Answers will appear in the column below.

We will try to answer as many of your questions as time permits.

Q:	Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. It is important for the community to hear from the school board.

A:

Thank you for giving us the opportunity. The school board agrees 100% with your statement. It is important for the community to hear from the school board. But, we add, it is just as important for the school board to hear from the community. One of the Board's primary non-academic goals is to cultivate two way communication with the community.

Q:	In what ways is the Board trying to improve communication with the community?

A:

Historically, the Board primarily used its public meetings, mailings, local media coverage and, more recently, its website to disseminate information. The board recognizes that it needs to proactively push information out to the community, it needs to make information and data easily accessible, and it needs to pursue additional means of electronic communication. First, the communication committee is overseeing a complete redesign of the district's website. The new site will be a portal to the district, to district information and district resources. The home page will be more user friendly. Second, we are trying to be more "user friendly" as a whole. Last year, then President Jay Shapiro, restructured the Board's public meetings so that the academic and budget presentations to the board and community went first on the agenda. This simple change allowed for community members to better participate in and to better plan their attendance at meetings. Shortly, we will be upgrading our recording equipment so that video of our meetings played by NCCTV on cable and on-line will be more easily viewed. Third, we are trying to use email blasts to disseminate information to the community. For example, we are sending out an email blast reminding the community of Tuesday's board meeting and letting them know that the meeting's presentation will be a preliminary budget discussion. We know that the information is already published on our website, but our site is not yet a destination and we need to proactively inform the community. Anyone can sign up for these emails by going to the district website at www.ccsd.ws. Fourth, we have taken several small steps to make the board and district more accessible. We have set up an "AskTthe District" email (AsktheDistrict@ccsd.ws, natch) for the community to be able to ask any question of the district without having to get up in a public meeting. We will answer any question we can. Additionally, we have recorded the first of several public service announcement s to be played on NCCTV giving information to the community. We plan on using those announcements to disseminate information on current board agenda items, to do a video based version of AskTheDistrict and to generally reach out to the community. As always, communication is a continuous ongoing process that needs to be worked on and proactively pursued. The Board is ready and willing to work with the community on this.

Q:	With respect to the budget, can you tell us what the board is considering or aiming for this year? What will David Fleishman and John Chow be presenting on Tuesday?

A:

We cannot give you a direct answer to the first part of the question. Would that we could. By law, all of the Board's discussions but for a very limited number of exceptions such as legal or personnel matters are held in public. This is the first meeting on the budget. It is a preliminary meeting too. My personal expectations are that each Board member will listen to the presentation, will listen to the public comments, ask their own questions and then give guidance to the administration on areas to review for efficiencies, on programs to review and consider for changes and give feedback on if and how to use district reserve funds. One budget item in particular that we have not communicated with the district effectively is that the district starts with a zero based budget and builds it from the bottom up. Obviously, there are certain required items and certain academic requirements that make a base minimum budget, but discretionary spending is reviewed annually. Discretionary spending is anything above state mandates. On Tuesday, the baseline presented budget will be one that assumes all programs remain the same as this year. David and John will present to the Board the background known and necessary for the Board to be able to give the administration preliminary guidance on developing a budget. In January, there may be additional guidance or questions from the Board. In February, the administration will make a presentation of its initial budget based on Board guidance. From that point, through a series of public meetings, the Board will seek and receive community feedback and work with the administration to develop a final budget which will be voted on by the community in May.

Q:	How will this year's process differ from last year's process?

A:

The budget development process itself will not change much at all. The district follows state mandated procedures in the actual development. However, what the Board would like to change is the amount of community feedback and input. In these tough economic times, developing a budget is really about understanding community values. Tough choices may have to be made. We certainly would like to hear from the community what they value in a Chappaqua education. Our goal is to include as much as the community as possible in giving us that feedback. Last year, there was a core group of community members who were very active in the discussion. This year we would like to expand that circle outward and include more members of the community. Participation in the discussion does not have to only come at public meetings. Send the Board emails (Board@ccsd.ws), write us letters, stop us in the grocery, make yourself heard. One of the difficulties of last year's process was communicating that we have many constituencies with different agendas. One simple measure of the success of the process is the vote itself. I am proud that last year's budget passed with a record 82% of the voters voting yes.