District Approves Settlement for Sex Abuse Case and Announces Plans to Review the Rolling Gradebook

Photo Credit: Shelley GrafsteinExcitement was in the air as Board of Education President, Suzie Hahn and Superintendent Drew Patrick, welcomed everyone to the first BOE meeting of the 2024/2025 school year. While the meeting began with warm welcomes and expressed gratitude for all of the hard work on behalf of administrators, faculty, and staff in preparing for the new school year, the BOE quickly got down to business. Before the Board dove into discussion about matters such as the Rolling Gradebook and Multivariable Calculus, Dr. Patrick first made an important announcement in regard to the resolution of an ongoing legal matter.

BOE Approves Settlement

The Board agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a decades old sex abuse case. $387,000 of the funds payable to the victim will come from insurance with the balance of $113,000 from the district.

By way of explanation, Dr. Patrick said the Child Victims Act, which was enacted in New York State in 2019, extends the time frame during which a survivor of childhood sexual abuse can persue criminal charges against an alledged offender and allows victims to initiate legal action regardless of the length of time that has passed. Dr. Patrick also explained that the BOE’s approval of the settlement would close the 4th out of 5 CVA suits in which Scarsdale was named defendant. Patrick made clear that the current settlement addresses alleged abuse that occurred in the early 1980’s and that none of the CVA claims are against current employees or anyone who has been employed by the Scarsdale School District for more than 25 years.

The settlement agreement can be found here:

Since this is an open legal claim, Dr. Patrick could not speak to any specifics, but he did share these important sentiments, “I will conclude this statement by stating emphatically that we condemn all forms of abuse and mistreatment of children. Evidence of our commitment as educators to ensure the safety and security of our students can be found in our re-commitment to thorough and ongoing training with the help of McGrath Training Solutions. Last week, a group of 20 administrators was trained in the McGrath Response System, and later this year our staff will undertake a new level of training in recognizing the signs of bullying, harassment, sexual abuse, and misconduct, and how to report any suspicions of wrongdoing. We take this obligation very, very seriously. Our hearts go out to all victims of abuse and to their loved ones.”

Rolling Gradebook Update

Earlier in the summer, Scarsdale10583.com learned that some SHS students and some parents of students, harbored concerns about the “Rolling Gradebook” approach to grading, which was piloted at SHS last year. Many parents not only shared their thoughts in online social media comments, but also took the time to write to administrators and the BOE. At Monday night’s meeting, Dr. Edgar McIntosh conveyed that the District heard these concerns and is considering the feedback as a part of the ongoing assessment and evaluation of the pilot program.

In his update, McIntosh described that the “High School Assessment Committee, which is composed of students, building leaders, and teachers from each department, will continue to evaluate the Rolling Gradebook’s effectiveness in achieving its goals of increased transparency, flexibility, and student well-being.” McIntosh went on to explain that feedback about the Rolling Gradebook was also garnered through a survey distributed to students and teachers and from parents through the PTA and Compact Committee. He stated that, “While feedback from the survey was largely positive, the School Assessment Committee did identify key areas for further inquiry:

-Communication and Feedback
-Timing of assignments and assessments
-Student motivation
-Perceptions by colleges and universities

Furthermore, the committee will reconvene to review and analyze all the feedback and collaborate to generate recommendations to address concerns and enhance the current process. These recommendations will be shared through communications to the wider community and during principal-parent receptions on September 24.

To learn more about the Rolling Gradebook see here.

Multivariable Calculus

The District also showed consideration of parent and student feedback in regard to the District’s decision to add Multivariable Calculus (MVC) as an official SHS course selection. As McIntosh explained, the course used to only be offered to SHS students as an independent course supported by an SHS faculty member, but because there are at least 10 students who are eligible, the course will now be offered as a class taught by an SHS teacher so as to ensure the best possible learning environment.

After the District announced intentions to offer MVC, some students and parents expressed concern that the only path for students to be eligible for the class, is through independent study and external coursework often taken during the summer. McIntosh explained that there are many factors and complexities to take into account, but in an effort to find an equitable solution to this dilemma, the District will include a proposal in the 2025-2026 budget for funding for a summer support program to provide a clear opportunity for eligible students seeking access to the course.

McIntosh made clear that as the proposal for this summer support program moves forward through the budget process, high school leadership and District administrators will take into account factors such as equity, access, logistics and sustainability.

Enrollment Update

Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Meghan Troy gave a brief enrollment update stating:

-At the elementary schools we have 105 sections, exactly the number we budgeted for.
-Though the District budgeted for 25 special education classes (including ICT and special classes) we are at 26.
-The District has 26.5 teaching assistants increasing from 24 last year. Two of the additional teaching assistants were hired to cover the additional ICT/specials classrooms and a .5 teaching assistant is connected to the new math course offered at SHS.

Ms. Troy also reported on the hiring and onboarding process for teacher aides, bus drivers, and a leave replacement in the World Language Department at the Middle School.

BOE Community Engagement Plan

In one of the many Board updates, BOE member Ron Schulhof described some of the work he and fellow members did over the summer to review and improve upon the BOE’s Community Engagement Plan (CEP). As the CEP document states, the CEP was originally created in 2021 in an effort to, “... inform, educate, consult, involve, and collaborate with the community, as appropriate, in order to foster relationships, connection, and trust, leading to meaningful discourse and shared decisions.” At the time, the Board sought to identify, “potential additional opportunities for community engagement with key stakeholders in the community, specifically students, parents, faculty, staff, community members, community partner organizations, and government officials, as appropriate.”

Through their review, Mr. Schulhof, Ms. Dembitzer, and Mr. Kline found several ways in which the BOE could improve transparency and provide more opportunity for community feedback. In addition to discussing ways to engage community members through social media and reviewing the Board page on the District website, the committee also recommends adding additional wording to the preamble for the written communications in the Board agenda that would direct viewers where to look for more detailed information. Though community members won’t be able to read any letters or emails written to the BOE, they will be able to see general topics of concern and more details in the Board Documents that can be found in the Agenda of each meeting. These can be found on the BOE page of the District website. We’ve included the doc from Monday’s meeting here:

The committee also recommended reinstating Board Coffee Mornings to provide more opportunity for community members to provide feedback in a relaxed setting. They recognize that not everyone is comfortable getting up in front of the Board during a meeting to share their thoughts during Public Comment. Likewise, many are also not comfortable putting their thoughts and concerns in writing with their names attached. The committee hopes that by offering a few Coffee Mornings a year in an unassuming environment, people will feel more compelled to share their feelings and experiences.

The rest of the BOE seemed to agree with these suggestions and more information about when and where the Coffees will be held will follow shortly. See here for the BOE’s Community Engagement Plan.

Auditorium Rental

Due to the renovation of the Scarsdale High School auditorium it will be out of use for the fall of 2024. The Board approved a resolution to rent the auditorium at Iona Prep for $20,000.

Watch the meeting in its entirety here.