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When we moved to New York five years ago, the factor that most influenced the location we chose was the quality of the school district. Having lived in several states and overseas, we are keenly aware of the differences in public school systems. In California, for instance, our children attended private school, since the public school system ranked 47th in the country. This is a state that once boasted the best school system in the country. However, thanks to Proposition 13, there has been a lack of tax money for schools, which in turn has had a devastating impact on the quality of education. Not only are the school buildings substandard and overcrowded but the schools can no longer offer music, art, or even bussing to students. They are forced to use outdated textbooks, and many of the teachers are under qualified. Therefore, when looking for a house, we understood that the trade-off of a rural setting with little commercial tax base would mean higher taxes for a quality education.
Our neighboring towns continue to support their schools in providing whatever it takes to keep their children competitive in our increasingly demanding world. We do not want to be singled out as a district that does not support its schools. Lack of funds will erode the quality of education, and it will most certainly result in the erosion of housing value. If you don't support the school budget, think about the impact that a school budget defeat will eventually have on the value of your home. Last year, Katonah-Lewisboro was one of only two districts among the 45 in Westchester that did not support their schools. Your capital investment is at risk if we allow this to happen again.
Vote `yes' for
Katonah-Lewisboro
Proposition 3
To the Editor:
For , several years the KatonahLewisboro School District has needed to do repairs on roofs at three of its schools: John Jay High School, John Jay Middle School, and Meadow Pond Elementary School. Over the last two years, bonds that would have funded these repairs were rejected by voters. When parts of the roof at John Jay High School failed this past year, funds from other important maintenance projects had to be diverted to pay for repairs of the roof.
We urge voters to vote "yes" for Proposition 3 in this year's school budget. The $500,000 in funds will be directed specifically toward repairing the roofs at John Jay Middle School and Meadow Pond Elementary School. Due to the availability of low interest rates, it is not only timely but prudent that we repair the roofs at this time. The repayment schedule at 2 percent interest calls for the retirement of this debt in five years.
Whatever your opinion may be on school taxes, the value of this proposition is to protect the district's structural assets. To ignore these expenses now opens us up to the potential of higher expenses in the future.