Public Forum, Q&A On Bedford School Board Agenda

BEDFORD, NY — Bedford school officials working on the controversial long-range plan for the district will hold a question-and-answer session at the beginning of the Board of Education meeting Wednesday. This will replace three of five community forums initially planned for Monday and Tuesday.

The forums scheduled at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday will take place as originally scheduled. Held in the Mary Lou Meese Theater at Fox Lane High School, these will be Q&A sessions facilitated by members of the Board of Education. In addition, administrators and the district's consultants will be available to answer questions.

Instead of the other three forums, community members can participate in a Q&A with district officials during the Board of Education meeting scheduled for Wednesday. The public portion of the meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Fox Lane Middle School.

The Q&A session is one of the first items on the meeting agenda, and district officials expect it to run from about 7:10 p.m. to 7:55 p.m.

The board also has a public comment portion of its meetings; on Wednesday that is scheduled from 8:20-8:35 p.m.

If you cannot make any of the available sessions, you can still share your thoughts by emailing the Board of Education at boe@bcsdny.org and Dr. Dale Mann of Interactive, Inc. at dmann@interactiveinc.org.

News at the beginning of the school year that officials were considering whether to close an elementary school in the face of significant declining enrollment has sent controversy swirling throughout the community. Bedford serves students in Bedford, Mount Kisco, Pound Ridge and parts of New Castle and North Castle.

What the district is doing is long-range planning. They're doing it for two main reasons, officials said: wishing to respond to three demographic studies in the past five years that all show the same thing, and wishing to avoid a repeat of the divisive fiscal crisis of 2015-16. The planning process is meant to answer what's the best way to serve students and what's the best way to use the taxpayer's money. "How should BCSD schools be structured in the future to provide the best education for the dollars, resources and facilities we shall have?"