Expert Panel to Discuss the Impact of Technology on Education
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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Is technology helping or hurting our children's literacy? We're all hooked on our electronic and media devices today, and our kids even more so. Should learning change to become more visual as well to better reflect society? Come to the JCC of Mid-Westchester on Tuesday night October 7 at 7:30 pm for a discussion on visual versus traditional methods of literacy and how new technologies can be used to advance education. The expert panel includes Steve Apkon - social entrepreneur and founder of the Jacob Burns Film Center who recently wrote a book about visual literacy entitled The Age of The Image, Dan Benton - CEO of technology money management firm Andor Capital Management, Board Member of both Colgate University and on-line educator Khan Academy Dr. Thomas Hagerman – Superintendent of Scarsdale School District, Cheryl Strauss Einhorn - Journalist, media consultant, and adjunct professor at Columbia University.
The event will be held on Tuesday October 7, 2014 at 7:30 PM and tickets are $15/$12 for seniors, students, and community partners. Click here to order tickets online.
Scarsdale Bond Offering: How Much Is Too Much?
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- Written by: Melissa Hellman
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Should the Scarsdale School Board proceed with a $16.7 million bond or take advantage of low interest rates to borrow $18 million? That was just one of the discussions at the September 22 Board of Education meeting that can be viewd on the Scarsdale Schools Cable Channel An Executive Summary of the proposal was also issued with the evening's agenda and can be accessed here.
At an open work session on September 8, the Board approved by a vote of 7-0 a modified facilities plan that would require a $16.7 million construction bond. This approved proposal eliminated some elements from the designs as they existed in the spring and reduced the bond requirement by $1.3 million from $18 million.
In the months leading up to the September 8 work session, the proposed plan was thoroughly reviewed under Dr. Hagerman's leadership. Board Member Lee Maude presented a detailed history of the work and community input that occurred over the summer that led up to the final proposal including open study sessions, meetings with architects, schools tours, BOE members' input and discussion with school principals. Also, Dr. Hagerman stated that one of his objectives was to move this plan forward with the full support of the Board and the Scarsdale community and made his recommendations to reduce the cost of the bond with this objective in mind.
During the discussion period, Board member Lewis Leone suggested that since present borrowing conditions are extremely favorable it could be in the best service of the Board's fiduciary responsibilities to increase the level of borrowing. While no specific dollar amount was mentioned, the discussion centered on a possible additional amount that would not exceed $1.3 million.
There was much discussion about what projects additional money could be used to fund. Should some of the design elements eliminated from the original proposal be reinstated? Should the money be used to increase contingencies? Should it be used on other priority items that were never part of the original plan (examples include the artificial turf field, Dean Field, and new seats in the high school auditorium)?
The Board had this discussion with the knowledge that a draft of the overall facilities master plan just issued to them (not part of the night's agenda, but certainly on their minds) calls for $65 million in facilities spending by 2030 and therefore they did not want to lose this opportunity to borrow funds at a favorable rate.
Ultimately, it was decided that Dr. Hagerman and Assistant Superintendent Linda Purvis would review projects with top priority projects to determine if it makes sense to include them in the bond referendum. There would be no changes to the plans as approved on September 8.
At the same time, there was much concern expressed that returning to discussion mode on the agreed upon bond amount was opening up a "whole can of worms" on an issue that is now extremely time sensitive. In order to take advantage of retiring debt and favorable borrowing conditions, the Board must vote on October 6 to get the referendum proposal on the ballot for a community vote on December 11. Will the community support a larger bond referendum?
You can watch this very important portion of the meeting (here).
What do you think is the best way for the Board to proceed?
Six More Homes to be Demolished in Scarsdale
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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The Committee for Historic Preservation met on Tuesday night Setpember 16 to decide whether or not to give the go ahead to demolish six more homes in Scarsdale. The demolition of all six was approved.
Here are the homes that will go down:
157 Brewster Road: (Pictured above) 3 bedroom, 3-bath home on quarter acre lot in Greenacres. Currently listed for $999,000. Built in 1926
33 Stratton Road: 4 bedroom, 3.1 bathroom ranch on 2/3 of an acre in Quaker Ridge. Built in 1952. Currently listed for $1,517,000.
109 Carthage Road: Now listed as a picturesque colonial on .72 of an acre in Heathcote for $1,395,000. Built in 1949.
361 Heathcote Road: 3 bedroom, 3 bath split level home on 1/3 of an acre, currently listed for $949,000
Homes not currently on the market:
45 Penn Boulevard built in 1952.
4 Brookline Road built in 1928
Election News: Primary Results and a Democratic Fundraiser in Scarsdale
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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The Democratic primary results for Westchester County show that voters favored Governor Andrew Cuomo to challenger Zephyr Teachout by 62% to 36%. In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Kathy Hochul, the candidate endorsed by Governor Cuomo took 59% of the vote to Timothy Wu's 41%. The results for Scarsdale have not yet been released but it will be interesting to see how local votes compare with the overall counts for Westchester.
In other election news, on Sunday September 7, the Scarsdale Democrats hosted a 
fundraiser at Taiim Cellar in Scarsdale and many of the state's top Democrats attended. Visiting Scarsdale was NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli who is running for re-election against Republican candidate Bob Antonacci, who is now the comptroller of Onondaga County. DiNapoli called Congressman Elliot Engel, who was also in attendance, the hardest working representative in Congress."
Di Napoli urged everyone to vote in the primary saying "Bad things happen when good people don't vote."
DiNapoli introduced State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, calling her "Landslide Andrea" and the next Majority Leader of the NYS Senate. If Cousins is re-elected and if Democrats rule the Senate, she is slated to be the first woman in the history of the State Senate to be Majority Leader.
Stewart Cousins said that Scarsdale residents are "the most civic-minded, involved, multi-faceted residents," and said, "there is no one Scarsdale." Stewart Cousins will run for re-election as senator for the 35th district against Republican candidate Robert Lopez Foti of Yonkers.
Also at the event was Scarsdale Arlene Katz who is current the Acting Village Justice in Scarsdale and is running for Family Court Judge in November as well as County Legislator Ben Boykin.
Primary Election on Tuesday September 9
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A reminder to Scarsdale residents that a Democratic Party and Conservative Party Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Hours of the election are 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. All Polling Locations will be open as follows:
Election Districts Location
1, 2 & 19 Greenacres School
3 & 4 Fox Meadow School
5, 11 & 12 Scarsdale Library
6 & 7 Village Hall
8, 9 & 10 Edgewood School
13, 14 & 18 Heathcote School
15 & 16 Quaker Ridge School
17 Crossway Fire House
For registered voters who will be out of Westchester County on Election Day, an absentee ballot can still be obtained by applying for an absentee ballot in person at the Westchester County Board of Elections, 25 Quarropas Street, White Plains, N.Y. 10601. The deadlines for absentee ballot applications and voting are as follows:
• Monday, September 8, 2014 –- last day to apply in person for a ballot
• Monday, September 8, 2014 - last day to postmark a ballot if returning by mail; must be received no later than September 17th
• Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - last day to deliver a ballot in person to the Board of
Elections
To look up a polling location by residence, or to find additional information on the General Election and voting, residents may visit the Westchester County Board of Election website at www.westchestergov.com/citizenparticipation_boe.htm, or call (914) 995-5700. Residents may also call the Scarsdale Town Clerk's office at (914) 722-1175 for further details.
