Bedford School District Pushes for Less Private School Busing, Reduction in Testing Costs

Bedford schools are taking a major stance against unfunded mandates and have selected three to push through to New York's Mandate Relief Council, formed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to identify and reform those regulations required by law but not financially supported by the state.

The mandate reforms are necessary, say school officials, since the While residents across New York State cheered the law, local districts are faced with severe program and staff cuts or the prospect of overriding the cap.

Bedford officials have pledged to stay within the cap, facing a $3.1 million budget deficit. To help close the gap, they'll seek relief on these three mandates:

• Transportation: Officials will ask for a reduction in mileage limits for out-of-district transporation from 15 to 5 miles. Because the district goes to approximately 30 outside locations, a reduction could result in up to $500,000 or more in savings.
• Training and testing costs associated with implementing the state's new teacher evaluation system (APPR): The district will seek a reduction in the data management burden required to implement student testing that will be used in a new teacher evaluation system; for example, new regulations will require districts to purchase assessment software for grades 6 and up in social studies and science at a cost of $30-45,000.
• Special education: The district proposes eliminating mandated class sizes for students with disabilities and resource rooms, while maintaining services and supports for students—a move that achieves local flexibility in determining appropriate student-teacher ratios.

To submit their proposals, the district will use a template developed by the Westchester Putnam School Boards Association (on which Bedford school board president Susan Wollin Ellion serves as vice-president of current issues) which is encouraging member districts to submit three proposals to the council, scheduled to meet in the Lower Hudson Valley on Feb. 27.

"Some of these mandates are necessary—they're good things, some are health and safety related and of course we should be doing them," said Jere Hochman, schools superintendent. "But quite a few are outdated, or not as critical and we shouldn't be required to spend time and money on them."

For example, some transporation regulations are 30-40 years old, according to district officials. "We don't mind choice, but we have great programs here," Hochman said about driving student to private schools, in some cases across state lines. "It becomes inequitable when we are looking at cutting $3.1 million in this budget—let's keep that money in New York."

Hochman is a member of the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents, which identified 151 state and federal public school unfunded or underfunded mandates, outlined in this position paper.

Thirty-two of the districts in the group said that cumulatively, they'd need to cut $78 million from their budgets if they used the new tax cap formula.