Each year, Eastchester residents vote in May on whether to approve the school district’s proposed budget, but many base their votes only on the final document, having had little to no part in the budget discussions up to that point.

The Eastchester Union Free School District (EUFSD), cognizant that this will be another year of difficult financial decisions, is trying to encourage more people to join the dialogue. The district’s Jan. 28 budget forum was open to all community members, providing an opportunity for residents to recommend budget areas where any necessary cuts should and should not be made in the 2010-2011 budget.

According to Eastchester Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marilyn Terranova, the budget forum was the first of its kind to take place during her three years of leadership in the district. Despite a chilly evening, around 130 people came out to enter the budget conversation at this early stage in the process, hoping to influence the final product with their thoughts and suggestions.  

The forum began in the Eastchester High School auditorium with a presentation by Terranova of the financial goals and challenges for the upcoming fiscal year, as well as an overview of the elements that make up the school budget year to year.

After the opening presentation, attendees were assigned to classrooms in small groups to ponder the question, “What are you unwilling to eliminate or reduce?” and its counterpart, “What are you willing to eliminate or reduce?”

One breakout session, led by facilitators Liz Cangro and John Todaro, came up with about a dozen suggestions to be passed on to the school board.  

The group, composed of parents, teachers, a school principal, a member of student government and a visitor from another school district, came up with three essential elements of the scholastic experience not to be tampered with and a number of areas where they felt reductions would be acceptable.

Maintaining or reducing class sizes was most widely agreed upon as a priority in 2010-2011, regardless of the financial situation. Athletics and pupil personnel services, to include guidance counselors and school psychologists, were two other areas the group felt should remain largely untouched.

However, those present also had a number of suggestions as to where costs could be reduced, or revenue increased, without sacrificing anything fundamental.

 
Ideas included a temporary reduction in teachers’ professional development (to be supplemented by sessions conducted by long-term teachers in the district), an increase in the amount of cooperative bidding undertaken with other school districts, and an increase in rental fees for private use of school facilities.

The bulk of the suggestions for cutting, though, targeted monitors in classrooms, elsewhere in school settings and on buses, with a corresponding suggestion that parental volunteers be encouraged to fill these and other roles.  

There seemed to be a general consensus from attendees that the forum concept had been a good way to involve the community more intimately in the budget dialogue.  

Facilitator Liz Cangro, who spent nine years on the school board and sent two children through the school system, was pleased with the result from her group’s brainstorming. “I think the session went really well,” she said.  “We got a lot of good ideas of things that don’t affect the [classrooms].”

Al Krischke, a parent of twin boys in kindergarten who attended Cangro’s brainstorming session, discussed the importance of encouraging community involvement in the budget process. “It’s necessary that there be this kind of forum for transparency in the community,” Krischke said.  “To me the most critical element is…getting the community that’s not here to understand what we can do and what we can’t do.”

David Gogats, 16, a junior and rotating member of the Eastchester High School student government, said that his participation in the forum was motivated by his interest in politics and government. “I found it was a great opportunity to see what goes on,” he said, “how local government works.”

Enthusiasm for the result of the forum concept was found among the school district leadership as well.  

Superintendent Terranova, who said the suggestions from the small group sessions were still being compiled, expressed confidence in what she saw as the “optimistic” mood of the event. “I think people were very appreciative that we held an open forum,” she said. “I think we’re getting some interesting ideas…All in all, I think it went very well.”

Newly sworn-in Eastchester Board of Education Trustee Mary Messner Martin, listening to the buzz in the high school lobby Thursday night after the breakout sessions ended, said, “I think it’s a great idea to do this…It sounds like people are still energized.”

It is the hope of the district officials that the public will continue to remain energized through the entire budget season, taking every opportunity to consider the working budget and make suggestions prior to the budget vote on May 18. The next scheduled budget discussion will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. at the Board of Education work session in the district boardroom.