Somers School Board Candidate: Ifay Chang

Five residents are running for three open seats on the Somers Central School Board of Education, and the vote is next week. 

Voters will go to the polls on May 21, casting their ballots from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the middle school gymnasium. Voters will decide on a $83,545,682 spending plan, with a tax rate of $151.95 for each $1,000 of assessed value, a jump of 3.61 percent over this year’s $146.66 — for the 2013-2014 academic year.

The candidates are: current trustee Ifay Chang; Donna Rosenblum, who was appointed to the Somers school board in January after Anthony Cirieco resigned from his position to serve on the Somers Town Board; Joseph Marra; Karen Frieri and Richard Wagner.

Patch reached out to each candidate who replied to the same set of questions. Here are Ifay Chang's answers:

Patch: Why are you running for the Somers school board?

Chang: There are three reasons for me to run for the school board trustee position: 

(1). I made a personal mandate of dedicating my retirement career to education after having had satisfying careers with IBM Research, University Professor/Administrator and Technology Entrepreneur.

(2). Offering my over 30 years of experience as a research scientist and an educator to assist the school district in dealing with the crux of the matter, that is, how to inspire our children to pursue academic excellence and character development. 

(3). My family has lived in Somers for 24 years witnessing the gradual improvements made in Somers schools and the ever challenging environment the schools have to operate in. Our four children have benefitted from Somers schools. I want the Somers schools to continue to improve its quality in academics, arts and physical education for all of Somers children.

Patch: Why should district residents elect you to the position?

Chang: As an incumbent, I have the experience serving on the Somers Board for six years witnessed the changes evolved and challenges faced in the school district. 

Some of these valuable experiences constitute  the board’s institutional knowledge, for example, (1) Overseeing  a capital project of renovating our district facilities with no cost overrun (2) moving the central office from a rented space back to our school campuses to realize not only cost saving but also more effective administration of the school buildings, (3) searching a qualified new superintendent replacing a retiring superintendent and implementing a rigorous annual evaluation process for the superintendent making goal setting for the school district more realistic and achievable, (4) Planning and monitoring  a tight school budget under the 2% tax cap law dealing with impact and necessary trade-off under the nuances of the law, and (5) Supporting and assessing the whole child development model initiated in the school district while meeting the challenges of common core and standardized testing.

Our school district requires continuity and cumulated knowledge to bring her to a higher level of achievement as a district. With my qualifications, experience  and dedication, I am confident that, if elected, I will be able to guide the new board (mentoring some of the new board members) to work with the district administration to achieve that objective.

Patch: What experiences – either personal or professional – do you have that make you a strong candidate to serve on the Somers school board?

Chang: As a semi-retiree, I maintain an entrepreneur status keeping a small technology information service business but devote most of my time and energy to volunteer work related to education. My broad professional experience serve me well on the school board. My experience consists of principally as scientist, technologist, manager, professor and entrepreneur, which can be highlighted with the following career milestones:

Public Responsibilities (Current)

• Board member of Somers School Board, Westchester Putnam School Board Association and Northern Westchester and Putnam Teacher Center.

Private Responsibilities (Current)

• President, TLC Information Services, www.tlcis.us, An Internet Service Co, 1995 - present
  President, IPO2U.Com Inc., www.ipo2u.com, An Internet Technology Co, 1999-present       

Professional Vitae (Past Experience)

• Dean, Westchester Graduate School, Polytechnic University (now part of NYU)
• Professor, Computer Science Department, Polytechnic University (now part of NYU)
• Executive Director, Polytechnic Research Institute for Development and Enterprise
• Senior Manager, IBM T J Watson Research Center, Computer Sciences
• IBM Director and Founding Research Director of Institute of Systems Science, IBM Singapore - Singapore Government Joint Venture
• Manager, IBM TJ Watson Research Division, Display Technology
• Research Scientist and Engineer, IBM Research, Components and Office Products Divisions
• Adjunct Professor, Electrical Engineering Departmeent, University of Texas, Austin
• Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Syracuse University
  

Patch: What do you consider the top three concerns in the school district?

Chang: 1. Manage the school budget prudently under the 2% tax cap state law.2. Continuous improvement of the quality of our school’s teaching Faculty.3. Development of an enticing environment for learning.

Patch: What is your tentative plan to address those issues?

Chang: 1. Manage the school budget prudently under the 2% tax cap state law. The 2% tax cap may be a permanent mandate on school budget. This is a serious concern as we have exhausted all measures to reduce budget to live under the cap. Continuing forward, the board will be facing a budget crisis simply because the board must focus on a long term budget analysis taking into account of student population change and any legislation affecting pension cost and mandate relief to arrive at a strategy to develop acceptable budgets without hurting the quality of the school program.

2. Continuous improvement of the quality of our school’s teaching Faculty. It has been very costly in upgrading the quality of teaching faculty through hiring process. Under the present economic environment, it is extremely difficult to make strides in this area. The district must manage its entire personnel population prudently in developing skill upgrades needed as we advance curriculum and technology initiatives.

3. Development of an enticing environment for learning. This is a technology and cost issue. Although the prices of digital technologies have been competitive but to develop an enticing digital learning environment is still a very costly proposition. The district must make choices and selecting a tier approach to eventually arrive at an enticing environment for the entire K-12.

Patch: What is your opinion of the proposed 2013-2014 budget and the impact of the cap on the tax levy?

Chang: The [Somers Central School District] 2013-2014 budget has been carefully produced through many months of planning and tweaking. The less than 3 FTE reduction is tolerable having little impact on service offering.

Patch: How do you think the mandates 2-percent tax cap will impact the future of education?

Chang: Going forward, the 2% tax cap will have impact on our ability to offer quality programs. We need to watch and engage in the legislative activities related to the tax cap exemptions and any pension reform and mandate relief measures that might impact our school finances hence its operation.

Patch: What organizations/groups do you belong to?

Chang: I dedicate most of my time to education. Currently in addition to serving as a Trustee of Somers Central School District, I also serve as an Executive Board Member of Westchester Putnam School Board Association, engaging in legislative actions and as a Policy Board Member of Northern Westchester and Putnam Teacher Center, concerning with teacher development. 

I am also a volunteer Mandarin language teacher at Northern Westchester Chinese School in Briarcliff Manor. I have been offering After School Class on Scrabble/Scrammble games at Somers Intermediate School as well as producing and hosting a Weekly Public Access TV Program for Community Education. I also volunteer for Somers Boys Scout Troop 376 and other community services.

Patch: Is there anything I haven't asked that you would like the public to know about you or your candidacy? 

Chang: I have been producing a weekly public TV program for nearly 10 years with the purpose of  providing children an opportunity for developing good learning habit using word and math games. The TV program also gives children an opportunity to develop public speaking skills.