WAJ ACTION GROUP
Post Office Box 675
Windham, New York 12496


March 20, 2004

The WAJ Action Group is a volunteer organization of diverse residents of the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School District, a small, rural district located in upstate New York near Albany, the state capital. The District is known for recreational activities, including skiing in the winter, and golf and hiking in summer. Vast amounts of land in the District are within the boundaries of Catskill State Park and the New York City watershed.

In January, 2003 the Board of Education of our District presented taxpayers with a proposition to build a new K-12 school. With a $32 million price tag, this plan had the potential to raise school taxes by as much as 50% or more. The new building, with 140,000 square feet, was oversized for the approximately 500 students in the District. With only 60% of the space devoted to classrooms and other educational uses, the proposed school was simply too costly and too extravagant. The school project, had it been approved by voters, would have changed the character and composition of the W-A-J community for years to come.

In response to this proposal, a large group of W-A-J residents coalesced to form the WAJ Action Group. Our initial goals were:

1. To defeat the new school proposal at the polls, and
2. To develop a financially feasible alternative proposal to meet the needs of the school district for renovations and expansion.

Directly as a result of our efforts the Board's proposal for a new school met with an overwhelming defeat, after the largest voter turnout in the history of the W-A-J school district.

But our efforts did not stop there. The School Board later asked voters to approve two propositions-to purchase land for future expansion, and to use capital reserve money to pay off the costs of the architects and consultants who worked on the defeated proposal for the new school. Again as a result of the efforts of the WAJ Action Group, these ill-conceived propositions were defeated at the polls.

The Board also asked voters to approve an annual operating budget that called for a tax increase of over 20%. The WAJ Action Group opposed this budget, since we believed the Board could have and should have made significant cuts in administrative and overhead costs. The voters defeated this budget the first time it was presented. The budget passed by a narrow margin on a second vote, after the Board's supporters used the worst tactics of "negative campaigning."

Soon after the budget vote WAJ Action Group members began a concerted effort to investigate the financial management of the District and to encourage a realistic rehabilitation and expansion plan for the school. The results of our efforts are:

1. A comprehensive Report illustrating selected fiscal management practices in the W-A-J School District. Rather than drawing conclusions, the Report raises issues and asks questions. We want to enhance the Board's public accountability and identify areas where operations can be improved in order to reduce costs and protect assets.

2. Affordable, practical Recommendations for the repair, renovation and expansion of the W-A-J Central School. Our Recommendations will fill the school's needs for more classroom space and provide for repairs to our aging building. The Board of Education has been studying the school's needs for almost five years at a cost of over $600,000 for consultants' services alone, not counting associated costs for printing, mailing, staff time and legal services. The Board has yet to come forward with a feasible, affordable plan for renovations and expansion.

3. A Campaign to elect two new members to the Board of Education. Our candidates will be untiring advocates for both children and taxpayers. They will take seriously their role as stewards and trustees of the assets of the School District, and they will understand that the Board of Education must be accountable to the W-A-J community.

The WAJ Action Group presented our Report and our Proposal to the public at Community Meetings in Windham. The meetings were well-attended and our recommendations met with strong support from the community.

The WAJ Action Group believes it is time for the W-A-J School Board to answer to the taxpayers. It is essential that we prevent the Board members from continuing to think they can "solve" all our problems by blatantly asking for more and more taxpayer money.

The WAJ Action Group is supported and staffed entirely by volunteers. We have accomplished much to date. However, we still have much more to do. Our work is for the benefit of residents, school children and all taxpayers. Our success will save taxpayers thousands of dollars in school tax increases on their property in Windham, Ashland and Jewett.

For more information about the WAJ Action Group, please write JoAnn Piazzi, Secretary, WAJ Action Group, Post Office Box 675, Windham, New York 12496.