Candidate Profile: Ossining School Trustee Schnecker Seeks Re-Election

OSSINING, NY - New Yorkers will go to the polls May 16 for the annual school board election and budget vote in their districts.

In anticipation of the election, Patch asked candidates in Ossining's contested race to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Check out Patch's full Q&A with Frank Schnecker:

What is the best thing about the district, and what do you believe should be improved?

Ossining’s greatest strength is the amazing diversity of our community and students. Our schools offer unique curriculum, learning resources, and programs to best serve our incredible, diverse learners. Our biggest challenge is the academic achievement gap and opportunity gap that has existed in Ossining for decades.

What makes you uniquely qualified to serve on the board?

I am a resident of the Village of Ossining, raised in Ossining and have lived my life here, with the exception of three years that I lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn with Kirstin Reynolds, my amazing partner and wife. All four of my children, from my 1st grader in Brookside to my oldest who graduated from OHS last spring have attended Ossining schools.

I am currently and have been a volunteer youth soccer coach in Ossining for nine years. I truly enjoy being part of the life lessons, personal character development, and teamwork collaboration that team athletic opportunities provide for both youth and coaches.

I have served on the Westchester Putnam School Boards Association’s (WPSBA) board of directors since 2015, and was honored to serve as WPSBA’s President for two years, the first president ever from Ossining.

My collaborative work with other regional leaders developed unique effectiveness and influence in Albany and the achievement of regional goals that benefited our schools.

In 2016 I was elected as trustee on the Putnam Northern Westchester (PNW) BOCES Board of Education, and currently serving in my third term. BOCES provides a vast array of services and programs, including professional development courses and collaborations for educators, cutting edge technical and vocational courses for students pursing career and college goals, and regional cost sharing services for districts. My work with the PNW board to expand and create timely and relevant learning opportunities has benefited Ossining educators and students in numerous ways.
In 2011 when first elected to the Ossining School board, 88% of the school budget was funded by local taxpayers. After an intensive multi-year effort Ossining will finally receive FULL funding of New York State Foundation aid this year, an additional $39 million annually. The local taxpayer share of the Ossining school budget is at the historic low of 63%.

The community should celebrate this moment.

I recall many cold winter nights meeting with our administration, educators, neighbors and residents to strategize and organize. I recall early morning departures on bumpy bus rides to Albany and rest stop dinners on the way home.

Many of us gained experience we never wanted to have to.

But we did it to get to the position where we could stop the short-changing of our schools and provide the necessary supports for ALL children of our uniquely diverse and vibrant community.
We did it by not accepting the many NOs we received along the way. By not giving in to a governor and staff that refused to budge in our executive chamber meetings, but could no longer deny the irrefutable case we put before them.

I, with many in the community, have been forged into go-getters for Ossining.

Our diversity is our greatest strength and our biggest challenge. I have focused my work on creating outstanding opportunities for all of our students. My efforts have been inspired by John Dewey’s words to want for all children of the community. In Ossining, this idea was powerfully shared by former board member Marti Stewart who regularly insisted, “If it is not good enough for my kid, it’s not good enough for anybody’s kid.”

We have and continue to move Ossining forward. We have much work to do for all of our students.
But as I shared at the board table in the darkest moments of the struggle to receive full foundation aid funding: We will prevail.

If you had to vote for candidates out of the current field, NOT counting yourself, who would you choose, and why?

As a board member, I have been committed to serving children and the Ossining schools community. As a volunteer and elected public service position, I have great respect for all who are willing to step forward and run for school board, it is not an easy campaign or role to ultimately serve. Each of the candidates have their merits, I believe it is for the community to decide on the members of the board. If I am honored to be re-elected, I will work collectively with the elected candidates and sitting board members to serve the Ossining schools community.

What would your priorities be if elected?

Much of my twelve years of service on the board has been focused on securing substantial funding from Albany to provide the individual student support resources needed to address these gaps. Funding is a critical component, and thankfully after many years of community advocacy efforts, this year Ossining will receive full NYS education Foundation Aid.

The most important altering of school programs needed in my opinion is to provide wide-scale individual academic student interventions, mentoring, tutoring and support.

Due to the NYS underfunding of Ossining, during a period of significant student enrollment growth, our district was simply not able to provide these supports. The additional funding has the potential to start to meaningfully address the academic achievement and opportunity gaps in Ossining. It will also require the collective efforts of our outstanding administrators, our amazing teachers, and our exceptional support staff. Our schools, the most crowded buildings in the county, will also need additional space for programs other communities, similar to Ossining, have space for today.

Closing the achievement and opportunity gaps for ALL our students is the most challenging and important work of our schools. Ossining is a statewide leader in Equity work and we will continue to evolve. All of our students are depending on us, and from what I have witnessed the past twelve years, there is no community in New York that rallies around its children more than Ossining. We will prevail.