White Plains School Board Incumbent Trustees Unopposed
Two incumbent members of the White Plains Board of Education, Sheryl Brady and Charlie Norris, are running unopposed in this year’s Board of Education race.
Brady and Norris will begin their new three-year terms on July 1. The deadline for candidates to submit petitions was last Wednesday, May 1.
The final public hearing and presentation on Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Ricca’s proposed $226,588,509 budget for 2019-20 will be held next Monday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the district’s Education House, located at 5 Homeside Lane.
The 3.44 percent tax levy increase is the largest allowable hike for the district while still complying with the tax cap under the state formula.
On May 21, residents will vote on two propositions in addition to the budget.
One of those propositions asks voter approval for the district to spend $6.4 million from its capital reserve fund to pay for improvement projects at Highlands Middle School and White Plains High School. Improvements would include work on the courtyard; new windows; lintels; repointing and lighting; and replacement of the artificial field at Parker Stadium.
High school projects would include a new security vestibule ($175,000); replacement of the electric service ($1.5million); pool building improvements ($890,000); additional funding for the public address system ($425,000); and artificial turf and drainage improvements ($1 million).
Voters approved the creation of the capital reserve fund in May 2016. Ricca said the district anticipates that by the end of the current school year on June 30 there will be a projected $15.89 million in the fund.
The remaining proposition would allow the district to create a new capital reserve of up to $25 million over a 10-year period. The district needs an additional capital reserve fund because they expire after 10 years.
Passage of those propositions would not result in tax increases, district officials said. Money in the capital reserve funds are mainly derived from leftover funds from the district’s annual budget.
The public vote on the budget, the two propositions and the uncontested school board election will take place on Tuesday, May 21 from 12 to 9 p.m. at six voting locations.
Information on the budget is available in each school building and on the district’s website at www.whiteplainspublicschools.org. For voting locations and other information, call 914-422-2000.
