Gearing Up for the School Board Election
In less than three weeks, residents of Putnam Valley's central school district will decide whether to approve the district's budget for next year and will choose a trustee to represent them on the school board. The town library's budget will also be on the ballot.
Last year, following a fractious campaign, voters initially rejected the school district's budget and accompanying $13.5 million capital plan. Many parents were shocked that a tax-neutral proposal to improve the school's facilities lost by just 42 votes. That galvanized hundreds more to turn out in a subsequent election and the budget and capital plan were finally approved.
This year there is no capital plan to argue about and the proposed budget is again under the tax cap, with a 1.98% increase in the tax levy. The district points to contractual increases in salaries and increases in transportation and health insurance as some of the main drivers of its $65.3 million budget. More details can be found here.
While most residents probably know how they will vote on the budget, this year's election is more likely to focus on the two very different candidates for the school board: Crystal Hernandez and Jay Lee.
The candidates have some things in common: Both are married and in their early 40's, with three children in the school district. Both speak a second language, influenced by their parents' heritage. (Hernandez speaks Spanish; Lee speaks Mandarin.) Both are passionate about wanting to provide a safe, supportive school environment for children, paid for in a way that is fiscally responsible. Both support the proposed budget.
But there the similarities end.
Jay Lee
Lee attended two of the most selective universities in the country: Duke and Harvard Law School, where he was executive editor of one of its prominent law journals. He worked on Wall Street as a securities lawyer before moving into the world of tech start-ups and venture capital. He now runs his own small business selling custom furniture. He and his family have lived in Putnam Valley for 11 years where, as his lively videos on his Facebook page promoting his candidacy show, they are accompanied by four goats. A registered Democrat, Lee says he was spurred to run for the board by last year's lack of community engagement. Calling the initial budget defeat a "wake up call", he says he realized it was time to get more involved. "My top issue is that I have three kids and they’re in the schools and I did the math. They’re going to be in the schools until 2039. These kids are my life and my heart."
Crystal Hernandez
Hernandez has been a trustee on the board for the last three years and has worked for 19 years as a teacher and administrator in public schools. She is currently the principal of the fourth and fifth grade building in Peekskill's City School District. Calling herself a lifelong learner, Hernandez has amassed three masters' degrees - from Western Connecticut, Mercy and Lesley universities - and is completing her doctorate in educational leadership at Liberty University, the evangelical Christian college. Hernandez is not shy about her Christian identity, listing that first in her description on her Facebook page. Hernandez and her family have lived in Putnam Valley for eight years; she is a registered Republican.
How important is educational expertise?
Hernandez believes her extensive educational experience is a tremendous asset, giving her the ability to hold all aspects of the school administration accountable. "I know the system," she says. "It’s very hard to hold people accountable when you don’t know what their jobs are supposed to be." During her last three years as a trustee, she says she has been a forceful advocate behind closed doors and has encouraged fellow trustees to be more vocal. "When it is brought to light that anyone in the system is not living up to what the expectation is, I ask questions," Hernandez says. "I’m not afraid to say what the district can do better. I can be pretty annoying when I want to get something done." Among the areas where Hernandez would bring her educational background to bear in coming years is the need to come up with policies to address the use of artificial intelligence. She serves on the district's policy committee with fellow trustee Sam Oliverio.
Lee freely acknowledges his lack of educational expertise. However, he contends that the district has plenty of that already and thinks that what the board needs are people with broad, practical experience. Lee believes the experience he has gained building a small business from scratch as well as working at the top of large companies enables him to apply a pragmatic, analytical approach to the district's issues. "The job is not to be the expert in education but to be able to take all the information and analysis and work done by those experts and apply a broader perspective to it and help guide the district," Lee says.
More tax exemptions for seniors?
This spring the school district came in for considerable criticism for its refusal to approve an increase in the property tax exemption for low-income seniors. The issue will undoubtedly come up again next year. Lee says that, in principle, he supports helping low-income seniors but that his final decision would be based on a more detailed analysis. Because the proposal creates a range of exemptions from 5% to 65% of assessed property values rather than the current flat 50% level, he wants to know how many seniors would be eligible for each tier and what the resultant change in the tax revenue would mean for the rest of the tax-paying public who would have to make up the difference. "To make that decision purely on rhetoric or principle ignores the basic facts of what’s going to happen," says Lee. "It’s not philosophy, it’s not rhetoric, it’s numbers."
Hernandez says she would have supported the higher exemption for seniors if it had come to the board for a vote this year. "I do believe we should take care of our elderly, that’s just a value I believe in," she says. However, she would like to see far more outreach to the community on the issue, and says that if it became clear that the majority opposed it, she would too, as their representative.
What role for religion?
Opinions about the role of religion in public education further differentiate the candidates. Lee has no religious affiliation and does not believe religion should play any role in public schools. Hernandez says that, "For me, everything begins and ends with God... If people feel like I would not be able to represent them because of that, I think it would be unfortunate." Both were asked their view of the new Texas law requiring schools to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments conspicuously in classrooms. Lee said he would not support such a measure, citing his background in constitutional law. Hernandez said that while she thought it was unlikely to occur in New York, she would support it. "The fact that God is still mentioned on our dollar, the fact that the Pledge of Allegiance still has the word God in it, we are still a very Christian-oriented nation, even though there are many, many other people that live here now. And there are just foundations, biblical foundations, that are what our country has been set up on," Hernandez says.
The countdown
Residents will have an opportunity to evaluate the two candidates side by side at a candidates' forum on Wednesday, May 6th at 7pm at the Putnam Valley Library. Joseph Ferraro, president of the library's board of trustees, may serve as moderator. He previously served as a school board trustee but lost his seat to Hernandez in 2023. Hernandez will hold a meet-and-greet session at Pancho and Gringo's on May 4th at 6:30pm. Lee will be sitting in the town library on Mondays between 2pm and 3 pm, and on Tuesdays, unless it's raining, he can be found from 4:15pm to 5:15 pm in the playground area of Putnam Valley's park. He's also offering to schedule virtual meetings between 7pm and 8pm on Wednesdays.
Elections in Putnam Valley are often won or lost by tiny margins, so voter turnout in support of these candidates will be critical. To be eligible to vote in this election, you must be a registered voter residing in the Putnam Valley Central School District which includes portions of Cortlandt Manor and Carmel, as well as most of Putnam Valley.
Those who aren't sure if they will be able to vote in person on May 19th can apply for an early mail-in or absentee ballot. The deadline for the district to send out those forms is May 12th and all of those completed ballots must be received by the District Clerk by 5pm on the 19th.
While most of the town's attention is focused on the school district's issues, the ballot will also contain a referendum on the library budget. The library board is asking for a $31,500 increase, or 6.5% more, to cover cost-of-living increases for its staff, enhanced services and property maintenance. Its presentation explaining the rationale for that increase can be found here. The library is hosting an information session about its budget at 6pm on May 6th at the library, immediately before the school candidates' forum starts at 7pm.
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