I attended the Board of Ed meeting on Feb 16, and while I was glad the the students had their moment in the sun to be heard by the Board, the Board should have tabled the discussion of the high school schedule to give it further thought so that the rest of us could listen to the proposed budget for next year before we all fell asleep. Now it comes to my attention that Todd Elem is slated to lose ten teachers and about 14 aides for next year. One of the reasons I moved my family to Briarcliff is the town’s tradition of excellent education and small class sizes. Building a strong foundation is important, and now that it looks like class sizes will increase to 26 kids per class, I am troubled by the current Board’s commitment to education. I understand that the Board said something about lowering taxes, but I and many other parents would be glad to have our taxes increased if it meant a better education for our children. Now that these cuts have happened, I am deeply troubled, especially since it seems to me that home values have leveled and bankers seem to be making healthy bonuses again. The money should be there to maintain the level of education that residents expect and that people want to emulate. Please advise as to how we can change this situation immediately, because I doubt that Briarcliff would want to lose families because of the recent negative changes to the schools.

Thank you,
Larry