2014 the town lost a lawsuit and was ordered by the courts to release our glist emails to those who asked for the lists. The lawsuit was actually filed by a leader of one of the civic associations. It’s been given out over the past 5 years to those who have filed a freedom of info request. We do not break down the email addresses by school district or by individual addresses.” He is correct, they do not. So if someone received the email from those against the referendum bond proposal, it was strictly to offer information not presented by the School Board. They were not singled out nor could they be.

The School Board has brought this problem unto themselves. They originally decided in December to hold a bond vote in February, when many snowbirds are not in the area or the frigid weather would keep many home. That planned backfired. They rescheduled the vote for tomorrow. There has been even more push-back than before. The cost has been reduced two times and their final figure remains at $114.6 million for 30 years, approximately $840 per single family homeowner for 30 years. That's in addition to the regular school district taxes. They’ve claimed that figure includes the interest but the NYS Board of Educations facts and figures shows an additional $84 million, giving us a real figure of $198.6 over 30 years. They claim the opposition people are wrong. When someone says they’ve lost our trust, they say it wasn’t them, it was the old Board. Sorry, but as the same old taxpayer, you can’t have it both ways. This debacle is on you!

Too many questions remain unanswered or poorly answered with this referendum bond proposal. Even if it had been a stellar plan, this School Board has failed. The plan gets a failing grade, the School Board gets a failing grade and the School Administration gets a failing grade. We urge the voters - the true stakeholders in all of this - to turn down this proposition. It doesn't mean we don’t want to plan for the future. It just means we want to be a part of it. Yes, we usually do it for the children. This time let’s do it for the children and their families so they can stay in their homes and still afford to go to our schools. It's how we’ll get A Better Greenburgh.

A Satirical Look As The Fly On The Wall

We imagine being a fly on the wall in a satirical look at a meeting where the School Board, Superintendent and several employees got together to discuss a strategy to push forth with consolidation and ultimately the bond referendum. Here’s how we imagine it might have gone:

“We know we want this consolidation. Now, how do we make it happen?”

“I’ve been on the Board for years, we’ll propose a bond. We’ll say it’s for the children and it’ll go through. The residents eat up that ‘for the children’ argument, it’ll be easier than you think.”

“Who could be the voice for it?”

“We’ll find someone to use as the front. Our hands will be clean.”

“Dr Chase can proctor the meetings. Get it, the school terminology?” 

“But what if they have questions about the Board?”

“Easy, we’ll say it wasn’t us, it was a previous Board.”

“What if they bring up the cost of the loan? “

“And the interest?”

“We’ll just say it’s for the principle.”

“The interest on the loan is on the NYS BoE website, no?”

“Just say it’s for the principle. Keep saying it’s for the principle.”

“Hey, talk about transition. That’s not something that can be quantified.”

“Yeah, and that new buildings don’t need maintenance.”

“About that, what if they bring up the lack of maintenance to the buildings?”

“Pay attention. It wasn’t us.”

“Yeah, but weren’t you two guys there?” 

“What if they bring up the bad image of Woodlands, the fights, the stabbings?”

“Focus on the younger grades.”

“Let’s tout some information that makes us look good.”

“Like...?”

“96% of Woodlands seniors graduate.”

“What if they ask about the others?”

“Not everybody graduates. Get over it. It’s a fact of life.”

“Use the Mandarin agenda. I just don’t know if that’ll fly with President Trump and the China stuff that’s happening.”

“This is Greenburgh, its all democrats. Don’t worry about him.”

“How about our SAT scores. They’re below college readiness?”

“Just say we’re working to raise them. We have tutoring and special prep classes.”

“What if they question needing tutoring and special prep classes?”

“Grades 3-8 have a 35% proficiency in math and English.” What do we say to that?”

“(Chuckle)C'mon people. That’s why they’re in school, to learn. We’re working on that too with prep and special instruction classes. We’re working to produce world class students.”

“People are fleeing New York State in record numbers. Enrollment everywhere is declining. What do we say to that?”

“Try saying this: This will raise property values and bring people to our Town and schools.”

“Really?”

“It could work.”

“You just have to sell it.”

“Push that we have good teachers.”

“We do have good teachers.”

“Push it.”

“What if they bring up the past superintendent, what’s his name?”

“It wasn’t us, it was a previous Board.”

“Ronald Ross.”

In unison, “It wasn’t us.”

“New buildings will be nice. Can we get some of those soft, eye catching watercolor pictures from the architects to use?”

“Yes! Good idea. That always works on the Town Board. They’ll approve anything with a pretty picture.”

Good point. You know Supervisor Feiner is looking to put up his own bond for $49 million dollars.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, he wants to replace the police station and courts and was going to do a referendum this year too.”

‘This sucks.”

“Don’t worry, this will pass. We just need to make sure we get the parents out to vote.”

“I have an idea.”

“Open to anything at this point.”

“Why not have a talent show that night at the high school. Parents and their kids will come and we’re guaranteed to get them to vote!”

“Excellent!”

“Let’s do it, it’s brilliant!”

“Getting back to the topic at hand, should we order pizza?”

“We’re allowed to.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“I have a different issue I want to discuss.”

“Go ahead.”

“What if they bring up the seniors or fixed-income folks and their inability to afford this?”

“They’ll move.”

“You still don’t understand the dynamic here, do you?”

“Huh?”

“In order for us to get what we want, we need kids in the district. Legals, illegals, it doesn’t matter. Feiner has made this a sanctuary Town. That means everyone gets to stay wherever they are and come to us for a free education.”

“Pay attention to what I'm going to say. Senior citizens live here. Their taxes go up and their fixed incomes don’t. When it gets to be more than they can bear, they sell their homes and move out. The new people who can afford to buy a house, do. Then they simply include their taxes in their mortgage payment and they don’t even know what they’re paying in taxes. It’s a veritable legal Ponzi scheme”

“It’s like what we’re doing with the $114.6 and not saying anything about the $83 million dollars in interest.”

“About that. I’m still confused about how much we are actually borrowing if the $114.6 includes the interest. It seems like it would be less than the $79 million figure we’ve said is needed to refurbish.”

“Who did this math?”

“Dunno.” 

“Seriously, how can the $114.6 million include the interest? Is that what we are borrowing or the amount we’re paying off? And what about increased traffic?”

“We don’t control the roadways. New York State and the Town do.”

“Yeah but it’s bound to come up.”

“Again, just say it isn’t us. We can skate on most of this traffic stuff.”

“There is a Town traffic study that goes against ours. It isn’t helping us.”

“We can get traffic studies to say whatever we want. Don’t worry about that.”

“Is there anything else we can brag about?”

“How about 90% of our graduates go onto college?”

“Yeah, that works.”

“What else?”

“C’mon, we need more. 

“We have a secondary honors program.”

“I still don’t know what that means…”

“We have an Elementary Advanced Learning Program.”

“Talk about how selling Highview And Bailey will bring in $20 million dollars that we can use toward Woodlands.”

“What if we don’t get $20 million dollars?”

“Not our problem. We can say the market dropped or there was more remediation needed than we planned for.”

“I’m not comfortable with doing that.”

“Talk about having an expanded Pre-K program that goes all day.”

“Can everyone use it?”

“Of course not. It’ll be the same as what we have now except it’ll go all day. Doubt we can add anyone else to it.”

“If they ask about the new auditorium and sports press box, what do we say?”

“This is going to be a state-of-the-art facility. Don’t our children deserve this?”

“How can we counter someone who says the kids are already doing well in the current facilities?”

“Just imagine how much better they could be doing.”

“So, just how bad off are these buildings that haven’t been maintained?”

“Hey, they work. We can swap out windows, doors, boilers and roofs and be much better off for less. But we want new. New is better. That has to be our mantra.”

“Ok, let’s take it to the streets.”

“Meeting adjourned. Where’s that pizza?”