Q&A With BOE Candidates Singer and Joseph

David Singer and Matthew Joseph will go head-to-head this year for a seat on the Harrison Board of Education, with Singer seeking his fourth three-year term on the board and Joseph seeking his first.

The following is a question and answer with both candidates. The question will be listed at the top followed by answers submitted by each respective candidate. Voters will elect one of the two candidates to the board on May 17.

Patch: Tell us a little bit about yourself?

David Singer, 53, (pictured right): I was born and raised in Harrison — and I went to Harrison elementary schools — the Pleasant Ridge School for K-3 (now the Harrison Police Station) – and of note, my second grade teacher, Mildred Lemos, just celebrated her 104th birthday! 

In 1992 I moved back to Harrison with my wife, Ruth and my eldest daughter, who was 3 months old at the time. Shortly after moving to Harrison, I was surprised to learn that school budgets put to an annual vote routinely failed to pass. This mystified me. Surely there were enough residents in town who cared about and were vested in the public schools to support the school budgets. What I quickly learned was that there was little coherent community engagement surrounding the schools — and what engagement there was oftentimes focused on individual needs, desires and perceived entitlements. The school system serving over 3,000 kids was not living up to its potential. For many years the school board was divided. Some board members were truly interested in educating kids, others were more interested fulfilling a political agenda. And school tax dollars were being spent without any underlying plan or rationale. I soon joined the board of the fledgling Harrison Educational Foundation being spearheaded by its founding chairman, Dan Burack.  And from there I began to see and understand the workings of the school district.  We worked closely with two superintendents and many teachers to seed the development of academic enrichment programs that at the time were beyond the scope of the school budget. But after another few years I found that there was a void in leadership on the board and in the district, so in 2002 I decided to run for an open seat on the board of education.

Matthew Joseph, 42, (Pictured Left): Being the product of a diverse socio-economic public school system, I value a strong public school education. The district I grew up in valued all students. My wife, Michele, and I chose Harrison because we wanted our children to be raised in a similar environment. I believe that our district should allow and encourage students of all calibers to reach their full potential.

Patch: Why have you decided to run for the Harrison Board of Education?

Singer: Having served as a school board trustee for the past nine years, I am running for re-election because I want to ensure that the progress the school district has made continues and that the doors of opportunity are open to all students at all ability levels. I first ran for the board nine years ago because I was frustrated; I believed that the potential for the Harrison school district was far greater than the perception and reality at the time. Of the many problems I found back then, the most disturbing to me was that the district suffered greatly from an embedded culture of low expectations for a wide swath of Harrison’s students. Too many students were not afforded sufficient opportunities to achieve and excel.

High expectations for all students and high expectations for all who work for the schools has really been my mission on the school board.  I am running for re-election because I am passionately committed to seeing this progress continue. The first six years of my tenure on the board was aimed at creating a long term strategic plan aimed at improving the educational program for entire school system: from curriculum and instruction to the business functions of the district. The last three years I worked at creating sustainability on the board and throughout the school system and worked to ensure that educational opportunities were open to all students. 

For the next three years I want to make sure that we continue to increase educational opportunities for all students at all ability levels — and I want the district to maintain the belief that if you raise expectations for students they rise to the occasion. Our mission is to prepare students for a world beyond Harrison High School — and that means we need to adhere our educational program to national and international standards — with the capstone for the high school being the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Program.

Joseph: Over the last decade, our District has made many significant improvements. However, we can not rest on past successes. I believe that there is more progress to be made. My opponent is running for his fourth term and has already been on the board for nine years. He will no longer have children in the district before the end of the new term. It is time for him to pass the baton. Sometimes it is difficult to make adjustments to a program that you were instrumental in developing. There is a need for fresh eyes and an open mind to help assess where we are and where we are going. We should not rest on our laurels. My vested interest is the education of our children. 

I frequently attend PTA meetings, Board meetings and District events. I have coached many of my children’s sports teams. For a number of years, I served as a board member and Treasurer of a large Manhattan coop apartment building. I believe in getting involved. After studying the available school data and talking to several board and administration members, I decided that I can make a real difference in furthering our progress. As an experienced attorney, I will ask the tough questions and analyze all information.

Patch: Briefly describe your platform; what should voters know you stand for as a prospective Board of Education trustee?

Singer:

• I am passionately committed to seeing continuous improvement in the Harrison Central School District.
• I am passionately committed to ensuring that doors of opportunity remain open for students of all ability levels.
• I am committed to the school district’s four key principles: equity, access, rigor and adaptability. I believe each and every child's potential is limitless. 
• I believe that education is less about preparing your child for a test and more about preparing them for college and life.
• I believe that when children are given the opportunity to excel, they will. These are the fundamental beliefs that guide my service as a trustee on the Harrison Board of Education

Joseph: Our administration and many supporters of the board have stated that we should be doing better. One of the most vocal supporters of the administration recently said at a board meeting that there is as much work to do over the next nine years as has been done over the last nine years. Although we are uncomfortable talking about external indications of success, they are very important. Standardized test scores matter. Our children are compared to other children when applying to colleges. The scores also show whether our children are learning the subject matter. We should not hurt any student just to raise our scores. Some say that we are unique and we can not be compared to other Districts. Some others say that scores don't matter. Are those people really being honest with themselves?

I believe that each student is different just like each one of my children is unique. All students must have the opportunity to succeed. I am in favor of open doors and open enrollment. I am in favor of more choices for our students. I am in favor of understanding what other school districts are doing well and incorporating their best practices. I believe that a good board needs members who think independently. Differing views creates a healthy debate.

Patch: What would you bring to the Board of Education? What skill set do you offer?

Singer: Seventeen years of experience working with the Harrison Central School District including nine years of service on the school board. I have served as  a trustee on the Harrison Board of Education with two years of service as vice president and three years of service as board president.  I have a deep understanding of the Harrison school system — both as a father and as a volunteer in the schools. I’ve seen both the best and the worst of the school system, and know how to respond to both. I provide seasoned passion and experience — and a sense of history — that has and will continue to prove invaluable to my colleagues on the board, the district and the community.  I want to ensure that where there are successes in our district program and curriculum – that we expand those successes to more students; where there are deficiencies, I want to attack them and oversee the right fixes — rather than exclude students from opportunities.

Joseph: My opponent is running for his fourth term and has already been on the board for nine years. He will no longer have children in the district before the end of the new term. It is time for him to pass the baton. Sometimes it is difficult to make adjustments to a program that you were instrumental in developing. There is a need for fresh eyes and an open mind to help assess where we are and where we are going. We should not rest on our laurels. My vested interest is the education of our children.

I frequently attend PTA meetings, board meetings and district events. I have coached many of my children’s sports teams. For a number of years, I served as a board member and treasurer of a large Manhattan coop apartment building. I believe in getting involved. After studying the available school data and talking to several board and administration members, I decided that I can make a real difference in furthering our progress. As an experienced attorney, I will ask the tough questions and analyze all information.

Patch: If you could change one thing about this district what would it be?

Singer: I would like to see our school district move away from relying solely on the property tax to fund our children’s education. I would prefer to see some sort of a broader base of funding. Of course this requires reform in Albany. In addition — approximately 18 percent of our school budget is devoted to funding unfunded or underfunded state mandates. Our superintendent and my board colleagues have been at the forefront of the fight to roll back these mandates. In Harrison, we have had budgets below Governor Cuomo’s proposed 2 percent tax cap for the last two years, and the budget for next year likewise is well below the proposed tax cap (which is based on the tax levy – not the tax rate).  But Albany must stop imposing obligations on local school districts without providing full funding.  It’s woefully inadequate for Albany to merely stop  future unfunded mandates — there must be a rollback of existing mandates. Only then would any sort of a tax cap make sense.

Joseph: After being as involved as I have been for the last few months, the one thing that I feel strongly needs to change is the refusal of the administration, some of our board members and a small segment of our residents to listen to questions or ideas that are slightly different than their own. I believe that an open exchange of ideas is critical to the success of many organizations, including our schools. I have spoken to numerous community members, some who I know were supporting the incumbents and others who will be supporting me. Almost everyone was open to discussion. Some are not. It does not make sense to me and it is not good for our children. One woman I approached angrily said she was not interested in talking to me. I asked her if she even knew what I stand for. She said yes and was absolutely incorrect. We wound up having a cordial conversation. Maybe she will vote for me, maybe she will not, but we wound up having a conversation. Isn’t that what is important?

Patch: Name one issue you intend to address in the next three years, how do you plan to do so?

Singer: Continue to examine and re-examine all facets of the school district operations to develop efficiencies in how the district functions, and continue to review and vet allocation of resources. We froze spending on the current year’s budget back in February, resulting in the ability of the district to pass onto the taxpayer $3.4 million as a reduction in the tax rate for Harrison residents for next year’s budget. In addition, over the past three years many capital projects that would have normally been contracted out have been performed in house by the district maintenance and facilities staff — resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings.

Harrison led an effort with surrounding schools districts to form the Sound Shore Consortium – which cooperatively goes into the market for services, such as special education services, athletic equipment and other cooperative ventures. Through this venture, Harrison  is able to purchase goods and services at costs substantially below those provided through BOCES. We can greatly expand this practice with the consortium and possibly bring this to other areas of the district’s operations, such as transportation. 

 We have also embarked on a series of public private partnerships with institutions and organizations for the completion and delivery of capital projects that are not taxpayer funded expenses; this includes many projects with the Harrison Educational Foundation, including:

• Renovation and development of the Harrison Performing Arts Center — as well as the Black Box Theater and Planetarium at the High School. 
• In partnership with New York State and the Educational Foundation, we renovated high school chemistry labs. 
• In partnership with the Harrison Athletic Facilities Citizen’s Organization and a generous contribution from the McGillicuddy family, we were able to deliver a turf athletic field at the high school.

I want to pursue more of these kinds of partnerships so that we can provide great academic and extra-curricular offerings to our students and community — but at lesser burden to the property taxpayer.

Joseph: I believe that each student is different just like each one of my children is unique. All students must have the opportunity to succeed. I am in favor of open doors and open enrollment. I am in favor of more choices for our students. I am in favor of understanding what other school districts are doing well and incorporating their best practices. I believe that a good board needs members who think independently. Differing views creates a healthy debate. I think that working together with these ideals we will succeed. Our kids deserve it.

Patch: Do you believe in cut scores for advanced classes at the high school level? What are your thoughts about open enrollment? What would you change about the current pathway system at Harrison High School?

Singer: We have successfully eliminated cut score or GPA predicates for a student who wishes to challenge himself or herself by taking either an AP class or an IB class. And unlike our opponents, I would never agree to go back to some form of old or new way to preclude students from taking any course of study. I believe that the decision to take an AP or IB class must be left with the student, the parent, the teacher and the student’s guidance counselor. I know of countless examples where  students in Harrison have performed and achieved well — but would otherwise have been shut out under a tracked system. If Harrison adopts some form of tracking or ability grouping – kids will be harmed.  

The current pathway system is constantly evolving: We now have an applied math strand at the high school that we did not have two years ago; with the introduction of the IB program, students may choose to undertake the Diploma Program – or they can take individual IB courses and obtain an IB certificate for each class.  Moreover, students can elect to take either high level IB courses or standard level courses — which, in effect, is an honors curriculum but wholly recognized by colleges and universities nationally and internationally.

There are also wide variety of pathways for students that may not be so inclined to take either AP or IB classes. For example, the high school offers a rich array of business classes, where students can obtain college credit through a collaboration with Westchester Community College. And all pathways and offerings are constantly under review so that the academic course offerings are aimed at preparing our students for college readiness and life beyond Harrison High School.

Joseph: No. I do not believe in the use of cut scores. I believe in open enrollment. I would add more choices. I believe we can do that without additional expense. I believe that it would help all of our students. I believe that each student is different just like each one of my children is unique. I would allow the students to tailor their education to their needs more than we currently allow. There seem to be a number of choices in some grades and some subject areas and limited or no choices in others.

Patch: Describe your feelings toward the way Harrison has budgeted in the past, would you eliminate more to reduce the taxpayer burden or bring back some of the programs recently affected by cuts? What would you like to see more money invested in? What would you like to see less money invested in?

Singer: I want to continue to ensure that our school budget is allocated and focused on efficiently delivering the best quality education to our students.

Within the past year, we have been able to re-open our teacher contract and administrator contracts and cut costs and slow down the rates of the highest growth components of our school budget – for this year and next year alone saving over $2 million. We have obtained substantial savings, with our employee groups agreeing to contribute more for health insurance — in service and in retirement; we have been able to slow down the long term rate of growth of salaries by stretching out steps in our teacher’s contract. The  superintendent agreed to freeze his salary for the second year in a row — and all administrators have agreed to a salary freeze.

Joseph: I believe that every dollar matters, particularly in this economic climate. Every dollar that our district spends is a dollar out of our residents’ pockets. Our per pupil costs are higher than our peers and in many cases, significantly higher. Why? I would look at all aspects of the budget to find inefficiencies and wasteful spending. I would never hurt the education of our children. I wonder how the district wound up this year with almost a $5 million budget surplus. If the budget this year is truly bare bones, aren’t we going to have a big deficiency next year? Is the budget sustainable?

I was shocked that our administration originally proposed a budget that eliminated summer school and a number of sports teams. Summer school helps our neediest learners and sports are important for a number of reasons. Although they were both added back, why were they on the chopping block to begin with? I would argue that there have to be other areas that could be cut.

If elected, I would review all of the larger ticket budget items line by line. I would then review the detail behind each of these items. I would like to understand how much the district spent for each of these items for the last several years. Instead of just basing the next year’s budget on the prior year’s budget, I would factor in line item savings achieved that year. I would consult with board members in other school districts and understand efficiencies and cost savings they were able to achieve.

I value our teachers. Our children need well qualified teachers. Our teachers work hard and seem to care very much about our children. The budget must allow the district to employ enough teachers and not cut any programs crucial to our children's education.

Patch: Harrison has recently been accepted as an International Baccalaureate school, do you support this move?

Singer: Yes – I totally support the introduction and implementation of the IB program in Harrison. The notion of bringing this program into Harrison was first explored in our 2003 Strategic Plan. The district has spent the better part of four years preparing the groundwork for the program’s introduction in the fall of 2011.   It’s an ideal, deeply enriched course of study with a profound focus on developing critical thinking skills — so important for our students to develop and master as we move into the 21st century. Moreover, it will serve as a great way to distinguish our students from other students in the New York metropolitan area; college and university admissions offices have nothing but the highest regard for the IB — in many instances preferring the IB course of study to the AP.

Joseph: We need to now focus on what our future will look like. How will the system work? Clearly the IB Diploma Program is very rigorous and respected. However, I understand that a minority of the students will be taking the IB Diploma Program. So what does our future look like for the majority of the students? We have been told that many of the AP classes will disappear. I was surprised that we would do that after spending the past 10 years significantly adding to our roster of AP classes offered. I researched the issue and believe that we can have the IB Program, a wide ranging AP Program and a challenging curriculum for those students who do not choose to pursue either IB or AP.

Perhaps these additional choices would allow our students to tailor their education to their individual needs. Are we harming some of our students by not allowing them to take the AP classes that are being taken away? Are we supporting and challenging the students who do not choose to pursue either IB or AP?

Patch: What additional ideas/changes would you consider bringing to the school district, if any?

Singer: We need to continuously improve all areas and facets of our school district and continue to review, analyze, evaluate and question everything and all that we undertake  with and for our students. My opponent in this school board race has never served on any school oriented committee or organization. His perspective on the school district is basically as a father of elementary school students — and everything else he knows is either hearsay or second hand. I have driven the work the school district has done with outside organizations to provide programs and facility enhancements to our schools — from my work on the Harrison Educational Foundation and Harrison Athletic Facilities Citizens Organization seeding the development of curricular and co-curricular programs that then find fruition in the school district — and facility enhancements such as the high school turf field.  I want to continue to explore expanding on these kinds of endeavors because we can no longer solely rely on our school tax dollars to fund everything we need. 

Joseph: Choices for all students. A board member who thinks independently.

Check back for a Q and A with the final two Board of Education candidates later this week.