1. Why have you decided to run for the Chappaqua school
board again? Are the shortcomings or matters not being addressed by the current
board or is it that you have enjoyed your time serving previously that you want
to do this again?
I certainly enjoyed my time serving previously. It is not
THE reason I am running again, but it is A reason I am willing to
run. I am running because I think we are
at a critical time in this district and in this community. I fear that we are getting away from traditional
board service dedicated to the students and the community. There are people in the community and running
for the board that are trying to make it political. They have an outside agenda. There is NO
place for politics on a school board. NYS
actually appreciated this and that is why we do not run on party lines. I think a board member should work to be
collaborative, not divisive.
What the community does not want is an activist school
board resolute in doing what they can instead of what they should. A school board should have as its primary
focus providing the best, most appropriate education in reading, writing, math,
science, physical education, and the fine arts.
The schools should be providing opportunities for its students to learn
academically and thrive socially. It
should be free of political ideology and interest group agendas.
Couple that with the fact that I have the most experience,
have had a 3-year break that gives me a community perspective, that I know more
about the budget and the budget process than anyone running, I am the most
transparent candidate, one who has advocated for more community input, for not
having a time limit on public speakers at a board meeting, I support diversity,
equity, and inclusion for all, and I have a track record of supporting Special
Ed concerns make me a compelling candidate.
2. The Chappaqua school community has appeared satisfied
with how the district handled the pandemic and getting most students back
into school by the start of the 2020-21 academic year. How would you
assess the job that's been done and specifically how the district has
handled the students' social-emotional needs? Are there other steps that need
to be addressed in relation to fallout from the pandemic?
I appreciate that dealing with the challenges of the
pandemic was a logistical nightmare that had all sorts of ramifications
including student and staff social-emotional needs. It was a new situation where the rules were
being written on the fly. So, I do not
think it is appropriate to second guess the district in its actions. I do think the district, at some point in the
near future should do an analysis and review of what decisions were made, what
worked and did not work, what they would do the same next time and what they
would do differently. I also recognize
that many of the decisions and actions were being dictated by the State.
As for the fallout, I do think we need to attempt to assess
how this affected the students both emotionally and academically. I think the district should be proactive in
reaching out to all the students for their input, concerns, questions, and seek
ways in which the district can help address those concerns and needs. It is a unique time that requires extra
effort to support the students, staff and community.
3. There have been various comments and concerns voiced
by some parents about the universal eighth-grade algebra the district implemented
in 2020-21. I'm interested in getting your views on that and what the
district should do moving forward, understanding that it is tentatively
scheduled to be addressed at an upcoming board meeting.
(I am waiting for the video to be posted so I can better
answer your question and comment on the issue.
After watching it (hopefully Friday 5/6), I will send you any update to
my answer below.)
I happen to be a “math guy”. I love numbers, numerology, and logic. Having said that, board members are not expected
to be experts in teaching, curriculum, and assessment. I am not.
The board’s role is to provide a forum for the community to express
their concerns and ask their questions. It is to foster a non-adversarial
conversation between the administration and the parents. I am hoping that that is what will happen at
the upcoming board meeting.
Personally, preliminarily, not having heard the district’s
reasoning, I think it is inappropriate to teach one level of math. I think by the 8th grade and by
the time students are learning algebra, that there is a learning stratification
and that advanced students should be challenged with advanced work and struggling
students should be given additional help and resources. The tendency to treat all students the same
actually hurts all students especially the majority in the middle. I do think that at the high school there
should be a path for a student to move up to some of the advanced classes if
they were not previously selected.
4. How would you assess the district's progress in
creating a welcoming environment for students of all backgrounds and increasing
the diversity of its staff? As one community member, what would you like
to see or what still needs to be done?
As an older white male, it is not for me to assess the
district’s progress in creating a welcoming environment for students of all
backgrounds. I think the only people who
can assess that are the affected students themselves. I think the district should actively and
continuously seek their feedback and incorporate their feedback in our actions
going forward. I think it should be a
dynamic not static process constantly adjusting to improve the in-school
environment. I also recognize that the
goal can almost never be reached. By
that I mean that the district will always be working toward creating a
welcoming environment for all of its students.
It never stops.
I think the district is making a concerted and strong
effort to diversify the staff. The
district actively recruits educational staff of all backgrounds, but especially
minorities and protected classes. While the district has made progress toward its
goal, it still has much work to be done.
It is my observation that when the district talks about
diversity, it primarily focuses on the African American and mixed-race
community. I think the district needs to
work harder to include other minority groups.
The Asian population in our district, while growing, is still a minority
population that needs and deserves a more welcoming environment. It is my outside observation that the Asian
community has not been given the same attention as other minority and protected
classes have.
4a. How has hiring the director of equity, inclusion and
wellness assisted in that effort?
I think there are three questions that need to be asked and
answered. One, is there a need in the
district for a Director of DEIW? Two, is
the person in the role now the right person to be in the role going forward?
Three, how do you measure success (or failure)?
The district, through the budget process, has indicated
that the Director of DEIW is a higher priority than the 7 teaching positions
that are being eliminated. If that is
the case, the district, the board and the administration, should be darn sure
that the person in the role is effective.
That also means that there need be some objective measures of success. The board and the administration need to
communicate with the community exactly why this role is critical in Chappaqua,
what the person in the role is expected to accomplish, and how much progress is
made after a year in reaching the goal?
The community has not been privy to the details, so I am
not sure how the hiring of the Director of Equity, Inclusion and Wellness has
assisted in creating a welcoming environment.
I would like to think the intention was more than symbolic. It does
appear that the person they hired for the position was/is highly qualified. I would like to think that they have worked
hard toward that singular goal, the reason they were hired. Until the district opines on it with both
objective and subjective data, we do not know if the creation of the position
assisted in creating a welcoming environment.
5. What building and infrastructure needs, if any,
do you see coming in the future that the district needs to address?
With the hiring of a new Superintendent, Dr. Ackerman, and
the departure of the former Assistant Superintendent for Finance and
Operations, John Chow, the district altered its priorities when it came to
facilities and infrastructure. For
decades previously, upkeep and maintenance were a priority in the budget. When I was the ranking member of the
Facilities Committee (I served all 12 years on that committee), we worked closely
with Joe Gramando the Director of Facilities to identify potential problems
before they arose and tried to be proactive in addressing them. Now, it appears, that the district is taking
a more reactive approach. Wait for something to be a problem and then try to
address it. That puts undo strain on the
budget if there is not an adequate reserve on the books to cover the cost of
addressing the problem.
I think the new reactive approach is a mistake. What makes Chappaqua such a great school
district? Two things. One the staff. The teachers are our greatest asset, but all
the staff, educational, clerical, and operational are critical. Two, having first rate facilities. The $43 million bond project that is finally
complete, went a long way toward modernizing our teaching and learning spaces
to better fit education in the 21st century, but just as important
is maintaining our existing facilities.
One obvious example is the roof at West Orchard. Rather than address this years ago when the
roof was nearing the end of its useful life, we waited to repair it until after
it was a problem. Further, because of
budget priorities, it is having to be fixed in stages over the course of
several years.
Every district in New York is required to have a 5-year
plan for their facilities. That plan
generally focuses on the required engineering inspection that identifies all
issues with a district’s facilities and ranks the issue into four categories. Category 1 are the critical immediate items
that need to be addressed. Category 2
are critical, but not as time sensitive as category 1. Items in category 3 and especially category 4
are more “nice to have” or wish list type items that rarely get addressed.
The 5-year plan is a public document. A community member (or an enterprising
reporter!) could request copies of the last few 5-year plans and compare them
to each other and compare them to the work completed.
Further, the district did, at a public meeting earlier in
the year indicate it was considering another bond, an approximate $10 million
bond to be used for facilities, but the use of proceeds was primarily for a new
front entrance for the high school. Most
maintenance items were not included. The
district must stop putting off routine replacements and routine preventative
maintenance rather than spending money on vanity projects.
6. School districts in most locales are always concerned
about impact that development proposals have on their schools. During the
previous two years, there was much involvement from the Chappaqua School
District regarding the Form Based Code. What would you suggest be done,
including from the district's side, to avoid future acrimony if that type of
debate occurs again.
First, full disclosure, here is a link
to a letter I sent to the community regarding FBC.
I think it is imperative for the School Board and the Town
Board to work together to serve the community. I think it is imperative for both the Town
Board and the School Board to consider how any material major initiative will
affect the other organization or the other board’s taxpayers. There is a 90+%
overlap of New Castle taxpayers with CCSD taxpayers.
I think there are a lot of areas of common interest where
we do support each other. However, the
School District and the Town’s interests do not always align. I think the Form Based Code was one of the
areas where not only did our interests not align, they were in direct conflict
with each other. I think I explained it pretty well in my letter that I linked
above. The short of it was that The Town
was not appreciating that FBC as they had proposed it, would put a burden on
the district’s taxpayer and it would benefit the Town portion of the tax bill.
I do think avoiding acrimony is the right path to take, but
sometimes avoiding conflict is not possible. Conflict does not have to be
acrimonious. The way I would address any
natural conflict is through communication.
When both the Town and the District can be honest and forthright about conflicts
and talk to each other on ways to solve it or to compromise or even to agree to
disagree, then they can both focus on doing what is right for the community as
a whole.
7. If elected, what other issues would you like the
district to address over the next three years?
I would like to see and would work toward returning fiscal
discipline to the budget process and the budget itself. I will also return to advocating for more
transparency and more communication. I
think the district needs to have an on-going open discussion with the community
about the schools.
For example, when still on the board previously, I
advocated to put a board member's phone number on the website if they
want. I was voted down. It makes
no sense. Why would the board fight the effort to be more reachable? There is an artificial fear that individual
board members giving their own opinions undermines the fact that the board, at
the end of deliberations, speaks with one voice.
I would set up town hall type meetings where there is no
board business items on the agenda other than hearing from and talking to the
public. Why not hold them on a weekend so that more community members can
attend?
Rather than open up and foster a culture of open dialogue, the
Board, actually changed practice to limit dialogue between the community and
the public at board meetings. It was and is a knee jerk overreaction to
how a few vocal members of the community tried to hijack the board's meetings. I voted against the 3-minute limit on
speaking. I lost that vote 4-1. There should be no specific time limit other
than not repeating themselves and not filibustering. I think the move to a consent agenda the day
after I left the board was a poor decision.
Symbolically, it says to the community that the district has no interest
in transparency and the board is more interested in their own time rather than
the sunshine that going over every item individually provides.
I want to go back to my answer to the first question
posed. Specifically, the highlighted 2nd
paragraph. While any and every board
member should have goals and items they would like to have the district or
board address, I am adamant about board members not having an outside agenda or
a political agenda. The focus of the
board members should always be on the district, specifically the students, the education
staff, the administrative staff, the facilities and operational staff, and the
community as they relate to the district.
The focus should be on teaching and learning. The focus should be on the budget.
8. Finally, some bio/background info on you. Occupation,
dates of prior services and other service, skills or interest that you might
consider relevant.
I am a 23-year resident of the District. I have lived in all three elementary school boundaries. I have 3 children who all went k-12 through
the district. I am a self-employed
equities and derivatives trader. I have
an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management
with a major in Finance and Real Estate.
I have an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia with a
Major in Economics and a Minor in History.
American financial history is a passion.
I am a staunch believer that any and every member of a
community should contribute to the community in a way that they best can. For some that is donating resources or
money. For others that is donating time
and effort. For some that is coaching.
For some that is volunteering with the PTA or CSF or HGSF. One of the reasons I
originally ran for the board many years ago still holds true today. I believe strongly in public education, in
contributing to the community and in helping all members of the community.
As with most things in life, as you get older, your
priorities change. For me, public
education, and the community in which I live will always be a priority.
Prior Civic and Volunteer Service:
- 12-year,
4-term, School Board Member, Chappaqua Central School District.
- Volunteer
Coach for over 20 teams, Chappaqua AYSO, NCYBBA, NCBSA, etc.
- Participant
in various New Castle Forums as panelist.
- CCSD
representative to the PNW BOCES.
- Served
as BoE Representative to the Horace Greeley Scholarship fund.
- Serve(d)
on various Board community committees including both the S-T and L-T
Security task forces as well as the RFP Committee
- Worked
extensively with the BoE and with various outside groups to get two turf
fields at the high school.
- Father
of two Chappaqua Fire Department Firefighter/Volunteers
- Commissioner,
Billy’s Basement Boys.
Other:
Taken from my letter to the community on my website MesterForBoard.com:
Now, more than ever, who you elect to the school board is
of vital importance to the community. In
the past, too often, the election has been a popularity contest rather than a
genuine discussion of the issues. The
issues are too important to leave to chance.
With the ballooning budget, the laying off of 7 teachers, the limited
communication with the community, the limited ability to give feedback to the
Board and the Administration, the inconsistency within the Special Education
program, and the struggle for true diversity, equity and inclusion, the
District is at a critical juncture.
…
Finally, with no humility whatsoever, I state unequivocally
that I am the best candidate running and would make the best Board member if
elected. Why? In short, I have the most
experience of any candidate, yet I have the added benefit of perspective (time
off). I know more about the budget and
the budget process than any candidate, I have no conflicts of interest, and I
am not a politically supported candidate.
