Westchester School Districts to Merge (New York, New Rochelle: house, luxury, property taxes)

[havoc315]

Journal News
White Plains, New York

Given the dire situation in regards to school funding, the Westchester County Executive, in conjunction with the school superintendents across the county, announced plans for countywide school mergers. Most Westchester school districts will be affected, starting in the 2009-2010 school year.

Westchester is largely known for its small locality-based school districts. County Executive Andy Spano stated, "Schools across the county are facing budget crises. Small school districts is a luxury that the county can no longer afford."

It was estimated that to maintain current levels of school funding under the current system, property taxes would need to be raised by 20-30% across the county. Merging of school districts together will allow for considerable savings, as facilities and staff are reduced.

Though the complete list of mergers will be announced within the next thirty days, some of the district lines have already been announced and schools are prepared for the changes. Scarsdale is to merge with New Rochelle, Rye with Harrison, Rye Brook with Port Chester, Ardsley with Elmsford, and Chappaqua with Ossining. Tarrytown, Irvington, Dobbs Ferry, and Hastings on Hudson are expected to form a new Rivertowns School District.

Reaction in the community is mixed. April Loofster of Ardsley stated, "We intentionally bought a home in a prestigious school district for the sake of our three children. It's not fair, that now their school district is just going to be mixed with lesser districts."

Many residents support the plan. Phil Aprille of White Plains said, "It's about time something was done to bring property taxes under control. And this will force Westchester kids to experience more diversity."

[Dockside]

Hmmm. What day of the week is today?

[AurorainTarrytown]

LOL! Well done!

[cali_to_nj]

I must admit I almost started to panic and I'm not even moved to NY yet. Can only imagine what those Scarsdale moms would do reading this... Bravo!

[jackny]

where can I find the announcement? it will affect the house price a lot.

[MCB0B]

In Westchester, with school districts so important, that was a cruel April Fools Joke. My twisted sense of humor absolutely loved it.

[jackny]

I could not belive it was a joke. I even have asked my realtor about that.

[7 Wishes]

I realized when I saw the date and some of the mergings proposed that this is a big April Fools joke, but it struck quite a chord with me.

Sadly, while this could help to some extent in many waya, this will never happen. Too much of the structure of these districts is to be "exclusive" and keep people "out" (and I don't just mean the obvious, in many other ways as well).

Even (maybe especially) in this economy, this is becoming an area where you have to be a doctor, lawyer, or high executive to live even modestly, even in "not as exclusive" areas.

[Minathebrat]

From what I've read, the state is only encouraging districts with less than 1000 kids to merge, which would definitely not affect Scarsdale or New Rochelle...lol. Elmsford and Tuckahoe are two districts that I know of that are that small though. I know that this is supposed to be ways to save money on property/school tax, however the actual savings seem rather small and not across the board. Next idea?

[Ekulu]

lol.