School Budget Vote Today

Today, Tuesday May 21 is election day in Scarsdale and Edgemont. Voters are at the polls to vote for or against the proposed school budget and to elect candidates to serve on the school board. In Scarsdale, the polls are open from 7 am to 9 pm at the Scarsdale Middle School and in Edgemont voting is taking place from 6 am to 9 pm in the Old Gym at Edgemont Junior/Senior High School.

For Scarsdale the proposed 2013-14 school budget is $145,286,213 which represents a 2.47% increase over the 2012-13 school budget of $141,790,579. As the budget exceeds the NYS tax cap by $701,267 it requires 60% voter approval to pass. If passed, the budget will raise taxes for Scarsdale residents by 3.91% and 4.0% for those in the Mamaroneck strip.

Though the inclusion in the budget of funding for a new wellness center in an unfinished space underneath the high school gym has been hotly debated, the $325,000 in additional cost represents only .2% of the budget. Far more significant are mandated increases in pension contributions of $2.4mm and employee health insurance at $825,000 which account for the lion's share of the growth in the budget. Other new items in the budget are two additions to the technology staff, security staff at the middle school and high school and funds to lease computers and purchase textbooks.

Also on the ballot are two new candidates up for election to the Scarsdale School Board for the first time, and a current school board member who is running for a second three-year term. The two new school board members will replace Board President Elizabeth Guggenheimer and Jill Spieler who have both served on the Board for six years.

Here is who you'll find on the ballot for Scarsdale School Board:

Bill Natbony is an attorney and a 21-year resident of Scarsdale. He and his wife Cheryl have four children; Josh who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012 and now works in New York City, Rachel, who attends the University of Delaware and Sam and Emily, both now at Scarsdale High School.

Natbony is a man of many talents and graduated as the valedictorian of the NYC School of Performing Arts in 1976. He was a child actor and member of Actor's Equity and Screen's Actor's Guild. He went on to Princeton University for his BA and then to Georgetown where he earned his law degree. During law school he taught a course in Street Law at a public high school in Washington D.C.

Commenting on his nomination, Natbony said, "I am honored that the Nominating Committee has selected me as a candidate for the Scarsdale Board of Education. If elected, I look forward to collaborating with my fellow Board members, community residents and school representatives in order to preserve and improve our school system, which is one of the most valuable assets of our community."

Lee Shames Maude is "honored and excited" to be selected as a nominee for the Scarsdale School Board. She has lived in Fox Meadow for twelve years and has a daughter in fifth grade at the Fox Meadow School and a son who is a junior at Scarsdale High School. After a 28-year career as a corporate credit analyst, she turned to volunteer work and has served extensively in the Fox Meadow School and the community.

She is currently on the executive committee of the Fox Meadow PTA and co-chaired the fall benefit, the staff appreciation lunch, pizza day and new families orientation. She serves as the treasurer of the Fox Meadow Neighborhood Association, leads a monthly conversation class for non-native speakers and is also Co-Chair of the Monthly Mitzvah Committee at Westchester Reform Temple.

She has an undergraduate degree from Union College and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Board of Education Vice President Suzanne Seiden is on the ballot for a second three-year term on the School Board. In her first term Seiden has been an active board member and currently serves as Vice President. With children still in the schools and an impressive resume of school volunteer positions she has lent a parent's perspective to board discussions and advocated maintaining class sizes and adequate district staffing.

Prior to serving on the school board, Seiden was a tireless volunteer at all levels of the Scarsdale school system and the community and served as President of the Middle School and Quaker Ridge PTA.

She served as co-chair of the PT Council Young Writers' Conference and as co-chair of the Scarsdale Schools Bond Committee in which she helped organize and lead the community's efforts to pass a bond to support necessary construction on the Quaker Ridge School. She subsequently served the Quaker Ridge PTA president-elect and president where, among other efforts, she worked with the other PTAs to change the funding of elementary school playgrounds.

Following her experience at the elementary school level, Ms. Seiden served as the President-elect and then President of the Middle School PTA where she focused on encouraging empathy and implemented a new fundraising program for the school. She has also had leadership roles on the Scarsdale Task Force on Drugs and Alcohol. In addition to her activities with our schools, she has volunteered on a number of community organizations including with the UJA Federation, Scarsdale League of Women Voters, and Temple Israel Center.

All three candidates will be on the ballot on Tuesday, May 21, when the community will elect school board members and vote on the 2013-2014 school budget from 7 am to 9 pm in the gym at Scarsdale Middle School. All registered voters are encouraged to participate.