Schools

K-L School Board Candidate Q&A: Jeff Holbrook

On May 21, Katonah-Lewisboro voters will vote on a $114 million budget proposal and elect three new school board members.

Jeff Holbrook has a master's degree in business administration from New York University's Stern School, and currently works for Citigroup in their Human Resources Department. He's a five-year resident of Pound Ridge and has two kids at Meadow Pond Elementary School. 

Patch: What strengths will you bring to the board? 

Holbrook: I have an extensive background in finance, negotiation, communications and resource management.  My personal demeanor, extensive background in negotiating with multiple stakeholders and planning and running meetings that respect attendee’s time and that result in actionable outcomes regardless of the personalities involved will allow me to create a more collaborative, transparent and professional environment in which to address the serious financial issues facing our district while maintaining or enhancing the high quality of education one expects from our district.  I will bring a greater sense of professionalism to the board.  I have experience working with people whose views are different from mine and part of my job is to respect the viewpoints and concerns of others.  These skills will help me build consensus. I am level headed, organized and a good listener.  

Patch: What issues facing the district do you feel most strongly about? 

Holbrook: The district must maintain its academic excellence despite challenging financial constraints.  Specifically, the district must examine and effectively negotiate the three expiring contracts.  In addition, through avenues such as the school utilization committee, the district should be able, after careful consideration, to streamline our footprint and more efficiently use of our physical resources.  I am confident that the negotiation, collaboration and communication skills that I have honed over the past 15 years will help to achieve a result that is fair to all stakeholders.    

There should be greater transparency and communication between the board members themselves, the community, the administrators, the teachers, and the union leadership so that there can be greater collaboration and a positive future for the district.  It is important to note that over the past seven years, enrollment has declined 12 %, headcount has declined 17% and the budget has increased 11%.  This is an issue that clearly needs to be addressed. 

Patch: Describe the quality of education you think students are getting in the district. Are there measures you would take to improve upon it?

Holbrook: 
Overall, KL students are receiving a high quality education.  In the near term, however, I would like to see the district add full day kindergarten; re-introduce foreign language into the elementary schools; and look at more diverse and challenging academic offerings for higher performing students in middle and high schools.  I would work with teachers, administrators and other Board members to achieve these goals to make our district more competitive with our neighboring districts.  This will have a positive impact on property values.  In addition, I think it is important that the district maintain appropriate and equitable class sizes in line with the caliber of the district’s standards and in line with our “sister districts”.   

Patch: All three collective bargaining agreements are up this year. Describe how you see the current state of labor relations in the district.

Holbrook: While it is difficult to gauge the actual, current state of the negotiations due to the confidential nature of the discussions, it would seem that, based on some of the comments from both sides, there is a lack of trust and common purpose.  I feel that my work experience and focus on collaboration would be helpful in this regard.  We have no choice but to find a way to bring both sides together to reach a reasonable and sustainable agreement which preserves the well being of our students and our district.

I will seek to establish a greater collaborative climate in which to address these collective bargaining agreements, now and in the future, so that we can make positive changes for our students, teachers and taxpayers.  We know this can be possible in light of the agreements recently announced in the neighboring districts of Chappaqua, Briarcliff and Brewster.   

Patch: What do you think the long-term impact of the tax cap will be on Katonah Lewisboro schools? 

Holbrook: 
I think most residents would agree that our taxes are too high and not sustainable.  The tax cap was, therefore, a necessary intervention.  I’m supportive of the tax cap because it forces the administration, superintendent and Board of Education to be more efficient and creative.   

We do need the tax cap, but, unfortunately school districts were not provided with corresponding mandate relief that was promised when the tax cap came into existence.  I firmly believe that the district can reach common ground and strike the necessary balance between effectively and conscientiously managing the budget while ensuring excellence in education.  I do think, however, that it is important to prudently and carefully examine areas in the budget that are worthy of being cut and areas that are vitally important to the high quality education of our students.  I will work hard to decrease spending throughout the district.  I will not simply look to cut the budget for the mere sake of cutting it.  Rather, I will make sensible decisions that create a positive outcome for all.    

Patch: What do you think about the Common Core standards? Will they benefit K-L students?

Holbrook: I think it is unfortunate that the Common Core standards were rolled out by the state so abruptly and with so little guidance, making it difficult for the teachers and students to adjust.  By all accounts, it appears that the teachers and administrators have made the best of a difficult situation.  I also believe that the Common Core will have a more significant positive impact on districts that are not as high performing as KLSD. 

That being said, I believe that accountability and validation of teaching standards is important and will have a net positive impact on KLSD students over time.  It will be critically important that we carefully measure and study the impact (positive and negative) on students and teachers going forward and make adjustments as is appropriate based upon continual communication.  In addition, it is imperative that the board and administration be as supportive as necessary in this new challenging endeavor.  

To this end, I understand, based upon board discussion, that money has been earmarked for “curriculum leaders” that will help with vertical integration, ultimately making common core more successful and impactful.  I applaud these efforts.  Further, it is critical that the district validate that it is implementing the common core in a manner that makes sense not only in a particular subject in a particular grade, but throughout a particular subject as students move from grade to grade.  Finally, with regard to testing, it is important that our district set a baseline and compare ourselves to our peer schools in the short term as opposed to using comparisons made to the previous year’s testing. 

Patch: The district is studying various approaches to managing its shrinking population. Are there specific ideas you would support in this area?  

Holbrook: The school utilization committee (made up of community members, teachers, administrators, and board members) was specifically created to study this issue. I think this is the appropriate first step to be taken in the process.  If elected, carefully consider their results and recommendations.  While one of the options likely proposed by this committee, the closing of a school, would provide the economic relief to allow the district to enhance curriculum (with full day kindergarten, for example), the decision should not be taken lightly due to the far reaching impact it would have on students and their families.

In addition, it is vitally important that we examine whether the declining enrollment is simply a passing trend or whether it is here to stay.  More communication and discussion with the community will be required on this topic to reach a conclusion that is acceptable. I believe that staffing has been decreased appropriately, in proportion to falling enrollment, to this point.  

Patch: Is there anything we haven’t asked that you would like the public to know about you or your candidacy?   

Holbrook: My children will not graduate from high school for another 10 years.  More than the other candidates, I have a personal, vested interest in building upon the high quality education of our district.  While I will work diligently to decrease spending throughout the district, I will not simply look to cut the budget for the mere sake of cutting it.  Rather, I will make prudent decisions that create a positive outcome for all.  I will not simply maintain the status quo.  Rather, I would like to shift the focus from negative politics to the extraordinary teaching and learning that occurs every day in this school district and which requires careful resource management to ensure that it can continue to occur in the future.  

I have attended almost all of the BOE meetings over the last two years.  This has afforded me the opportunity to understand many of the issues facing the district, gain a working knowledge of the way in which a school district is run and governed, and recognize the financial concerns of all those in the community.  If elected, I will use my skills and background to raise the level of transparency, coherency and professionalism of the Board.  I will serve our children, families, faculty, administration and community with integrity, energy and good judgment.     


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