Bedford school district residents approved the 2011-12 school budget by margin of more than two to one Tuesday, with 1,861 people voting for the proposal  and just 766 voting against it.
 
The $118,980,000 spending plan represents a 2.15 percent increase from this year’s budget. It also means that district officials have cleared the first hurdle in their long-term plan.
 
“We’re thinking of the budget as a two-year strategy and we’ve already begun anticipating the 2012-2013 budget process, because we know there are unanswered questions out there in Albany and Washington and at the same time, we have some good ideas that we are researching right now. We want to keep our focus on what’s going well, which means there will be some tough choices in the future.”
 
Those tough choices, which have been discussed in the past, include the possible elimination of field trips, modified athletics and after-school activities.
 
In the meantime, Hochman expressed his relief that the community showed overwhelming support for next year’s budget.
 
“I think this all about planning and communication,” Hochman said. “We have made a concerted effort to make sure our planning is as transparent as can be and that the communication is two-way year-round, not just at budget time. I think that shows in these results.

The tax levy will increase by 1.8 percent. For the tax rates, Mount Kisco will see an increase of 11.2 percent; a decrease of 3.01 percent in Bedford; an increase of 2.86 in Pound Ridge; an increase of 7.25 percent in New Castle and an increase of 3.4 percent in North Castle.

Meanwhile, voters overwhelmingly re-elected school board Vice President Mark Chernis to another term over his opponent, Richard Hooker. Chernis received 1,557 votes while Hooker garnered 474 .

Incumbent school board member Eric Karle, who ran unopposed, got 1,509 votes.

“I’m happy that the budget passed,” Chernis said. “As Dr. Hochman said, the process that the district put in place over the past two years to make sure that the community is well involved in developing the budget and that the administration is completely transparent has helped get budgets passed here and preserve programs that we want to preserve…in terms of winning the election,I look forward to serving the community for three more years.”

Karle said he looked forward to serving his next three-year term.

“It’s going to be some tough sledding, but it’s nice to know that we have three board members that have a good deal of experience plus the four board members who have a fresh set of new eyes,” Karle said.

Bedford Schools 2011 Vote by the Numbers

Budget Vote

Vote	Yes	No
$118 million budget proposal	1,861	766

 

School Board Race

School Board Candidates	Total Votes
Mark Chernis	1,557
Richard Hooker	474
Eric Karle	1,509

 

By election district (based on elementary schools):

School	Yes/Budget	No/Budget	Chernis	Hooker	Karle
Bedford Village ES	466	246	467	122	392
Bedford Hills ES	242	99	199	79	232
Mount Kisco ES	307	140	288	92	313
Pound Ridge ES	386	191	351	117	328
West Patent ES	280	90	252	64	244