Edgemont budget in the New York Times

Edgemont schools superintendent Nancy Taddiken was quoted in an article on school budgets in today's New York Times:

Before any vote, most school boards are holding another round of public meetings to discuss the budgets with local taxpayers. But many officials are not optimistic about such meetings, pointing out that most of those who usually attend already favor proposed increases.

"We did not hear from anyone who was angry or against the proposal," said Nancy Taddiken, superintendent of Edgemont schools, where an 11 percent spending increase lost by 7 votes. "However people voted, we want them to come and talk to us. We want to listen to what people feel in order to move forward."

Ms. Taddiken acknowledged that many residents may well be frustrated by double-digit percentage increases in their property tax bills several times in recent years. The proposed school spending plan would create a 12-percent increase in the tax levy.

Presumably when Taddiken said she had not heard from those against the proposed budget, she was speaking about the school board meetings many weeks ago when the budget proposal was openly discussed. From what I hear, at those meetings the anti-budget, keep-our-taxes-down voices were silent indeed.

Unfortunately, today's Times article makes it look like Taddiken was saying that the no voices have not been heard recently, when in fact no voices were articulately represented at the recent public hearing. Taddiken knows this well and would not have expressed anything otherwise to a journalist.

I suspect that either the Times reporter misquoted Taddiken, or the article was written before the recent hearings but not published until today (rendering once-true statements to be no longer true). Either way, the reporter did Taddiken and the community a disservice.

Chart of budget growth for Westchester schools

Interesting chart in today's New York Times. Apparently Edgemont per-pupil budgets have grown less in the past four years than those of the school districts immediately to our west.

Source: NY Times, with "Edgemont" annotation by D. Stern
(Click on image to enlarge in separate window.)

$10,000 campaigns for school board?

I received an e-mail this morning soliciting donations for a school board campaign in Cambridge, Mass. According to the message, campaigns there have been costing about $10,000.

I suspect that a lot of good people do not run for the Cambridge board because they are uncomfortable asking for mone, spending their own money and publicly campaigning.

Makes me appreciate the nominating committee process in Edgemont. Since no public campaigns are needed, good, well-screened people who are remiss to campaign can and do serve on our board.

If and when this process breaks down, it could be all to easy to slide down the slippery slope to where Cambridge, Mass is now: five-figure campaigns and out-of-state solicitations for funds.

Edgemont budget hearing debrief

Tuesday evening the school board conducted an open hearing on the school budget. Hundreds of people showed up, and many tens of people made statements for the record. Members of the board itself did not speak for or against the budget, I gather because they are limited in what they can say by state law. (Also, board president Richard Glickstein said the purpose of the hearing was to listen to the community, not so speak.) Glickstein and superintendent Nancy Taddiken did answer some direct questions.

Following are some of the key points from speakers on each side of the budget issue.

• Points from the "I voted against the budget" crowd:
  
  
  • Double-digit tax increases are too high and not sustainable.
  • Perhaps the board did not not look under every rock to keep the budget low.
  • The board could and should have done a much better job communicating to the public about issues related to the budget.
  
  
• Points from the "I voted for the budget" crowd:
  
  
  • Our schools are important; we want our kids to get the best education possible; good schools help property values.
    
  • An austerity budget would be bad for the schools.
  • The bulk of the increases this year were non-discretionary (e.g., nationally-mandated accounting changes, contractual obligations, assessed real estate value in the district lower this year than last, etc.)
  • We have faith in our board.
    

For the record I agree with every one of the above statements, on both sides.

I voted for the budget, but grimaced at the amount of the tax increase. I am not altogether unhappy that the first vote went (barely) against the budget, because I think it will further open eyes in the community (and the board) to the need to keep spending down.

That said, however, I think it is vital that we pass the budget the second time round.

Greenawalt

Just read Town Supervisor candidate Bill Greenawalt's resume. Wow.

Edgemont real estate

In the Sunday New York Times real estate section, I saw 11 Edgemont houses for sale. Here are the data on asking prices:

• Minimum: $829k
  
• Maximum: $2,239k
• Average (mean): $1,205k
• Median: $1,150k.

$829 k is the minimum?! Incredible. Two-thirds higher than four years ago.

Perhaps it is a biased sample (either because the selection of houses on the market this week is unusual or because only certain houses are advertised in the Times), or perhaps I've just not been keeping track of local real estate prices. And these are asking, not sale prices. But still.

Update: Are rumors of a real estate bubble exagerated? James Glassman thinks so. So does Alan Reynolds. Angry Bear thinks there is a housing bubble, but not one that will suddenly pop.

Greenburgh politics

The Journal News has an article on the upcoming Democratic primary for Greenburgh town supervisor:

When the Democratic Town Committee gathers Thursday at Town Hall to designate a candidate for supervisor, seven-term Supervisor Paul Feiner will likely be the underdog, despite 14 years of experience and a solid record of voter support.

Lawyer Bill Greenawalt, a former party chairman who is the first Democrat to mount a primary challenge to Feiner since 1993, earned the executive committee's recommendation a few weeks ago, leading some to predict that he will win the party's support...

[Feiner] may be facing the biggest test of his career as supervisor after what has been a difficult year...

In recent months, Feiner has endured a spate of political losses on issues large and small at the hands of the four other members of the all-Democratic Town Board, which has demonstrated more united opposition than perhaps at any time during Feiner's tenure as the town's top official.

The neighborhood of Edgemont is considering becoming a village; the town's six existing villages — Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington and Tarrytown — have discussed seceding from the town completely after a dispute regarding a lawsuit settlement. Many civic organizations continue to scrap with Feiner. And in the fall, critics accused him of violating ethics laws by accepting campaign funds from parties with applications pending before the town....

Arrogant or responsive?

Two years ago, with no Democratic opponent, Feiner struggled to gain party support, winning the designation with only 53 percent of the vote at the party's convention. That November, he easily defeated Republican Jim Lasser in heavily Democratic Greenburgh...

Critics of Feiner call him divisive, arrogant and dictatorial, saying he refuses to work with those who don't agree with his policies....

Madelon O'Shea, a Feiner critic and the president of the Council of Greenburgh Civic Organizations, an umbrella group, said Feiner has offended civic groups by installing his own "community liaisons" as a way of sidestepping them and has never shown a willingness to work with them.

"Paul has absolutely no respect for anybody who runs counter to what he thinks," she said....

Feiner and his supporters, however, scoff at such comments, saying he is one of the most responsive officials in the region.

"I've always been willing to compromise," Feiner said. But, he said, he will not change his beliefs on important issues in the face of opposition. And he said defiantly that he feels he doesn't need the party to succeed at the polls...

Edgemont resident Don Siegal, a Feiner booster, said he has always found Feiner to be eminently approachable.

"He does what he thinks is right for the town," Siegal said.

Here is my two cents on the two lead candidates:

Greenawalt: I do not know Greenawalt's record well, so I will not comment on it (at least until I am better educated). In national elections people talk about the "likeability" of candidates. To the degree that it matters, I give a substantial likeability edge in this election to Greenawalt. In several recent surface level interactions with him I have found him quite personable. He recently attended the Edgemont Community Council annual meeting as well as at least one meeting of the Edgemont Association.

Feiner: It's hard to beat a long-term incumbent, so I wouldn't want to bet against Feiner. His two greatest pluses--and I suspect they may be enough to carry him to re-election--are his incumbency and his remarkable responsiveness to requests from individual constituents. He also has some very loyal followers in the town. And some heated detractors. His minuses have historically been ones that, while evident to some insiders, have been transparent to the bulk of the electorate. This year, however, there does seem to be more of a mood of discontent than in the last election two years ago. Feiner's responsiveness to individuals is quite admirable; however in his desire to deal with whatever the small issue at hand is, he can lose sight of the bigger picture. And one has to wonder how it is that a long-term incumbent is not a shoo-in for nomination by his party. Also, were recent moves by some in the river villages to consider secesion and by some in Edgemont to consider incorporation driven in part by perceptions that Feiner has poor management skills?

Stay tuned.

School budget information

More details on the Edgemont school budget are available via these links:

• 2004-05 actual budget
  
• 2005-06 proposed budget
• Letter about the budget from the board of education

Announcement of open school budget meetings

Here is the announcement (from the EHS home page) of the budget meetings:


(Click on the announcement to open a slightly larger version in a new window.) In case you can't read it, here is the text:

COME AND BE HEARD ... ...

Public Hearing on the Budget

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Edgemont Junior-Senior High School LGI

8:15 pm

As you have probably heard, the 2005-2006 budget was defeated on May 17th. There were 535 yes votes and 542 no votes. By law, four options are open to us. We may:

• submit a revised budged to voters;
• resubmit the same budget to voters;
• adopt an austerity budget;
• adopt an austerity budget and submit propositions to voters.

No matter how you voted on May 17th, we urge you to come to the public hearing May 24th and express your views (or to call or write to us if you can't attend that night).

On the following Tuesday night, May 31st, at a public meeting to be heald at 8:15 pm in the Junior-Senior High School Auditorium, we will decide how to proceed. You are invited to attend this meeting as well.

The Edgemont Board of Education

Budget defeated; Board of Ed announces public hearing

From a sidebar in the May 19 Journal News:

Edgemont defeat

After reviewing contested ballots yesterday morning, Edgemont school officials declared their budget defeated by seven votes, with a final tally of 535 in favor of the budget, and 542 opposed.

Schools Superintendent Nancy Taddiken said that among eight contested ballots, two were confirmed as voters, and those votes were one for and one against. There were six voters that could not be confirmed, but Taddiken said they could not overturn the results, even if all six were in favor of the spending plan.

To learn more about the budget, get in touch with a board member or district superintendent Nancy Taddiken (914-472-7768).

Apparently the district has announced a public hearing on the budget on Tuesday, May 24, at 8:15 p.m. in the high school LGI.

Update: Here is the Journal News' tally of the election results (apparently before the two additional voters were added):

School board (two seats):
*Mark Romney - 747
*Sarah Stern - 765

Budget:
Yes - 534
No - 541

And here are the results from all the other local school districts.

Edgemont school budget (likely) defeated

Apparently the school budget was defeated today by seven votes. (And I thought the library vote was close.)

That tally includes in-person and absentee ballots. There are apparently eight contested ballots, but they are highly unlikely to have an impact. In order for them to change the election, all eight ballots (or perhaps seven--I'm not sure what happens in the event of a tie) would have to be accepted, and all the accepted ballots would have to be for the budget. Presumably that will not be the case.

The next school board meeting should be interesting.

Update: The May 18 Journal News:

In Edgemont, where the results were inconclusive late last night, the budget seemed on the verge of defeat. Assistant Superintendent Sue Shirken said she would not know until she checks today on the status of eight votes. Eight people came and voted but were not on the list of registered voters, she said.

Edgemont real estate listings

Julia B Fee has a "search by school district" feature on its web site, so you can find current Edgemont real estate listings. (I believe this includes all listings in the MLS, whether or not Julia B Fee is the broker.)

Other real estate search sites I have found make it hard to find Edgemont houses because they tend not to have the ability to search by school district. If you don't search by school district you tend to encounter the following problems:

• While all of Edgemont is in Greenburgh, Edgemont is only a small portion of Greenburgh. And Greenburgh does not have a mailing address.
  
• Some Edgemont houses have a Hartsdale mailing address (zip code 10530), but only a portion of houses with a Hartsdale mailing address are in Edgemont.
• Most Edgemont houses have a Scarsdale mailing address (zip code 10583), but only a small portion of houses with a Scarsdale mailing address are in Edgemont.
  

Edgemonts across America

Mapquest finds ten places named Edgemont in the U.S. None of them is the subject of this blog. Mapquest finds Edgemonts in

• Alabama
• Arkansas
  
• California
• Colorado
• Illinois
• Maryland (Frederick County)
• Maryland (Washington County)
• New Hampshire
• North Carolina
• South Dakota

Click on a state name for a map of that state's Edgemont.

Update: Yahoo Maps finds Edgemonts in eight additional states:

• Mississippi
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia

Newsweek school rankings

According to a ranking in the current Newsweek, Edgemont is the 26th best public high school in the country, the fourth best in New York State and the best in Westchester County.

Two years ago, Newsweek ranked Edgemont 16th in the country, third in the state and first in the county.

It's nice to be recognized, and Edgemont certainly is a top school, but I'm skeptical of the methodology Newsweek uses. Here is Newsweek's explanation of its methodology:

Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests taken by all students at a school in 2004 divided by the number of graduating seniors.

Seems to me that one could have a first-rate school without a high number of AP or IB tests, and similarly one could have a second- or third-rate school where lots of kids take AP or IB tests.

Does any serious observer believe that Scarsdale (#208) should be ranked 159 places worse than Dobbs Ferry (#49)? From what I know, Dobbs Ferry is indeed supposed to be an excellent school; my wife and I considered Dobbs Ferry when choosing Westchester communities (a decision in which schools played a major part). But my point is that most knowledgeable people do not consider Dobbs to be significantly better than Scarsdale.

One school (Lower Merion, PA) was ranked 121 in 2003 yet did not make the top thousand this year. Why? According to the list compilers,

the school had decided to stop paying AP test fees and stop requiring students in the courses to take the tests....

So, despite the likelihood that Lower Merion has not drastically declined as a school, its ranking has.

Updates:

• A teacher at the #9-ranked school has "a few doubts about how the study is conducted," but also seems sympathetic to the methodology:

  I understand that Mr. Mathews is looking for schools where every student is encouraged to take challenging classes and achieve as much as they possibly can. And that certainly describes our school.

• The above-cited teacher's husband weighs in:

  Yes, the criterion is mostly bogus. But as the inimitable Hans and Franz would sniff, "Complaints about the criteria are for girly-men losers!"

• Meanwhile, "self-styled recovering academic" Thomas Lifson describes survey designer Jay Matthews as

  by far, the best education writer in the country.

• Lawyer Pejman Yousefzadeh writes that it is lunacy that schools with strict academic admissions criteria like Bronx Science and Stuyvesant were omitted from the rankings.
  
  
• The Journal News has excerpted the 38 Westchester, Putnam and Rockland County schools from the list:

  School rankings
  
  The rankings were computed by taking the number of AP and/or IB tests taken by all students at a school in 2004 and dividing it by the number of graduating seniors.
  
  26. Edgemont High School
  42. Horace Greeley High School, Chappaqua
  49. Dobbs Ferry High School
  96. Briarcliff High School
  97. Rye Neck High School
  98. Bronxville High School
  120. Harrison High School
  124. Hastings High School
  130. Irvington High School
  131. John Jay High School, Katonah-Lewisboro
  139. Byram Hills High School
  194. Mamaroneck High School
  198. Blind Brook High School
  208. Scarsdale High School
  232. Hendrick Hudson High School
  256. Ardsley High School
  267. Pleasantville High School
  274. Fox Lane High School, Bedford
  283. Croton Harmon High School
  292. Sleepy Hollow High School
  326. Spring Valley High School
  349. Ossining High School
  351. Clarkstown South High School, West Nyack
  365. Pelham Memorial High School
  391. North Salem High School
  457. Pearl River High School
  470. New Rochelle High School
  477. White Plains High School
  480. Tappan Zee High School, South Orangetown
  497. Eastchester High School
  500. Suffern High School
  510. Lakeland High School
  570. Haldane High School
  703. Rye High School*
  860. Somers High School
  866. Yorktown High School
  936. Clarkstown North High School, West Nyack
  1036. Woodlands High School, Greenburgh
  
  * Rye district officials say that due to their own reporting error, their district actually ranks 85th rather than 703rd.

  Note that all the schools on this list (yes, even number 1036) are in the top 4% of the 27,468 schools included in the survey.

Some useful links

Schools

• Edgemont School District: www.edgemont.org
  Includes:
  • Edgemont Junior/Senior High School
  • Greenville Elementary School
  • Seely Place Elementary School.
  
  
• Alumni: Edgemont Alumni Directory
  
  
• New York State School Report Card, 2003-2004:
  
  • Edgemont School District
    
  • Edgemont Junior/Senior High School
    
  • Greeville School
    
  • Seely Place School
    

---

Government

• Town of Greenburgh: greenburghny.com
  
• County of Westchester: westchestergov.com
  
• New York State: www.state.ny.us.
  

---

Local media

• The Scarsdale Inquirer
  The Inquirer gives the best coverage of Edgemont news of any commercial media. The Edgemont section is typically two full pages, and Edgemont is also on the front-page and editorial page from time to time. Unfortunately, the Inquirer does not seem to be available online.
  
  
• The Journal News
  www.nyjournalnews.com
  Westchester's Gannett-affiliated paper.
  
  
• News 12 Westchester
  www.news12.com/WC
  Cablevision's local cable news channel.
  
  

---

Descriptions of Edgemont

• Realtor Julia B Fee Sotheby's International Realty's description of Edgemont
  
  
• Realtor Houlihan Lawrence's description of Edgemont
  
  
• The New York Times real estate section (11/23/2003): "If You're Thinking of Living In Edgemont; Like Neighboring Scarsdale, but Different"

---

Other links of interest

• Greenburgh Nature Center (GNC)
  http://www.townlink.com/community_web/gnc/
  Located within Edgemont, the GNC is a 33-acre woodland preserve and live animal museum.
  
  
• Edgemont Village Exploratory Committee (EVEC)
  www.edgemontny.com
  Committee investigating the pros and cons of becoming a village within the Town of Greenburgh

---

Note: This page subject to updating without notice.

Disclosure

I volunteer for several local organizations (e.g., ECC, EVEC, Fire Dept.), and I have family members who are or were active volunteers in a number of local organizations (e.g., school board, PTA, EVEC, Edgemont School Foundation, United Way, Westchester Community College, Westchester Medical Center).

However the views expressed on this web site are mine alone. They are not intended to reflect any other person or organization.

About me

• Family: I am a father of two three, a husband of one, a son of two and a brother of two.
  
  
• Professional: I run a small consulting and analysis firm serving healthcare practitioners and investors.
  
  
• Edgemont connection: I have been a resident of Edgemont from 2003 to the present and from 1964 to 1982. I also have various family members in the community. I volunteer for several community organizations.
  
  
• Contact me: dmcstern [at] gmail [dot] com
  

The opinions expressed on this web site are mine alone and are not intended to represent any organization or other person.

About this blog

This blog is one Edgemont resident's attempt to provide information and musings on the community of Edgemont.

I will likely update the blog irregularly.

While I volunteer for some local organizations, the opinions expressed on this web site are mine alone.