Somers Board of Education weighs in on ‘regionalization’

SOMERS, N.Y. - The Somers school district has moved to ensure that it will have a say in the state Education Department’s so-called “regionalization” plan.

After discussing the pros and cons of actively participating in the controversial initiative, the Board of Education last week took a straw poll of trustees to see if they’d vote for or against opting out. (This was done with the knowledge that the school district could dive back in at any time during the process or actual implementation.)

However, by not completing a “strengths and needs” survey or subsequently convening with the 17 other component districts in Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES’ bailiwick, its “voice” wouldn’t be heard from the very beginning, according to Interim Superintendent Harry LeFevre.

The upshot of the unformal ballot taken Tuesday, Jan. 6, was that four members would have voted against the opt-out resolution – had it been presented – while two would have been for it, and one would have abstained from voting.

As defined by the NYSED, the regionalization initiative rolled out in September “is a collaborative regional planning approach for local districts to communicate what they need in order to ensure equitable educational opportunities for all students, leveraging the state’s existing capabilities, talents, and infrastructure.”

By engaging in regional conversations, schools and districts can “identify, explore, and choose” possible solutions to academic and operational challenges by “tapping into the full span of resources” that exist in their particular regions, it said.

The term “regionalization” itself spurred some confusion, which resulted in concerns from parents and schools about the potential loss of local control and impact on the quality of education.

Lack of transparency was another issue cited by folks claiming that the plan lacks clear details and that it was launched without the proper outreach.

Defending the plan, state education officials said it aims to help local districts share resources to address disparities and increase opportunities for students, that it asks districts to fill out a survey about their “strengths and needs,” and that, most importantly, that the plan is “voluntary” and district are not required to participate against their will.

The district echoed this in a post on its website under the “Current Topics” tab.

The state initiative is, it read, “a collaborative regional planning approach for local districts to communicate what they need in order to address student needs and operational efficiencies, grounded in a process of periodic needs assessment and cross-district conversations.”

It is NOT about reorganization – ie. mergers, consolidations, or annexations – nor does it “mandate” that district participate in particular activities under a regional plan.

The district also recognized that there’s “not a one-size-fits-all approach to creating opportunities for students.”

The state’s “educational landscape already features many different examples of partnerships across schools and districts as well as existing regional infrastructure that offers support” – BOCES, for example, it said.

Outcomes and action items from these planning conversations will – naturally –vary from region to region,” building upon the strengths inherent in local communities and reflecting innovative ideas from the individuals who live in them,” according to the district.

In December, the NYSED clarified the initiative’s regulations by saying that districts can opt out by notifying it. (That would take a formal vote by an individual school board.)

There are 37 Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in New York. These partner with nearly all of the state’s school districts on programs and services.

“Basically, what it’s (the plan’s) saying that the component districts in each of the 37 different BOCES need to look at how they might be able to work together better to serve the students in their district,” LeFevre explained, adding that they are already collaborating very well and “will continue to do so.”

He also noted that state education chief Betty A. Rosa had last month held a “town hall” meeting at the Yorktown BOCES to answer questions about pressing topics such as the regionalization initiative.

Close to 200 school superintendents, administrators, school board members, and public officials attended.

Blaming the pushback on misinformation and “mal-information,” Rosa told the gathering that it was never the state’s intention to “force” districts to participate in the plan and that if districts didn’t have to be part of it if they didn’t want to, lohud.com reported.

According to LeFevre, one of the attendees, Rosa highlighted the “excellent work” that been accomplished due to the collaboration of Ossining’s, Tarrytown’s, and Peekskill’s school superintendents over the past several years.

(Trustees who also took part were BOE President Amanda Kandel, Margaret DiLorenzo and Patrick Varbero.)

The “genesis” of the regionalization initiative was “to look at ways to preserve or expand opportunities for all students while facing potential reductions in state aid to school districts,” he said.

Of particular concern are new recommendations by an Albany-based think tank that could change the “Foundation Aid” formula in order to make it the dividing up of the money (about $25 billion) more impartial and just.

“Foundation Aid” is the primary source of state aid for school districts.

Last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed reducing “Foundation Aid” by eliminating the “Save Harmless” clause.

That would have impacted almost 50 percent of the 700 school districts in New York, Somers included.

“The possibility still exists this year,” LeFevre warned, pointing out that Somers had not yet received the “preliminary numbers for state aid, particularly Foundation Aid.”

Calling it a “difficult situation,” the superintendent said Somers is starting to build its budget without that crucial information and is aware that it might not get as much aid as it has in the past.

As far as transparency is concerned, LeFevre said, there was a 60-day public comment period that followed “the notice of emergency adoption and proposed rulemaking” proposal submitted to the Board of Regents’ P-12 Education in September.

The state Education Department received over 9,500 comments on the proposed amendment. As a result, “some non-substantial revisions were made to the proposal,” he said.

The state also recognized that “there was a lot of misinformation and mal-information about the initiative being spread on social media,” LeFevre added.

In reaction, the NYSED posted documents addressing the regionalization issue – including a FAQ and a PowerPoint presentation – on its website.

The same can be seen on the district’s website by accessing the “Our District” menu and clicking on the “Current Topics” tab.

That information was “reiterated and confirmed” by Rosa at last month’s “town hall” meeting, he said.

LeFevre recommended that the “district continue to move forward” with the regionalization process.

That means Somers has to complete its “strengths and needs” survey and take part in the “convenings at Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES,” he said.

Kandel estimated that, as of that moment in time, at least 70 percent of the 18 component districts have completed the survey.

The rest are probably waiting to see how their school boards handle the opt-out option, LeFevre guessed.

Somers administrators have already been busy filling out the survey and it should be completed by the submittal deadline, he said.

LeFevre said he saw the potential benefits of the district’s getting its two cents in early and that he didn’t see anything that would be “detrimental” to it “as this point.”

Kandel emphasized repeatedly during the meeting that the district doesn’t have to agree to any part of the plan that it doesn’t feel is a good fit.

Trustees Weigh In

DiLorenzo

DiLorenzo praised Rosa for “doing an excellent job” of explaining the state initiative at the “town hall” meeting.

“I liked the way regionalization could really help small school districts in New York and help them have a power of one with their resources,” especially those that need “more (of the) collective wisdom that our larger school districts have,” she said.

DiLorenzo also said she like the fact that Somers can, at some point, “decide whether it’s for us or not.”
Regionalization, in some form, it already taking place through the district’s sports programs, its partnership with PNWBOCES, and its “really good relationships” it has with neighboring school districts, she said, adding: “Let’s get it moving.”

Varbero

Varbero said one of the NYSED’s deputy commissioners had assured him that Somers would be able to opt out of “the entire process” without repercussions and that if it did that now, “it could always get back into it later on.”

Pointing out that the district is currently in a “transition period” and that it needs to first focus on finding a new superintendent so it can “be back to where it needs to be,” he thought that wasn’t a “bad idea.”

Last spring, longtime Somers schools chief Dr. Ray Blanch had sought an extension of his five-year contract. The school board never voted on it.

Subsequently, he resigned and took the superintendent’s job in the neighboring district of Katonah-Lewisboro.

LeFevre, who had been Somers’s interim director of human resources and student services, stepped in to fill the void until a permanent replacement could be found.

“I personally think opting out now would be okay. Let that ball get rolling on their end. See how things turn out. We could always jump back in at a later point,” Varbero said.

Kandel

Kandel had a different take.

“My point is that it doesn’t really commit us to anything if we continue on in the process,” she said, adding that all opting out would do “is take us away from the table.”

To Kandel, it was “clear” that the plan is neither a reorganization nor a merger of school districts.

“If that’s what was happening, I wouldn’t be for that at all,” she said.

Kandel reiterated that participating in the planning process doesn’t commit the district to anything in the plan.

“It seems to be a formalization of the process we’re already doing, and in a more systemic way. Our region is a very active region where a lot of this work is already being done,” Kandel said, pointing to the “great opportunities” already available through PNWBOCES.

“Those are programs we wouldn’t be able to provide at Somers high school, on our smaller scale, so who knows?” she added.

The other takeaway for Kandel was that there’s a “second step in the process,” namely that it gives districts the chance to tell Albany exactly what things they would prioritize if the “had the resources to do them.”

School leaders could have an official mechanism for putting their heads together and deciding what’s “appropriate” for their particular regions, she explained.

Kandel pointed out that the state’s “very big” and needs and wants of its communities can vary widely.

“I don’t see the downside of staying in right now,” she said.

Olsen 

Trustee Chadwick Olsen acknowledged that “there have been concerns about erosion of local control.”

However, the district’s attorney has reviewed all the materials and determined that there’s no requirement for “us to pay for other districts’ services” and so forth, he said.

While agreeing that it’s important that the district has its voice heard during the initial part of the regionalization process, Olsen asked for a concrete example of how the district could benefit.

LaFevre couldn’t cite specific details, but did reference BOCES having an expansion plan “in the works” that could eventually “have some input for Somers.”

Kandel noted that the plan’s collaborative goals aren’t limited to P-12 school districts, but that the state was weighing partnering with colleges and organizations as well.

DeMartino

Trustee Dominick DeMartino pointed out that DiLorenzo had mentioned the plan might “be more beneficial to smaller, more rural, school districts.”

He was concerned that those might be given more priority over districts like Somers which have “larger budgets and stronger tax bases” when the state is doling out aid dollars.

Telling DeMartino that other districts, whether big or small, “would have their own regionalization plans,” LeFevre asserted that “they would NOT impact us.”

“We are part of the 18 components districts in PNWBOCES and we put our plan together for us,” he explained.

If Southern Westchester BOCES, Rockland BOCES, and PNWBOCES, decided to get together, that would be part of the convening process, LeFevre said, reiterating that “by participating in those meetings, we would have a voice.”

Chang 

Trustee Dr. Ifay Chang pointed out that the mere fact that the board is “debating” the regionalization issue means -- to him -- that “the term is not well defined.”

Wanting something “more concrete,” he suggested that the district wouldn’t really lose anything if, at this point, it says: “No, forget about it.”

Kandel countered that regionalization “is defined in the regulations.”

However, she allowed that “everybody agrees that it was a poor choice of words” that caused some folks to wrongly equate the initiative with concepts such as mergers and reorganizations.

“That’s not what it is, but the horse had already left the barn” by the time the initiative was made public and the state wasn’t definitely not keen about “rebranding” its whole campaign, Kandel said.

Mundis 

Weighing in last, Trustee Daryl Mundis said he didn’t see the benefit of pulling the plug at this point “if the district could opt out at any time.”

“It doesn’t take away any authority. It doesn’t take away any control,” he said.

Kandel echoed that, saying: “It doesn’t cost us anything to be part of the conversation.”

Persisting, Varbero asked why Somers has to take part in a regionalization plan if the districts under PNWBOCES’ umbrella are already collaborating.

“We’re not gaining or losing anything by do doing it,” he insisted.

“We could be losing by not doing it” because the district’s voice wouldn’t be part of the founding conversations, LeFevre countered.

Moving Forward 

More opinions were expressed when it came time for the board to decide whether it wanted to formally vote to opt out.

DeMartino said he felt like the NYSED was “playing a game” by setting a deadline for districts to act on regionalization before “Foundation Aid” funding was revealed.

“I don’t like that and if we were to vote, I’d say ‘no,’ he said.

LeFevre pointed out that the state had “dragged out” the “Foundation Aid” thing last year, long before the initiative was rolled out, while Kandel acknowledged DeMartino’s concerns but nevertheless asked him to understand that “Foundation Aid” “is not tied in any way, shape, or form to any kind of plan, action, or activities.

As far as she was concerned, the state was looking to see if school districts “could maybe save money in the long run” by working together.

This is especially important considering the new graduation measures coming up, Kandel noted.

(New York is proposing to change its high school graduation requirements to focus on proficiency in key areas, rather than on the Regents exam. They are expected to take effect in the fall of 2027.)

Kandel took a “straw poll” of board members.

Indicating they would vote “yes” for a resolution opting the district out of the regionalization plan were Varbero and DeMartino.

On the “no” side were Olsen, Kandel, DiLorenzo, and Mundis.

Chang said he would abstain.

The resolution was not presented to the board, meaning that, as far as the state was concerned, Somers is in – at least for now.