Lewisboro Town Board 'concerned' About Potential School Closure's Impact

Lewisboro's town board is very critical of the possible school closure, giving a series of concerns, according to a Nov. 12 letter.

The letter, addressed to Katonah-Lewisboro School District Superintendent Paul Kreutzer, is signed by Supervisor Peter Parsons, who does so on behalf of the town board. The letter, which Patch was given copies of, comes as the district's school closure task force is looking at the possibility of closing Lewisboro Elementary School for the 2014-15 school year.

The letter states: "The Town Board is concerned that closing of an Elementary School will have deep and far reaching deleterious effects upon the Town and surrounding neighborhood of any targeted school. We have been unable to ascertain any meaningful salutary effect of such closing. Thus, the Town Board is far from convinced by the evidence provided that an elementary school should be closed."

The board's letter adds that "Few of our constituents believe that their questions have been answered."

The letter also states a worry that a closure could hit Lewisboro's tax rate due to a property values drop. It also lists several concerns, including having the school board provide a "persuasive argument" that children will get an excellent education; a feeling that the process is moving too quickly due to class-size projections; that waiting longer would allow for confirming of an enrollment trend; how much median and longest bus routes would rise for kids from the school being closed; whether a closure could reverse a recovery in the town's housing market; submission of a "plan for beneficial use of any vacated space."

The letter also brings up a remark from school board President Charles Day, who is quoted as saying, "In terms of property values, I am not sure if it is our job as a school district." The letter's reply is the following: "This is inconsistent when the district has repetitively told us that our property are dependent on the quality of our schools."

Reached for a reply on Friday, Day stood by the quote. Regarding the letter, he agrees that there are some valid points but also feels that the property values matter is out of the school board's purview. Day also felt that whether there would be a property value negative impact from a closure is not clear. 

The job for district officials, from Day's perspective, is to provide quality education and in managing resources.

The task force's fourth public hearing will be on Nov. 18, which will be at 7 p.m. at John Jay Middle School's auditorium. The school board will meet on Nov. 21 to get an update from the task force and for a demographic presentation. That meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. at John Jay High School's cafeteria.  

A copy of the town board's letter to Kreutzer is at this link.