Only $166 MILLION To Consolidate With No Guarantees

In the summer of 2018, the Hartsdale Neighborhood Association (HNA) had a regular meeting at the Highview school on Central Avenue next to the Empire College and behind Webb Field. That’s the field on Central Avenue with the 9-1-1 Memorial that keeps falling apart. The Highview school is a grammar school with mostly younger students in attendance at the rear of the property.

During this particular meeting, Greenburgh School Superintendent Tahira Dupree Chase was a guest speaker and there to talk about a few things school-centric. One of them was related to recent school shootings and the safety of the kids at our schools. Everyone agrees that these horrible shootings should stop but for every one idea that can be implemented there’s an argument made against it. It seems to be a vicious cycle that will likely continue. Regardless, we learned that Safety Officers were being hired amongst other things that were being done to protect the students. Of course, this is good. But with the increased security presence becoming more well-known and pronounced, it tarnishes the reputation of an already tarnished school system. As a parent, many wonder if sending their child to Greenburgh schools is a good idea or if private school is the better way to go? Obviously, there are many families who cannot afford the private school route regardless of any safety concerns they have. But many residents have chosen the private school route.

Superintendent Chase indicated, as do so many who want the public to buy-in to their consolidation proposals, that the cost wouldn’t be much, about $97 per family per month. Broken down even farther, she equated it to $3.50 a day for a premium cup of coffee (for the next 30 years)! While the coffee analogy may make her plan more palatable (pun intended), the reality is our taxpayers are already hurting as we continue to pay off (and anticipate) guilty verdicts against Mr Feiner and his administration. We’re into year two of the Fortress Bible Church guilty discrimination verdict for $6.5 million with pending law suits in connection with the Shelbourne, Dromore Road and Ferncliff projects. And while a daily cup of premium coffee is not a problem for the extremely well-paid Dr Chase, many residents don’t make that kind of money and struggle to merely get by, glad when they can afford a deli coffee.

But consolidation for what purpose is the nagging question? To simply say we would have all grades on one campus is not enough. To also say that we would sell two current schools that are either in disrepair or needed repair begs the question why weren’t they maintained to begin with? Or is this a page from Mr Feiner’s playbook with WestHelp. Let the buildings intentionally deteriorate so such a dismal picture can be painted showing the need to jettison them? Possibly. And by bringing the younger grades to this campus, what of security and threats to them in our ever-burgeoning active shooter world. Somehow the separation seems like a viable alternative.

The Greenburgh Central schools have a more surmountable problem of education. They are now teaching the Mandarin language from kindergarten through the high school senior class because studies show it’s an up-and-coming language. It used to be that French or Spanish were the two more popular foreign languages to learn. Frankly, after hearing some of these students speak, the school probably needs to be working on speaking better English. And, with all of the special programs and remedial classes that are maintained, the lack of a fundamental education seems to be absent. Our suggestion to Dr Chase is instead of trying to apply lipstick to make it look pretty, fix the glaring problems before undertaking such a major expense and cost to the taxpayers.

Since we never see the school budget get lowered – as we are always told to vote for it “for the kids” – raising our taxes and moving all of the kids to one location solves little. Let’s not forget that 49% of the Fairview district is tax exempt so the other 51% are carrying them – in effect paying twice the amount they should have to pay. So now, instead of $3.50 per day or $97 per month, it’s more like $7 per day and $194 per month. That’s significant to seniors on a fixed income, low income families, out-of-work taxpayers and others just struggling to get by. Even more significant is the lack of proof of savings by executing this multi-year change should voters elect to approve it. Dr Chase needs to get her house in order before she looks to build a new one and then move in. While this seems like a great exercise for a resume update, we need more tangibles before we decide to go along with this. While the budget increases are touted as “for the children,” the reality is it’s for the teachers and other personnel costs. We don’t need to speak Mandarin to know that this system needs attention before we start raising taxes for this expensive game of chess. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.