Be An Informed Voter

This is a critical time for the future of our school district and our community. We cannot go back, but we must move forward. As the board of education and administration make plans to present a capital project bond referendum to the community, you will hear uninformed opinions and deliberate misinformation about the proposed work and the cost to homeowners. When a bond is presented to the community for approval by voters, our community will have an opportunity to take advantage of 76.6 percent in New York State Building Aid to fund the majority of the work proposed in the bond referendum. As a community, we have an opportunity to improve our schools at the state’s expense, an opportunity we likely will never get again. Become an informed voter. Know the facts before you vote!
• The needs of our schools, especially our middle school, must be addressed now.
• The challenges with our schools are here today. Waiting does not remove the challenges; we will pay more to do the same repairs and renovations years from now.
• Our schools are overcrowded now, and our children are learning in storage rooms, closets and spaces that were never designed for instruction.
• Our cafeterias are overcrowded and students must eat breakfast and lunch in our gymnasiums and auditoriums. These are spaces that are needed for instruction and not designed for eating.
• Annual maintenance is included in our yearly school budget. However, it would be irresponsible to include the scope of work included in a proposed bond in the annual budget due to the immediate significant tax increase it would cause.
• The state will be funding the majority of the cost instead of the taxpayers. We believe it’s a win-win situation for our community.
For more information, visit the district’s website at www.westburyschools.org. The board of education and administration are planning several meetings to discuss the details of the bond and answer community residents’ questions. Public community forums and building tours are as follows:
A districtwide building tour will be Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. A public community forum will be held on Saturday, Nov. 7, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Westbury Middle School
Please plan to attend the community bond forum and building tours to become an informed voter. Additional meeting dates will be announced.
—The Westbury School District Board of Education