Board of Education - Contact (District Clerk):  631-9404

B. Joseph Lillis,President
Vincent Nadile, Vice President
Sheila J.Conklin, Trustee
Mimi Godwin, Trustee
Craig Laub, Trustee
Paul Rode, Trustee
Katharine M. Swibold, Trustee

Email the Board @ boe@tufsd.org

Message from the Board President

The Year Ahead

I am pleased to report the school year has gotten off to a strong start. Routines have been established in classrooms across the District. Teachers and students are getting down to serious learning. As it does each year, the Board has established an ambitious set of goals that will form the framework for the progress the District plans to make this year. It will be a very busy year.

In Dr. Smith’s remarks in this newsletter he discusses the changes to the professional performance review process (APPR … there is an acronym for nearly everything in education) that all school districts in New York must adopt. What metrics determine teacher and administrator effectiveness? A major component of the process will be the use of student performance data for a portion of the assessment. Much about this implementation is unclear at this point. However, the superintendent and assistant superintendent will be working closely with the building principals, the professional staff, the administrators’ union and the teachers’ union to develop the guidelines.

On the curriculum front, this year the District will focus on its mathematics and arts programs. Remaining current with the constantly evolving field of mathematics education will ensure our student population is exposed to “best in class” mathematics teaching. It is particularly important for us to make certain we are challenging students at all ability levels in a subject that is so critical to the success of America in the 21^st century. With respect to the arts, it has been many years since the District took a systematic look at the arts program. Yet another committee will focus on homework. The District has never taken a comprehensive look at this important topic. The policy recommendations from this committee will be of interest to everyone in the community including parents, teachers, interested residents, and above all our students.

 It has been nearly four years since the recession began in December 2007. Much has changed nationally, internationally and locally since then. Public schools across the United States have been forced to retrench. In this environment preserving quality programs will continue to be a principal objective of the Board. Over the last several years, you have watched the District restructure its operations. Each year the schools have had to do more with fewer financial resources. The District has implemented these changes as transparently as possible, with community input whenever possible. Going forward, the Board’s commitment to you is that the District will continue to be as financially transparent as we are able to be.

A new and significant feature of our fiscal landscape came on the scene earlier this year when Property Tax Cap legislation was enacted into law by New York State. This legislation is a game-changer and will require each municipality and school district in New York to live within a 2% tax levy increase limit unless it is willing to get a 60% supermajority of votes to override the cap. It is important to note that the cap controls only the revenue side of the District’s budget, providing no relief from expensive spending mandates that have pushed school spending to the levels that exist today. Serious pension and healthcare reform would help control costs significantly as would changes to the Wickes Law that inflates construction spending and the Triborough Amendment that perpetuates provisions in expiring labor contracts. 

In this environment managing existing financial resources wisely is paramount. In a school district that means managing staffing wisely. We have an experienced and talented staff of professional and support staff in the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns. The Board will be working with them this year to establish a financial structure for the District that will be sustainable in the years ahead.