Mike Davidson for Mamaroneck Board of Education

My wife Cara and I moved to the community in 2009 and have two children, both of whom currently attend MHS.  I received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in International Relations and retired last year from a 25+ year career at a large financial services firm.  After some time away from work, I started my own business earlier this year, focused on finance related consulting and private investments.

I am the proud son of an elementary school teacher and education is a topic I care about deeply.  I’ve also been very involved in youth sports in the community, including coaching both of my children in baseball, softball, flag football and basketball for many years.  I’m the proud recipient of the Mamaroneck Youth Football League O’Shea Award for Years of Coaching, Leadership and Service.

As my professional commitments have changed after leaving the corporate world, I’ve been looking for places to volunteer my time and give back to the community.  My love of Mamaroneck and Larchmont, my experience working with children through years of youth sports involvement, and my deeply rooted commitment to public school education led me to run for a seat on the Mamaroneck Board of Education.

Over the last 10 years our district has faced many challenges, but I think we have emerged from those challenges a stronger district and a stronger community.  And I believe the current moment is one of great opportunity.  We have an outstanding new superintendent in Dr. Sampson, and he has surrounded himself with a talented team of administrators.  Together they are taking a fresh look at everything we do and developing a comprehensive strategic framework to reinvigorate our schools.  This is an incredibly exciting time for our district and I, like many others, eagerly await the chance to hear Dr. Sampson’s conclusions and watch him and his team begin their transformation of our district.

However, that opportunity is tempered by our enormous fiscal challenges.  As reported last year, we rank 36^th out of 36 districts in Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties in spending per student.  While enrollment is plateauing, it is stabilizing at record high numbers.  At the same time, the needs of the student body are at unprecedented levels.  Whether that is the doubling of English Language Learners over the last 10yrs, or the massive increase in service needs for our elementary school children, the need for investment continues unabated.

The district administration team has done an excellent job finding cost savings and efficiencies to allow Mamaroneck to provide a top-class education despite spending per student that is 10% below New Rochelle, 26% below Rye and 35% below Scarsdale.  But inevitably we need to do more.  To provide Dr. Sampson and his team with the financial resources to implement their new strategic framework, we undoubtedly need to become even more efficient with our budget, finding ways to save on existing programs so we can invest in new initiatives.

Despite the relatively low spending per student, it’s important to keep in mind that we run a large and complex budget.  It’s close to $160 million dollars per year and has almost 1,000 separate line items.  The district administration are responsible stewards of taxpayer money, and their expertise is evident from listening to any of the budget presentations over the years.  But we need to go further.  And that is where I think I can help. 

I spent 25+ years working in finance, running business units with large and complex budgets, often under immense pressure to control or reduce costs.  I also spent four years as Treasurer for a $250bn bank, where I focused primarily on managing resources and increasing efficiency.  I know how to control costs, manage expenses, and help an organization become more efficient, and I can apply those skills as a member of the Board and support the administration to achieve our goals.  I look at the current BoE and see amazing talents, with deep expertise in education, law and real estate and tremendous experience working within our community and our district.  I believe I can complement those skills with extensive finance experience, and help our district find the funds to allow Dr. Sampson to execute on his vision and reinvent our school district for the next phase of its evolution.

I hope you’ll support me in this endeavor by coming out to vote on Tuesday May 21.

Please feel free to contact me at mikedavidsonforboe@gmail.com