Bedford Schools Super Recommends Administrative Revision in Budget
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Bedford Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joel Adelberg proposed last week to add a third assistant principal at Fox Lane High School rather than hire a STEAM director in the district’s 2022-23 budget.
Adelberg, who arrived in Bedford 13 years ago as the high school principal, said the high school has badly needed a fourth administrator during his time in the district and it is still operating shorthanded.
Last Wednesday evening, he recommended to the Board of Education that they use the $155,000 that had originally been proposed several weeks earlier for a director of science, technology, engineering, art and math to pay for the additional assistant principal.
With the ratio of administrators to students among the lowest in the area, the district’s greatest priority points to having a third assistant principal, Adelberg said.
“I have data from all over the region that some (schools) have similar enrollment as we, some have higher, some have lower, and I see more administrators per student and administrators per staff,” Adelberg said. “It’s about instructional leadership, it’s about feet on the ground. We have a school of over 1,300 students and three administrators, which quite frankly, is not something I’m proud of.”
To address the need of having STEAM leadership as well, Adelberg suggested the high school could trim sections at the high school without affecting course offerings and provide on a temporary basis a teacher-leader-coach to help initiate the work connected to digital literacy. He said it would be similar to the new math coach position that is in next year’s budget.
“I think a STEAM administrator is something the district should be looking at,” Adelberg said. “I find that’s a positive, progressive role. I stand by that recommendation, but I also have to listen to where people are in this felt the need in keeping kids safe, supported and teacher supported at the building level, which is where it all happened, and I think the high school is under-supported in administrators.”
Board of Education members complimented the outgoing superintendent for being willing to change course from his original budget. However, Board member Robert Mazurek said the board should consider funding both positions if they’re important, particularly with a tentatively projected surplus of as much as $1.9 million.
“Today we learned we gained (another) $400,000 in surplus. Why don’t you do both?” he asked.
Aside from the district already at the tax cap, the district risks hurting itself if there isn’t ample money available for healthcare expenses that could rise sharply next year, said board Vice President Edward Reder. Since the district self-insures, it could be burned if the numbers are off, he said.
“There’s a lot of rising costs right now,” Reder said. “If we don’t think healthcare might be more expensive next year than it is this year, that is a gamble I’m not willing to make.”
The board will resume deliberations on the $148 million budget on Wednesday evening.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
