Princeton Plan Proposal Sparks Community Movement

Inspired by the discussion Bayport resident Bill Milligan witnessed at the first school board meeting he ever attended, coincidentally the Oct. 11 Board of Education forum on the Princeton Plan, the father of two began brainstorming ways the whole community could work together on such issues as the ever-increasing school budget.

Milligan admitted he was “embarrassed” that he never attended a meeting before; assuming “things were being handled” in the most responsible manner, but he heard otherwise from fellow residents. 

“They tell me these board meetings always end with a consensus like ‘we want better education,’” Milligan said. “Well, better education always results in a tax increase and there are a lot of people like me who think ‘it’s going to be OK, it’s being handled by everyone else,’ but, the people who attend meetings and vote for the budget are those who have a personal financial interest.”

Completion of a website where community members can offer insight and information on issues affecting the school district and taxpayers is coming soon, says Milligan, who noted several residents back his efforts. Though the exact web address is still TBA, Milligan said it will include “BBP” and “Action”.  Through the website Milligan hopes to draw out those like himself to board meetings and elections, he said, referencing his above statement.

This is the first step in Milligan’s overall initiative to send a message to the school board that “it’s no longer business as usual,” he said.

After years of what could be considered “inaction” on Milligan’s part- he moved to Bayport in 1996- the pre-sales engineer is ready to throw himself into this effort, and is willing to do the grunt work of going door-to door spreading awareness; but, why now?

“We need the school board to see that we’re present, and we’re serious,” Milligan said. “I don’t consider them [or teachers] to be the enemy, they’re educating my children, but they need to understand things need to be very different this time. A tax increase that we vote on is not acceptable.”

Milligan has taken issue with what he described as a tactic used by the school district to propose the Princeton Plan, which calls for the reconfiguration of the district’s three elementary schools, as the alternative if voters don’t pass the 2012-2013 budget with a supermajority. A 60-percent majority is necessary in order to override the 2-percent tax cap enacted by Gov. Cuomo.

“Now [by proposing the plan], the district gets a majority of voters to override the tax cap and basically everyone votes themselves a tax increase. That’s my personal opinion on that,” Milligan said.

Despite his strong opposition to the Princeton Plan, Milligan doesn’t want to “get locked into one issue”, and when the website’s completed, would like residents to discuss any and all school-related topics on the online forum.

In the meantime, don’t be surprised if Milligan’s at your door to inform you of an upcoming meeting or possibly a “BBP Action” plan.

“Moving forward, we’ll make sure that each board meeting has maximum attendance so that the board and administration hear our message,” Milligan said. “The district has proposed that we implement a plan that will fire eight teachers when there’s probably a lot of costs in the district that could be looked at; there can be other cuts made.”