Mamaroneck School District Thanks Community for Support

Mamaroneck schools Superindent Dr. Robert Shaps has thanked the community for its support in the recent approval of a $9.3 million bond issue.

The proposed project was deferred three times over the last decade and will improve athletic facilities at Mamaroneck High School.

Here is the letter Shaps sent to the community:

Dear Community Members,

I want to thank all of the various groups in our community that worked so hard to educate Mamaroneck School District residents about Tuesday’s bond vote to improve PE instructional spaces at Mamaroneck High School. This bond project will benefit students currently at the high school, as well as thousands of younger students yet to arrive! With 1,500 students taking NY State required physical education and about 60% of those students also participating in interscholastic athletics, it is critical that we maintain a safe and healthy environment in our instructional spaces and locker rooms; the support of this community makes that possible.

The large margin in which this bond passed reflects a true collaborative effort between the District, Board of Education, all of our PTAs (and special thanks to PT Council, consisting of the PTA presidents), our Key Communicators group and local community organizations that helped us get the word out. It also signifies to me that the work we have put in over the past several years to build community members’ trust in us as good stewards of taxpayer money is paying off. Our district, similarly to other districts, uses capital bonds as the way to finance maintenance and upgrade of aging facilities and strategically spread out the expenses over time. I’m pleased that we have a solid track record for completing quality work in the most cost-efficient manner. (Our 2009 capital bond – the $22 million project that replaced end-of-life infrastructure at Hommocks and Central – came in several million under budget, enabling us to return money to taxpayers by reducing the amount of debt service budgeted each year.)

We thank you for having trust in the work we do. We thank you for your support, and, in the case of this project, we thank you on behalf of our students. I can assure you that the District will continue to find creative ways, including refinancing and borrowing, to minimize the burden on taxpayers and be mindful of the fiscal responsibility we have to our community.

Sincerest Regards,

Dr. Robert I. Shaps

Superintendent of Schools