FASNY PRESENTS TRAFFIC 'SOLUTION'

October 2013

Dear Superintendent and School Board Members,

As I listened to the FASNY presentation at the School Board meeting the other night, I could hardly believe what their representatives were saying.  Their new "solutions" for the traffic will hardly mitigate against the tremendous increase in cars and busses at school hours in the morning and in the afternoon.  I am sure that all of you have had the occasion to be on North Street when White Plains High School lets out in the afternoon.  Without any additional traffic, one can wait for 6 or more lights at the corner of North Street and Bryant Avenue to make a left turn.  Nothing about their traffic plans could make that anything but much worse.  The safety of our children who walk to school will be compromised.  People who cut through other streets in Gedney Farms and surrounding areas would create further hazards.

White Plains will get no benefit from having FASNY here on Ridgeway.  It will ruin a lovely residential area where people should have the right to be protected by White Plains elected officials, not thrown under the bus, so to speak because FASNY bought a piece of property that should never be turned into a large regional educational complex. 

I live behind the German School which was there when I bought the house.   It has until the recent increase only about 350 students.  Still there are minor traffic problems in the morning and at dismissal times.  I hate to think what the addition of FASNY traffic, (1200 students and 250 staff), in the area would mean.  

People who have paid for an expensive private school are not going to be happy to have their children taking a 40 minute bus ride to school.  If they decide they would rather drive their children, do you think FASNY is going to turn them away at the gate?  Are they going to stop their senior students from coming to school in their own cars?  Are they seriously going to promote immersion language programs with our White Plains students and send some of their students to our schools for immersion?  

In my 23 years residing behind the German School, there has never been any outreach to the community.  I am sure it would be no different with the French School.  The pretense that FASNY would add to the diversity in White Plains and be good for business has been discredited both at Common Council meetings and at the School Board meeting.  White Plains does not lack diversity.  Parents of children at the French School where they pay a lot in tuition are not going to worry about supporting taxes for the White Plains schools even if they do move here.  They will have little or no interest in White Plains especially if they are planning to return to France or wherever.  

The FASNY PR firm has done a great job trying to obfuscate the real impact on White Plains, while presenting a totally false rosy picture of their presence here.  You are all very dedicated people who are obviously interested in White Plains Schools or you wouldn't be giving your time to be on the School Board.  I am sure you realize that adding FASNY in the middle of a residential area is not only of no benefit but will be a great detriment.  You know our schools have had to keep cutting personnel for budget reasons which is making education here harder and harder.  

We don't need another tax-free property that will actually cost White Plains money in services.  Please do whatever you can to convince the Common Council not to grant the permit that FASNY is seeking. 

Respectfully submitted,
Pat Silbert
White Plains, NY 10605