Five Candidates Vie for Three Bedford Board of Education Seats

Five candidates, including two of the three incumbents are on the ballot for this Tuesday’s Bedford Board of Education election.

Current board Vice President Michelle Brooks and Trustee Beth Staropoli will look to retain their seats against challengers John Boucher, Jessica Cambareri and Joseph Malichio. Trustee Pam Harney decided against seeking re-election.

A few years ago, district voters approved at-large contests for board elections so the top three vote-getters will each serve a three-year term. Previously, each candidate had to declare which seat they were competing for.

Also before voters is the district’s $138.5 million budget for 2019-20. Spending would increase by 2.42 percent year-to-year. Although the budget is tax cap compliant, the levy increase is 3.81 percent. District residents in the Town of Bedford would be the big winners with this budget, as they would see a tax rate decrease of .68 percent. However, due to equalization rates, Mount Kisco residents would be socked with a 12.16 percent tax rate increase while Pound Ridge property owners must prepare for a 5.11 percent hike.

 

John Boucher

Making his first run for school board, Boucher, a 20-year district resident has been no stranger to volunteer efforts. He has coached youth sports, including Little League, even after his children have gotten older. He said he believes in giving back to the community and is ready to expand his service.

“It’s a good time for me to give back,” he said. “I’ve committed to being a fair and collaborative board member and I look forward to serving the entire community.”

Boucher, 56, a partner in Manhattan public accounting firm, said his three children have benefitted from Bedford’s strong programs over the years. However, he is part of a contingent that would like to see electives enhanced at Fox Lane High School after many were cut following the district’s fiscal crisis in 2015-16. Boucher also would like the district have its program be more in tune with current career trends.

One program that has seen its share of attention is the Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) program at Mount Kisco Elementary School. Boucher is a strong supporter of it despite shortcomings with the rollout, pointing to how roughly 85 percent of the students at the school have been enrolled in DLBE. He added that the students are on par with their peers.

He said he is optimistic that the School of Choice option, where students from the district’s other elementary school may opt in and Mount Kisco families who opt out could chose which elementary school they’d like to attend, will be successful.

“I think it’s really done a lot to bring the students together,” Boucher said. “Mount Kisco has a really diverse student body. It’s done a lot to bring students together. The environment is strong there.”

Boucher said under the direction of Superintendent Dr. Christopher Manno Bedford has regained its fiscal footing. Before the district’s financial woes, officials were consistently tapping into reserve funds, which is unsustainable.

He said the role of the board is to serve in an oversight capacity. The 35 years of experience as an auditor will serve the district well, Boucher said.

“I think I’m well-suited to help guide the district from a financial perspective in the coming years,” Boucher said.

He would also like the board and administration to explore any service sharing possibilities to help the district offset costs.

To address students’ emotional well-being, Boucher said the board must also keep open the lines of communication open with students, staff and parents to make sure they have the resources available to provide the youngsters what they need.

“I would come into the role of board member without any specific agenda,” Boucher said. “I’d like to think I have an open mind and unbiased approach to decision making, keeping the interests of the students and all of the shareholders of the district in mind. That’s really the main part of my platform.”

 

Michelle Brooks

Brooks’ initial run for school board in 2016 saw her win a seat and she hopes this Tuesday’s results are the same in her first re-election bid. Brooks, 45, vice president of a small financial agency, said the district has made some advances financially and academically in the past few years and is looking forward to having that continue.

“I feel like our community, which has been broken in past years, is coming together and I still feel there’s still more, there’s still divide,” Brooks said.

One of the areas of divide has occurred over the DLBE program, where the district has now instituted the School of Choice option. Brooks said she’s optimistic that the option will be an improvement to bring equitable education to all students.

Despite the rocky moments, DLBE has been an asset to the district, but it remains a work in progress, she said. In a couple more years there will be enough data to definitively say whether it has been successful.

“People seem very happy with the program,” Brooks said.

Brooks would like to see enrichment programs and clubs that were cut at the high school during the difficult fiscal times be restored but it has to be on a gradual basis.

Brooks said Bedford has bounced back strongly from the 2015-16 school year that saw more than 50 positions cut to close a more than $7 million deficit.

“Now, we’re coming back from that, just be careful what you do,” Brooks said. “It’s like you have to do an inventory with everything you have. How are your classes and high school electives being utilized?”

She credited Manno, an experienced superintendent who is leading a strong administration, with helping the district get on the right path.

“He’s very easy to work with and he’s got a great team underneath him and he’s always making them better, too,” Brooks said. “I just feel he has a working sense about him and he’s there for our kids and he just wants us to succeed,” Brooks said.

One area that is in need of improvement is the district’s public relations, Brooks mentioned. She said the district can take advantage of BOCES to shore up that area so the community has a better understanding of the students’ many successes.

Brooks, who has three teenagers, all in Bedford’s secondary schools, said the district can always do more to make sure that the students’ emotional well-being and mental health issues are being addressed. The district has added resources, including a student assistance counselor in the middle school, who has addressed drugs and vaping, she said. Manno has pulled together forums with teachers, administrators, local police and parents to address the issue.

One of Brooks’ goals in a second term is to help bring the school community, from pieces of five municipalities, together through districtwide events and initiatives.

“It’s one of my personal missions to do as much of that as possible,” he said.

 

Jessica Cambareri

A longtime volunteer at West Patent Elementary School and Fox Lane Middle School, Cambareri entered the school board race this year to see what kind of impact she could have on a broader scale.

“While we’ve done some great work, there’s still work to be done,” she said.

Fiscal responsibility is always a priority, Cambareri said, even more so just a few years removed from Bedford’s fiscal crisis. The district receives some of the lowest levels of state aid compared to nearby districts, she said. As a result, one of the roles of a trustee is to rally district residents to pressure state lawmakers for change.

“There is some inequity there and we have some room for improvement and as a board member our job is to rally our people, the people who elected us, to help us advocate for our district,” Cambareri said.

There’s also room for improvement with the district’s programs, she said. Although Bedford’s a strong district here are issues to address such as finding the next athletic director.

Cambareri, 46, a former teacher in her native Texas and a human resources professional, said the district can do more to help the “middle of the road student.” There are plenty of resources for those who need services while honors students have choices.

“I’d like to makes sure that each student has the ability and is able to reach their maximum potential and how do implement that?” said Cambareri, a member of the Student Achievement Advisory Committee.

Despite troubles rolling out the program, Cambareri is a DLBE supporter. In some areas of the country, she said, dual language programs have been a longtime fixture. For Bedford, it’s been an asset but community members need to look at DLBE as a six-year program for students that is still evolving.

“I really believe in learning a second language as young as possible,” Cambareri said. “I feel like we’re one of the few countries in the world that start in middle school, that start to teach languages at such an older age.”

Cambareri is also pleased that the School of Choice option is now available to families across the district.

Teachers and administrators, particularly at the secondary school level, are doing everything they can to recognize their responsibilities to address emotional and mental health needs, she said. Cambareri is also an advocate for Leadership classes.

“I think that is a growth opportunity in the high school and the middle school is also trying to do that, especially with social media,” she said.

However, Cambareri recognizes that the typical school day is a little over six hours and the district can only do so much when the students aren’t in class.

 

Joseph Malichio

The outspoken Malichio has been involved in district affairs for many years, having advocated for certain board candidates and serving on the Budget Advisory Committee. Calling that group the district’s “most important volunteer committee,” Malichio said that you can have the loftiest education goals but that is largely meaningless without enough money.

He said the district’s disastrous financial situation in 2015-16 was made worse by the former administration’s poor management. Malichio gives high marks to Manno for wisely managing the district’s finances since he’s arrived. While districts like Bedford have been shortchanged in state aid for many years, school officials haven’t always done their part to be as fiscally vigilant as they should have.

“The lesson learned is that it can happen again,” Malichio said. “Another lesson is you can’t blame 100 percent on Albany.”

He points to how the district has overspent on its contracts, helping to inflate the budget over the past 30 years by nearly $100 million. If the district had adhered to cost-of-living increases in its spending, Bedford would have about an $81 million budget today instead of next year’s $138.5 million package, said Malichio, 41, a publisher of medical books and a Pound Ridge resident.

“The last contract, had we stayed at Triborough, would have been better for us than this new one that we signed,” he said. “This contract will grew more than the tax cap and Dr. Manno has prided himself in staying under the tax cap, and I appreciate that. But also, I don’t necessarily support going up to the tax cap every year because the budget is such a colossus.”

He also would not support a spending plan that would raise tax rates by double-digit percentages. Despite the district adhering to the cap, Mount Kisco residents will see a 12.16 percent tax rate increase next year, determined largely by the state’s equalization rate.

Malichio said he would be eager to travel to Albany to advocate for more equitable funding from the state. He also would like to see Bedford be more creative with service sharing. For example, Malichio said he would want to explore partnering with public libraries or reaching out to retired librarians to help staff the schools’ libraries and media centers.

The district has restored some electives at the high school that were lost during the fiscal crisis. But Malichio said school officials need to take a hard look at the programs that may no longer be effective and cut those while adding others. He said the high school’s engineering elective is one of the most popular for good reason.

“We don’t want the dead weight,” Malichio said. “We don’t want the programs that aren’t doing as well and (ask) what’s the educational outcome.”

He is also tired of seeing many surrounding schools celebrate athletic success while Bedford lags in many sports. Malichio said he would end the practice of having coaches appointed because it’s their turn and have the most qualified people lead the student-athletes.

Malichio hasn’t been shy criticizing the rollout of the DLBE program. He said he understood why many parents like the program but questions its objective.

“For some parents, they wanted their kids educated in English and not be in a class with seven kids and they have a right for that not to happen,” Malichio said.

He said he doesn’t understand why the children who need to learn English shouldn’t be immersed in the language 100 percent of the school day, not splitting their instructional time between English and Spanish. His views have made him a lightning rod for some in the district.

“We should have intensive English for all the kids to be able to communicate with one another as effectively as possible,” Malichio said.

 

Beth Staropoli

Staropoli, who is seeking re-election for the first time on Tuesday, has the unique perspective of being part of the district as a student, teacher, administrator and now as a trustee.

The district’s former athletic director said serving on the board has been a very different role for her.

“I like that there are seven of us and I am one of seven and that we can have civil conversations and we can disagree but we should come to some conclusion,” Staropoli said. “I enjoy listening to opposing positions and getting educated through two different lenses. I think that’s really important.”

Despite the district making headway in her three years on the board on the financial front, there is still much more to be accomplished, she said. Bedford needs to continue to gradually restore programming that had been cut and invest more in professional development for teachers and administrators, Staropoli said.

She said that previous school officials made the mistake of using reserves to help balance the budget or have a lower tax levy, which eventually hurt the district. It is helpful that the state is now allowing school systems to establish reserves to pay for health benefits for its employees, Staropoli said, since that has been perhaps the most unpredictable expense.

“Hopefully, we’re one step closer to implementing that and I think being fiscally responsible is a benefit and is pushing us in the right direction,” Staropoli said.

Manno and current board members have also been strong advocates for the district when lobbying state representatives. Staropoli was one of the trustees that traveled to Albany this year.

An area that Staropoli is most proud of is the restoration of electives at Fox Lane High School. The district is also exploring a comprehensive K-12 STEM program, something that Staropoli said she would like to see pulled together.

“We continue to try and reach all of our students and I think restoring these electives has been a very strong position for the high school,” Staropoli said.

This year is the first fifth-grade graduating class for the DLBE program, but the program is still evolving, she said. There have been changes with hopes of improving DLBE, Staropoli said, and she’s most pleased that the School of Choice option has been added.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Staropoli said. “I wish I would have learned a (foreign) language in elementary school. I think it’s positive. I think the research demonstrates that it’s positive and I think that it’s really good for our community.”

The mental health and emotional well-being of students may be one of the biggest concerns for the district, she said. It’s been important to also extend services, when needed, to not just the secondary-level students but to those in the elementary schools as well.

She said that school officials in any district would never say that it has everything it needs in place, but having a student assistance counselor at Fox Lane Middle School has been a major improvement.

Administrators are constantly reviewing safety protocols for the school buildings with the police to have the safest environment possible, Staropoli said.

Staropoli said she is comfortable where the district is headed.

“I feel so passionate about education and about our students,” she said. “We have great, great kids in the Bedford School District that do amazing things.”