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050704 Katonah-Lewisboro should not expand its school board
To the Editor:
Katonah-Lewisboro School District
The main reason that has been put forward for enlarging the Katonah-Lewisboro Board of Education from five to seven members is that the board members would get much more work done and not have to work as hard because they would be able to form various subcommittees of three members to specialize in various aspects of board business. If anything, the ability to form a number of subcommittees is a good reason not to go to seven members. The board members are not unanimous in favor of enlarging the board.
It is my opinion, borne out by experience, that all areas in which the board sets policy or makes decisions or deliberates on various maters of school activities should be considered by the board as a whole. Except in the rarest of circumstances, where subcommittees are employed,consisting of two members of a five member board or two or three members of a seven-member board, too much weight would be given to the opinions and recommendations of too few people. We know that some board members are stronger than others, some are more inquisitive and deliberative than others, some are more susceptible than others to what they are told by the district's administrators. It is human nature that the rest of the board will tend to simply ratify, or rubber-stamp, the decisions and recommendations of a subcommittee without all members giving the subject the full and equal deliberation and evaluation that each member should be required to give.
It may be that board members might spend less time on the job if subcommittees were the rule, but board members should not be concerned the job takes time. It is a job that often requires hard work and dedication. If a person wants the job mainly for the glory and bragging rights, and is not prepared to give the job what is required, that person will not be a good board member. For a board to be truly effective, each board member must participate fully in board matters and not sit back and just endorse the work done by a small subset of the board as a whole.
Vote no on Proposition 4 (which, if passed, would enlarge the board) and vote for the candidate who will be an independent but thorough board member. Remember, we don't need more; we need better. I am going to vote for Bruce Pavalow.
Spencer Dvorkin
Katonah
Mr Dvorkin is a former Katonah
Lewisboro school board
member