School Board Passes Key Procedural Item for LES Closure

Katonah-Lewisboro's school board voted at its Thursday meeting to accept the educational impact statement for the closure of Lewisboro Elementary School (LES), a significant procedural aspect.

The vote to approve was by a 5-2 margin. The members who voted in favor were President Charles Day, along with Peter Treyz, Richard Stone, Stephanie Tobin and Janet Harckham. Voting against accepting the document were Vice President Majorie Schiff and member Jeff Holbrook. Stone, Harckham and Schiff worked on the review process as members of the School Closure Task Force.

The statement is a document outlining different aspects pertaining to a closure, such as enrollment, bus times and redistricting.

The approved measure's resolution has language noting that the school board proposes closing the school, with an effective date of Aug. 31, 2014. Describing the process, Superintendent Paul Kreutzer explained that it is a preliminary notice of an intent to close. There will be a public hearing on Jan. 16 - it will be in addition to four that were held in October and November - and the board will hold its closure vote on Jan. 23. 

LES is being considered for closure due to years of declining enrollment in the school district and with projections that the trend will continue.

Board members who approved the item cited financial savings from a closure, along with how it will affect education. 

Around the start of discussion, Day argued that the district is not in a good financial situation, describing it as in "dire condition” and making a case for how people are being taxed harder than in other school districts. Those districts - they are Bedford, Chappaqua, Byram Hills, Scarsdale and Harrison - each show payment of less money per $1,000 of adjusted gross income than Katonah-Lewisboro, according to data presented by Day.

The board president would describe the district's weak financial position again in closing remarks and felt that the savings from a closure is a lot of money. Day also favors closure because he feels having more students together and teachers together will be beneficial for doing activities. Having spoken in detail and addressed concerns brought up by residents about class size, Day was satisfied.

Treyz does not want to forgo the savings, saying it was “not economically feasible” to do.

For Harckham, the top factor wasn't money but preserving educational quality, although she is pleased with the savings. She is also concerned about when the low enrollment currently in the elementary school moves up through the middle school and high school levels.

Stone recalled the experience of his son, a 2005 John Jay High School graduate who attended schools in the district when enrollment was higher, noting that he had larger classes. He also does not feel that waiting on a closure is necessary.

Tobin also feels that a consolidation is beneficial. She felt that the communities of the three other elementary schools will be "richer" with the new parents and students.

For Holbrook and Schiff, their votes against were not repudiations of the merits for closing LES, but they were about doing it in 2014. Holbrook specifically cited space - unexpected enrollment was an example given - and execution as concerns.

The vote was taken after the document was amended to include a second redistricting scenario, which was added after board members' feedback at a Dec. 5 meeting that was in response to the first version. 

The new scenario, which uses 2013-14 enrollment numbers, has all LES students either going to Meadow Pond Elementary School (MPES) or Increase Miller Elementary School (IMES), while the first version had some also going to Katonah Elementary School (KES). Land that is west of Truesdale Lake and would be moved from the LES zone to the IMES zone in the first scenario, is shifted to the MPES zone in the second.

The Lambert Ridge and Meadows neighborhoods, which were slated to be moved from the LES zone to the KES zone in the first scenario, would be placed in the IMES zone. However, the new scenario has a northwestern corridor near and by Route 22 being rezoned from IMES to KES. Two areas that would be moved from the LES zone to the IMES zone in the first scenario - The Meadows and Lambert Ridge - would be transferred to IMES in the second. Under the second scenario, when the 2013-14 enrollment is used, 214 LES students would be moved to IMES and 136 to MPES. About 94 IMES students would be moved to KES.

The savings from a closure would differ based on the scenario. The statement gives a figure of $1,897,432 for the first scenario, while the second scenario's number is lower at $1,739,432.

The board's vote followed public comment from people who were all opposed to closing LES next year. Turnout at the meeting was for several dozen people.

Concerns mentioned from speakers included communication, quality of the information being used and whether there was enough time.

Claire Aldrich contended there was a lack of data and felt there was none for having a basis for a rational decision. Because of this, she argued, a vote would be "arbitrary."

Lynne Geaney addressed the discourse, criticizing the communication and expressing frustration with how the situation has played out in the media. Addressing the board, she called for having the community being treated with respect. 

Two fathers of children who could be moved out of IMES also came to speak.

Jonathan Monti, whose son is a third grader at IMES, felt that the school's community would be destroyed with the redistricting, in addition to destroying the LES community. A special education teacher in White Plains, Monti noted children from his experience who get moved between schools and have still identified with where they went to school before.