Board of Ed Candidate Q&A: Jennifer Rosen

Jennifer Rosen is one of three candidates running for one open position on the Board of Education.

Rosen and her husband have lived in Briarcliff for 13 years. She is currently a stay-at-home mom with four children in the district–ages 9, 13, 15 and 16. Rosen previously served on the district's audit committee and curriculum enrichment committee. She is a certified Tae Kwan Do instructor at . Rosen also serves on the Board and education committee of . This is the first year Rosen is running for the Board of Education.

Patch: What makes you a qualified candidate?

JR: I have been involved in the long term. I'm a stay-at-home mom, my children go to these schools and I hear and live this everyday. I have a financial background. I'm a CPA, I'm an MBA, a financial controller, a compliance officer, auditor. I am just as capable as other board members who do have financial backgrounds, but I offer something more than that.

Patch: What's something you believe the current Board has executed well?

JR: I think that they have done a very good job with looking at our reserves that we had from prior years and cleaning them up, putting them in the appropriate categories. I think they have done a good job in reducing, or bringing down, the prior year's budget from levels that I think were too high. They did a really great job at bringing Pocantico students to our district. Our Board noticed that our enrollment was going down and they took an extremely active role to recruit and actively promote as a place where Pocantico students would get a very good education and I think they did an excellent job of that.

Patch: What are your thoughts about the two goals for the budget the Board of Education set this year (lowering taxes for both Ossining/Mount Pleasant residents and lowering the overall per pupil cost)?

JR: I think that if we are able to put forth a budget that reduces taxes, that's a good thing. However, the business we're talking about is the business of education. It's about maintaining programs that are important to the community and which enable our students to have programs that allow them to graduate and become successful members of society. I think we're at the point where I am concerned about–are they looking at the other side? Per pupil spending is an interesting topic. Residents pay taxes not based on the budget number, but on the tax levy. So, when we look at per pupil cost at the budget level, we need to look at that and understand how much we pay. Our Board has done a good job in narrowing this gap...you have to understand what those numbers mean in the context of everything else.

Patch: What is your impression of the dynamic between current Board members and what do you think of the way they interact and work together?

JR: The Board should support each other. The Board has to make sure that it has the best interests of all members of the community. When your Board doesn't see eye to eye on things, that's OK. But, you have to look at how that plays out. So, when there are feelings that the Board doesn't work well together, it affects their ability to function. You have to have a Board that works well together, that collaborates on things.

Patch: What are your thoughts about this year's budget process and the adopted budget itself?

JR: In prior years, we had a budget process where we looked at the top level, but we also had the principals come and give us their program budgets, so you saw it from the top down and you saw it from the bottom up. The community needs to understand where their money is going. I was upset with the fact that we didn't get to hear from our principals all at the same time so we could put it all together, and that created problems. I went to Mr. Kaishian's presentation and saw there was a little bit of change...I went to Principal Howard's presentation and said, "Ok, we really have some changes going on in the middle school." But then I went to Mrs. McDermott's presentation and realized there are some major changes. It's an issue.

Patch: Will you be voting for or against on May 17?

JR: I am still speaking to the principals in terms of how their programs are going to play out because they are still working on it. So, I still have some time left before I make my personal decision. But...had I been on the Board–because one board member did not get the information he requested, that was relevant information to the budget process; and was given in enough time to have his questions answered, analyzed, and discussed–I would have voted no for this budget, for this reason. I agree with Mr. Maglietta when he says the process is broken. We need to make sure that people in the community feel their questions are being answered.

Patch: Are there any issues you believe the Board of Education should be paying more attention to?

JR: I think that the Board should start to focus on longer range planning. For example, I am told that our roofs are approaching 30 years and you have to fix them. And currently, we have a lot of reserves–and appropriately so–but we don't have reserves to fix our roofs. So, I think the Board should start to focus on that and long range planning. You have to work your budget year to year, but you also have to look into the future and see where you want to be.

Patch: What do you think of the relationship and interactions the Board has with the community?

JR: Our Board has a policy of–they will allow a person to get up, they give them three minutes to get through their thought process...and then the Board has a policy of saying, "Thank you very much." Boards can have other policies, boards can have policies of answering the questions. I think for a large part of this community, they are very frustrated and rightfully so because it is their right to ask questions and it's their right to get answers. I would like to see a change in our policy. I would propose that we would try to answer questions, and if we can't, that when we research and find out the answers, we post them online for everyone to see.

Patch: What was your initial impression of the and what do you think his priorities should be as he starts off?

JR: I thought he was a really nice person; he was very friendly. You have to have someone who is as comfortable talking to the children as they are talking to the parents of the children, as they are talking to the staff and their principals. I think this superintendent has those qualities which I think are really great. In terms of his priorities, I think he needs to introduce himself to all the staff and make sure people know who he is. I think he needs to look at our programming and what programming we have and how it is being implemented. Now, our superintendent also played the role of director of curriculum, which is excellent. I think he will be an excellent source of the type of person we need when we hire our own. I'd like to see us hire a director of curriculum.

Patch: Why should residents vote for you?

JR: I have been involved in the school community in various positions and I think that other candidates have not been. You need someone up there who understands the day to day of what's going on in the schools. I'm also a relatively calm person. I am not aggressive, but I am assertive and I am persuasive. And I will give you examples and I will back them up by facts, not by opinions or things that I hear. I like to do independent verification. I think I have a demeanor that would be welcomed by the Board and by the community. I am very willing to work with the Board and I've proven that I am able to work with this Board successfully. Lastly, I have been very active in these Board meetings. I would want someone who has proven they are interested in what's going on in our schools.

See here to learn more about Rosen's campaign.