White Plains CitizeNetReporter - School Budget, School Board Election Tuesday. Donna McLaughlin Leaving Board

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. May 14,2012: White Plains will vote on the 2012-13 School Budget of $188,822,000 Tuesday with polls opening at 12 noon and closing at P.M. at neighborhoold polling places. They will also vote on three candidates for three Board of Education seats: Peter Bassano, Jim Hricay, and new to the Board, Rose Lovitch (veteran PTA leader). The three are automatic winners because they have no opponents. The election also sees the end of the Donna McLaughlin era on the White Plains Board of Education. Donna McLaughlin, right, with former Superintendent of Schools, Timothy Connors, 2009. Ms. McLaughlin is stepping down from the Board in July, McLaughlin has been a member of the Board for fifteen years, elected the first time in 1997, and has decided to step down and not run again this year. She has been a staunch proponent of accountability in school academic programs, and was the President of the Board when the Board refused to renew 12-year superintendent Saul Yanofsky's contract in 2001. McLaughlin oversaw the selection of two more White Plains Superintendents of Schools: She pushed for more accountability and longitudinal tracking of students' progress but was consistently frustrated by data processing limitations which have only recently begun delivering more useful statistics on individual student achievement. Over her 15-year term on the board the White Plains budget more than doubled,from $92,635,851 in 1997 to $185,536,466 today. In the last three years staff has been cut 10% and tax increases trimmed from an annual average of 7% to less than 3%, slowing the exponential compounding of the budget. This year's budget increases 1.77%, while property taxes increase 3.3%. Ms. McLaughlin will be honored in June by the White Plains Foundation for Education. At stake in the budget vote is the new wrinkle in what happens if the budget is defeated. If ia resubmitted budget is not approved, the district will have to return to this year's budget, requiring a $3.3 Million cut.

Note: For the view of Superintendent of Schools Christopher Clouet on the White Plains school budget and the issues facing the district, watch WHITE PLAINS WEEK at www.whiteplainsweek.com


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