2012-13 School Budget Hires Teachers, Eliminates Universal Pre-K

After reducing their workforce by more than 10 percent over the last three years due to budget cuts, the White Plains School District will hire new teachers in the 2012-13 budget. However, the proposal does not afford a pre-kindergarten program run by the district to the dismay of some local parents.

“I am very proud of this budget,” said Superintendent Dr. Christopher Clouet. “It is a budget that is reflective of the fact that we’ve taken a fiscally prudent approach over the last few years.”

All About the 2012-13 Budget

The $188.8 million budget, on April 17 to be put before voters on May 15, and will raise taxes by 3 percent. The tax levy is 2.7 percent, under the state’s required 2 percent tax cap levy since the cap allows exemptions for some things, like mandated pension contributions that reach a certain percentage.

The budget’s tax rate is $565.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, or an additional $249 per year or $.69 a day for a house assessed at $15,000. The 1.77 percent increase over last year’s budget is largely due to the $1.9 million increase in state mandated pension costs.

Click here for a PowerPoint on the budget, shown at the May 7 public hearing.

The 2012-13 budget will employ three new elementary school teachers, to accommodate an expected influx of about 79 students, as well as 2.5 library media teachers and a .5 half-time grant writer.

It will add an AP Spanish literature class, as well as a new program “Project Lead the Way,” a national engineering program for high school students, which will have a specially trained teacher.   

Clouet said the district’s was in a better position financially this year because of an increase in state funding of about $773,000, after a few years of declining or flat aid; the addition of a $869,00 payment in lieu of taxes  (PILOT) agreement; and the re-financing of debt service, which saved more than $500,000.

“I think, overall, I would say that it is a fair budget,” said Maki Itoh, who has a daughter enrolled in the school district run pre-kindergarten this year. 

All About Universal Pre-Kindergarten

However, Itoh said she is extremely disappointed that the district won’t be able to fund the Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) program this year, and hopes that the district will re-instate the program when the economy is on an “upswing.”

The district decided to cut its district-run UPK offerings in half in the 2011-12 budget, along with all adult education programming, for fiscal reasons.

However, all of-age White Plains students were offered free pre-kindergarten programming—whether it was run by the school district or by outside providers like Family Services of Westchester. 

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone everyday with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

The district will be laying off a few staff members in the 2012-13 budget, since the district will no longer run a pre-kindergarten program. 

Students will still be offered a free pre-kindergarten program, but through outside providers—some of which run their programs out of school district facilities, like Eastview Elementary School and the Rochambeau School. 

“The flip side is that the Family Services of Westchester has been running a solid pre-k program for district children and will continue to do so in the future,” said Itoh. “I will not hesitate to enroll my second daughter in the FSW program in a could of years, when she is of age.” 

Rosemary Rappa—whose son is currently in the pre-kindergarten program at Rochambeau run by Family Services of Westchester (FSW), and whose eldest son was in the district-run pre-kindergarten program at Eastview last year—said that the FSW program is “an academic departure” from the school district’s program and is more play based. 

“The non-district children will not be as well prepared for kindergarten as those that attend the district UPK,” said Rappa, who served on the parent advisory committee that evaluated the two programs. “This means more outside help for the children, costing the district more money in the long run.”

Clouet said that since state UPK funds are only distributed by school districts to outside UPK providers, the White Plains School District is required to visit and certify that the outside vendors are meeting program expectations as required by the grant. He said that the district regularly visits UPK programs run by community partners and serves as a program monitor.

“The level of quality at FSW is very high,” said Clouet. “ All their teachers are certified teachers, who teach a curriculum based on New York State standards for pre-kindergarten.”

According to Clouet the amount of UPK funding has never been anywhere near enough money to fully fund the district’s program, which is why many school districts don’t offer pre-k. 

Rappa was also upset that students who attend the FSW program at Rochambeau School do not have access to a playground, and spend their recess running around on tennis courts.

“Again, this isn’t the end of the world when you are facing tough ties, but having the entire public White Plains pre-kindergarteners attend a school without a playground seems ludicrous,” said. Rappa. “Having spoken to many parents who have children attending pre-k this September, this is a major turnoff and they are opting for private offerings. In turn, this population of the pre-k does not represent the true diversity of the district.”

Barbara Sommer—the Senior Program Director for several Family Services of Westchester programs, including Universal Pre-Kindergarten—said that FSW has a long-standing strong relationship with the school district, which both adhere to the New York State Department of Education’s Early Learning Standards.

“There is a plan to begin a longitudinal study of the FSW UPK children who transition into the WPCSD in the next coming year. This data will be used to track the children’s academic success and implement and enhance curriculum as indicated,” said Sommer.

“WPCSD personnel and FSW education staff communicate on a regular basis and assure the learning environments are designed to offer a developmentally appropriate best practice approach to academics; a practice that is based on scientific research on how children develop and learn. Through a variety of activities, children are able to develop cognitive, social-emotional, linguistic, and physical skills that will prepare them for kindergarten and beyond."

Sommer said that FSW and the school district both agree that students need an appropriate playground and are currently seeking funding for new outdoor equipment at Rochambeau. Click for a full statement from Sommer.

Rappa, said she is happy with other areas of the budget, but said the cutting of pre-k seemed to go according to plan without any effort to attempt to salvage the program. Clouet said he isn’t happy about cutting the program, but that it was financially necessary.

“In the best of all worlds, I would like us to have a lot of thing in the district that we don’t have now,” said Clouet. “I’d like to extend the school year. I’d like to have pre-k, I’d like to add other opportunities for kids for extending day programs—but we’re in a situation where we just can’t afford to do everything. We have to prioritize.”

Among those priorities is focusing on the district’s K-12 offerings, Clouet said.

“I am hopeful that the voters see the value in this budget,” said Clouet. “I fully understand that no budget is perfect, but I think this is a solid budget that balances the needs of our students with respect for taxpayers.”

Click here to follow White Plains Patch's school budget coverage.

Like us on  Facebook  (facebook.com/WhitePlainsPatch) and follow us on  Twitter (twitter.com/WhtPlainsPatch)