Pine Bush Central School District - Rethinking How We Do Things

Our school district, the Pine Bush Central School District, is in the process of formulating a budget for the next school year. Like many school districts in New York state and I am sure across the country, Pine Bush Central School District is faced with severe cuts in income through lowered contributions by the state and lowered tax income. There are several options being considered. It seems that one of the options is to cut services to the bone. This would eliminate many programs that help to keep our children involved in school. The quality of our schools affects our property values in the district. It is important to keep our school's reputation intact. Well I think it is time to rethink how we do things.

You see it is not about cutting this program and slashing that one it is about finding a way to deliver the same service for less. In the real estate business most of the Brokers have made adjustments in their business plans or they have gone out of business. In my brokerage we have cut down to two main offices from the five locations we had during the peek of the market. We have cut down on administrative assistants and the broker has asked the agents and associates in the office to contribute towards a marketing budget. We are still providing the same service for our clients but we have cut back on expenses and found more effective ways of doing things. The schools need to do the same.

Can we rethink the status quo and come up with creative solutions that allow our kids to continue to get the quality educational opportunities and the rich extra curricular programs? I believe it is possible. It will take everyone working together, the school board, administrative staff, teachers, community, students, and parents. It will take creative minds and a willingness to do things in a different way but it can work.

I hope that you all will come out for some of the upcoming Budget Forums or Board of Ed Meetings. This week there is Two Budget Forums on Monday and Wednesday nights at 6:00 PM at Circleville Middle School and a Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM at Circleville Middle School. We can do this for the district and for the kids.