K-L School Board Candidate: Mark Lipton

On May 21, Katonah-Lewisboro voters will vote on a $114 million budget proposal and elect three new school board members. Below is a brief bio of Mark Lipton and his replies to a set of questions sent to all of the K-L candidates. Mark Lipton has lived in the Katonah Lewisboro school district for 10 years and is a current resident of Pound Ridge. He owns a paint supply business, is a former volunteer with the Katonah Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps and lends a hand with the John Jay Boosters. He's the father of Miranda, a 15 year old student at John Jay High School. Patch: Describe your strengths and what you will bring to another term on the board. Lipton: We are going into a potentially very difficult time for the KLSD.  We have complicated contract negotiations to undertake and a shrinking student population that will cause us to consider some significant changes to our configuration.  All this, while we still want to improve the quality of the education we offer our students.  My 6 years of experience on the BOE and 3 years in BOE leadership has prepared me better than anyone to help guide the district through these times. I understand the issues extremely well and understand that collaboration between the BOE and community, administration, unions and even among the trustees is what will bring good decisions during these next 3 years. Patch: What issues facing the district do you feel most strongly about? Lipton: Despite our current economic situation, we still need to focus on expanding our student's experience.  Changes in our configurations will also lead to opportunities for full day kindergarten, foreign language for our elementary students and enhancing the JJHS second half senior year experience.  While we have some financial issues, the number one issue facing the district will always be the students and their education. Patch: Describe the quality of education you think students are getting in the district. Are there measures you would take to improve upon it?  Lipton: I feel like our students do get an excellent experience here. In addition to excellent academics, we offer terrific programs in the arts and athletics. We need to always be looking to improve on what we offer though.  In recent years the Board has asked the community to spend increasing dollars on professional development and I continue to support that plan.  Expanding programming as mentioned above (FLES, Full-Day K and changes at the JJHS) all delivered by the most professional and well-trained teachers is what our students deserve. Patch: All three collective bargaining agreements are up this year. Describe how you see the current state of labor relations in the district.  Lipton: Our labor relations are a mixed bag at the moment. We are involved with some very complicated negotiations right now. Solutions that work for all are possible through working together. In some places, we are having success doing that, other places we struggle and need improvements in those relationships.  I do believe that improvements can come and that I can be part of those. Patch: What do you think the long-term impact of the tax cap will be on Katonah Lewisboro schools?  Lipton: I do support the tax cap and think that it can help us bring out of control expenses under control.  If we are going to do that without hurting schools though, we will need help from Albany in the form of mandate relief.  Locally, we are doing all we can and while we have made some cuts to accommodate the cap, we are not seeing any of the dramatic changes that are going on around New York State.  It is requiring that we be extremely efficient, which I support. Patch: What do you think about the Common Core standards? Will they benefit K-L students?  Lipton: Common Core is here, so we had better learn to live with it. I am certainly in favor of more rigor for students.  The standards themselves will not benefit KLSD students; you cannot fatten a pig by weighing it.  BUT, the existence of the standards will cause our teachers and administration to improve our curriculum to match the standards, which will help our students continue to improve.  Much of that work is going on already and I applaud how our teachers and administration have adopted this effort. Patch: The district is studying various approaches to managing its shrinking population. Are there specific ideas you would support in this area?  Lipton: It's still early in that process and the meetings at the end of this year will begin to form the plans.  The idea though will be to trim our size....not cut our services.  As a matter of fact, I believe that trimming our size could be the greatest opportunity for programmatic changes we have seen in decades. Patch: Is there anything we haven’t asked that you would like the public to know about you or your candidacy?  Lipton: We need BOE Trustees who are experienced, hard working and willing to make very difficult decisions.  I believe in my 6 years, I have proven all of that, as well as my commitment to the students and community that is the KLSD.  In the experience I have gained over the last 6 years are many of the solutions to the problems we will face in the next 3 years.  I look forward to using that experience to serve my neighbors, our students and the taxpayers of the KLSD.