Community Corner

Letter: 'I Voted YES'

A resident writes in about her decision to vote YES to the budget.

The following essay was written by Christine McCoy, a Lake Ronkonkoma resident reacting to last night's failed budget vote. This letter was solicited as part of a Point/Counterpoint post Sachem Patch would like to open to discuss this issue so vital to the community. We welcome a counterpoint essay from a writer who voted NO to the budget.


Yesterday, I voted “YES”.  I voted yes to increased taxes.  I voted yes to keep programs intact.  I voted yes to maintain my property value.  I voted yes for the children of my community.  Unfortunately, the majority of my community voted no and the Sachem School District budget was not passed.  This morning, I wondered how fully informed my neighbors were in their voting.  Did they realize what voting “no” means for our schools, our children and our community?  

When I was a child, I went to a small parochial school.  As students, we received a basic education of reading, writing and arithmetic.  There were few extracurricular activities, an extremely small music program and limited sports.  There was little creativity and almost no diversity.  Regardless, I received a good education and earned good grades.  It wasn’t until I went to college that I realized how limiting my environment had been.  When my husband and I married and began looking to purchase a home, we agreed that our home would in the Sachem School District.  Even though we didn’t have children at the time, we knew that when the time came, we wanted them to have an enriching school environment.  My children are now 8 and 11 and, up until yesterday, enjoyed many of the enrichment activities my husband and I dreamed of years ago.  Now, with the failure of the budget, their education experience will be rendered the same as mine: unappealing, flat and stifling.  I didn’t know the difference back then as it was all I had known.  My children, unfortunately, will know the difference.

Yes, I am a parent and yes, I have children in the Sachem Schools.  However, I emphatically state that even if that was not the case, I would have voted “YES” yesterday.  In real estate, there’s an expression that three things matter “Location, Location, Location”.  School districts are one of the biggest selling points in real estate.  Potential home buyers look for the school district when purchasing a home just as they look for the amount of bedrooms a home contains.  Living in the Sachem School District gives property owners selling power.  

If you don’t have children in the district, you may one day.  Think of their future.  Or, maybe you had children in the district and graduated.  Remember all the benefits your children received during their time as students?  Or, maybe you’ve never had children, never plan to and never want to.  Do you ever plan on selling your house or moving?  I will venture to guess that in the wake of the budget failure, all of our home’s re-sale values just plummeted.  

According to information provided by the district, if the 7.49% budget is defeated (as it was yesterday), the following will occur:

  1. Increase elementary/secondary class size
  2. Half day kindergarten
  3. Elimination of the GATE program
  4. Elimination of the science research program
  5. Varsity level sports only
  6. Elimination of extracurricular clubs
  7. 50% reduction of non-mandated music programs
  8. Elimination of cheerleading, Arrowettes, marching band
  9. 50% reduction in elementary library programs

Class sizes are already very large and it is common to have 24-26 children in a classroom.  A teacher has the very difficult task of managing a classroom with varying degrees of behavior, educational ability and social dynamics.  I’ve overheard many statements such as, “my child is bright, but isn’t stimulated by the work” or, conversely, “my child needs special attention and is getting lost in a large class.”  This will be exacerbated by increasing classroom sizes.  Individualized and special attention will be nearly impossible for the teachers to accomplish.

Kindergarten is one of the most challenging grades to teach as the knowledge base of the children is extremely diverse.  Some of the children come to kindergarten being able to read while others have not yet begun to identify colors.  For the first few months of the year, the classroom teacher has to tailor the lessons so that all students have a level knowledge base.  Unfortunately, this means that some children will be bored and others will be challenged beyond their abilities.  Most of our neighboring school districts have full day kindergarten.  Concepts now learned in kindergarten are akin to what my peers learned in first or even second grade.  The curriculum required by New York State has become increasingly demanding.  We are doing a terrible disservice to our youngest students by literally cutting their learning in half.  It is just not possible to give these students the exposure to the necessary material in three hours.  

GATE is a program for exceptionally bright students and is an enriching learning environment for these students to learn reasoning and critical thinking.  As many of us are aware, not all learning comes from the classroom or from books.  The GATE program gives students an opportunity to explore different manners of learning and expand their thought process.   Elimination of the GATE program means that our most talented students will not be stimulated to the best of their ability.  

The Science Research program provides an opportunity for high school students to pursue the sciences beyond the classroom.  The research these students are doing is exemplary.  In fact, some of the students who participate in this program have been rewarded by being given the opportunity to study on the collegiate level.  These bright minds are the future of not just our district, but of our society as they research subjects such as a new oncology drugs, the replication of viruses and the potential discovery of an Alzheimer’s gene.  

Sports are a cornerstone of Sachem.  If you’ve ever been to the Sachem North gym, you will see mass amounts of banners and plaques which record achievements won by students in all areas of athletics.  To cut funding so that only the varsity teams play is detrimental to the athletic department.  Very important skills are learned on middle school and JV teams such as game basics, team development and teamwork.  Without middle school and JV teams as the building blocks for varsity teams, the skill level of the varsity players is sure to suffer.  Many parents may now look elsewhere to enroll their children in sporting activities on the middle school and JV level.  Organizations such as PAL and SYAG cost several hundred dollars per season for various fees, uniforms, field costs, etc.  These are costs that far exceed the additional tax dollars Sachem sought from its residents.  

Many students in our district join and enjoy extra-curricular clubs.  Under the new budget, these will be completely eradicated.  This includes activities such as drama club, intramural sports, the academic clubs (such as math or science) and game clubs (such as chess club).  These activities engage children in the after school hours, give them a place to gather and enjoy a common interest and to learn valuable social skills.  

A 50% reduction in music programs would be devastating to the district.  Music is a universal language with the distinct ability to bring us back to a time, a place, a feeling.  Consider, for a moment, movies like “Jaws” or “Star Wars”.  Without the music score, these movies would be quite lacking.  We need our children to learn to play and appreciate music.  Additionally, studies have shown that children who study music have improved math and science grades.  

Eliminating cheerleading, Arrowettes and marching band is akin to eliminating joy.  What would a game be without the rousing yells of the cheerleaders, the spirited dancing of the Arrowettes and the beat of the marching band’s drum?   In addition to the joy and spirit these groups bring to the schools and the playing field, these teams participate in competition on the National level.  In fact, the Sachem North Varsity Arrowettes are the current National Champions.  This gives Sachem prestige and recognition throughout the country.  

Our children learn to read in the classroom, but the elementary library programs give our children a love for reading.  A book has the power to transport the reader to a different time, place or era.  It is said that no two person reads the same book.  Each reader imparts from a book a different meaning, nuance and feeling.  It is in the elementary library programs that our children have the opportunity to explore these themes and develop a lifelong love of reading.  

It is my sincere hope that when the budget is put to a re-vote in June, my neighbors and community members carefully consider the importance of their vote and choose YES for our children, community and future.  


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