Three weeks out from bond vote, some BBSD residents feel uninformed
October 3, 2024 at 12:09 a.m.
The Blind Brook Board of Education has been open about their difficulties in keeping the public informed about the upcoming bond referendum on Oct. 22.
Throughout the development of the $18.3 million bond, which was adopted on Aug. 28, the board consistently requested those in attendance at meetings or watching virtually to spread the word.
During the Aug. 20 meeting, eight days before the bond’s adoption, Board Vice President Samantah Smith said she had met with parents in the district who were unaware a bond had even been proposed, let alone what the funds were going to be used for.
Should the vote pass, the district will embark on a $19.5 million construction project that would bring a new baseball field and various capital improvements to its buildings. The financial difference will be offset by pulling $1.15 million from the district’s Capital Reserve Fund.
Though the board has been urging those paying attention to help get the word out, at the Aug. 28 meeting, one community member expressed her concern that the body wasn’t doing enough.
“People just don’t know about this,” Joan Feinstein, a former Blind Brook Board of Education member and past Rye Brook mayor said during the public comment period.
It’s a sentiment that several residents have expressed during the months-long development of the bond. And now, three weeks ahead of the vote, has anything changed? Are residents aware of the proposal?
“People have started coming to me after seeing the sign that’s been put out in front of the high school,” Feinstein said during a phone interview on Tuesday, Oct. 1. “Because of my previous involvement in the community, they think I’m informed. But I didn’t know about it either, I had to learn about it on my own.”
She said while she was in support of what the bond will be used for, she was concerned with how many people don’t know about the proposal, which may be related to the timing of its development and the tax implications associated with it.
Communication issues
During a phone call on Wednesday, Oct. 2, Board of Education President Jeffrey Mensch said hearing some residents felt uninformed about the bond was disheartening.
“It’s certainly frustrating,” he said. “But it’s a problem we constantly have.”
Mensch said public participation and involvement has been an issue the board has tried to address.
“Attendance to our board meetings has always been low, but we’ve been reaching out in as many ways as we can,” he said. “Families with children in the district get texts and alerts, we put signs in front of the buildings and there’s been a board member at most district events that have happened since we started this discussion to remind people about it.”
However, Feinstein said most Blind Brook residents don’t have children in the school system.
“Most of the people who live in Blind Brook are old-timers whose children have long since left the classrooms,” she said. “As a resident who falls into that category, I haven’t received any information from the district.”
Other locals, who wished to remain anonymous, concurred with her findings.
It’s a demographic that Mensch said is difficult to reach.
“It’s much easier for us to reach families involved with the district because they’re easily available to us,” he said. “These are people who we can expect to sign up for our email list and regularly check our social media. All of that is open to anyone and we update it regularly. We’re trying to reach out in as many ways as possible. I think at a certain point, it’s out of our hands.”
Mensch said he feels part of the community disinterest is because the bond isn’t “exciting.”
“It’s honestly kind of a boring project,” he laughed. “There isn’t some huge project like some of the district’s previous bonds. It’s a nuts-and-bolts bond where we’re looking for infrastructure improvements. I don’t think it’s an eye-catching project.”
He said the baseball field and other sports facility upgrades included in the proposal, estimated to cost $3.9 million, may be the most distinct part of the bond.
“But it’s probably what the board has seen the most support on,” he added.
The field was also the impetus for the construction proposal in the first place—after the high school’s athletic facilities failed safety tests in March, the district was forced to close them. The board elected to fund a new multipurpose field through its capital budget and began to workshop a bond for the baseball diamond—moving quickly in hopes to have the space prepared for the 2024-25 spring season.
The rush, Feinstein said, drew further concerns from some residents.
An expedited process
“I don’t have any real issue with the bond in terms of content,” Feinstein said. “I agree that it’s work that most certainly needs to be done. But the process felt rushed to me.”
She added that most of the conversations about the bond were held during the summer, where voters were away on vacation or less focused on schools.
“I understand their predicament,” the former mayor said. “They wanted to get the baseball field done in time for kids to use. I’m just wondering if it’s worth having some people out of the loop.”
Mensch said the board initially moved quickly to create the bond plan because of the wish to complete the playing area, but they also realized the timeliness of some of the other items.
“There was certainly pressure from parents of our local athletes to get the field done,” he said. “But the more we learned about the things like our HVAC system and electrical system, we realized we had to address them quickly.”
He referred to the Middle/High School’s failing rooftop air conditioning unit and dated switchboards, both of which are past their lifespan.
“A lot of what’s in the bond are critical parts of our five-year plan,” Mensch continued. “They aren’t things that we’ve sprung on the community. They’re things we’ve talked about in the past, it’s just hard to know if people have been paying attention to it.”
Feinstein, who has sat in Mensch’s seat in the past, is still concerned the expedited nature of the project may hurt its chances at the polls.
“I’m worried that, in rushing into this, people may be turned off,” she said. “There may be people who are suddenly hearing about the bond vote and it could affect how they feel about it. And that’s before taking the taxes into account.”
The new tax bill
According to Blind Brook Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Facilities Laurie Baum, the average taxpayer with a home valued at $1 million can expect a $163 tax increase—a figure that does not consider other tax levy increases future budgets will see.
“People have told me they’re concerned about that increase,” Feinstein said. “Taxes have gone up by a significant amount in recent years and this will add to that.”
This year saw a homeowner of a house assessed at $1.07 million pay $19,500, a $900 increase over the previous year.
“That’s a considerable amount for anyone,” Feinstein said.
Mensch said a larger tax bill is the result of a forward-thinking school district.
“If people want us to improve our district, to be on the cutting edge of education, it costs more money.”
Kori Sassower, a real estate agent in Rye Brook, said the school district is what pulls new residents into the Village.
“The schools here are the cornerstone of the market here,” she said. “It’s a school system that draws people in because of its track record and constant upwards trajectory.”
In theory, Sassower said, the bond approval would continue that trend. But at the same time, the increased taxes are causing departures in the community.
“In my experience, the leading cause for people selling their homes here is the steady increase in taxes,” Sassower said.
Feinstein said she will continue to advocate for the district in the community but is unsure how the vote will turn out because of the concerns she’s heard.
“We’re three weeks away from the vote and many residents are still unsure about the bond,” she said. “I will always support the schools, but I have no idea whether it will pass or not based on people I’ve spoken to.”
Mensch said the biggest factor may be voter turnout.
“For the last election (in May), we really worked incredibly hard to encourage people to vote,” he said. “And out of the 5,000 people registered to vote in the district, we pulled around 1,000. So, what does that say about our community?”
He’s hopeful the board will be able to rely on the parent community to pull the bond through the polls.
“It’s really all that we can rely on anymore,” he said. “We’ve really tried to get all the information out there, and we will continue to try, but I’m truly not sure what else we can do.”
The vote is scheduled to take place on Oct. 22 at the main gym building in the Bruno M. Ponterio Ridge Street School from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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