Praise for Heroic Efforts by School Staff During Rainstorm

At the Board of Education meeting on Monday October 2nd, the room was filled with gratitude and appreciation for all of those who went above and beyond to help during the weather emergency on Friday 9/30. BOE President, Ron Schulhof, began the meeting by stating:

“Before going into my specific comments for tonight’s meeting, I would like to thank all of the faculty and staff around the District for managing our schools on Friday and ensuring everyone was able to safely get home. I would especially like to thank our custodians, bus drivers, security guards, and the many other people who were out in the rain helping our students safely get into the buildings in the morning and then get home during dismissal. I think the community would also appreciate knowing that even after most people went home, there were custodians in all seven of our buildings that stayed overnight to ensure any additional rain or flooding was managed. While this is some of the work we don’t often see as parents, these efforts are what keep our buildings running in all types of weather and keep our students safe.”

Our Superintendent, Dr. Drew Patrick, echoed these sentiments and expressed his appreciation for the countless number of faculty and staff who jumped in to make Friday’s dismissal go as smoothly as possible, adding that many stayed late into the day even though they had their own long, treacherous drives home. Dr. Patrick also took time to recognize the efforts of the athletic department in conjunction with the maintenance, custodial, and grounds staff in swiftly repairing and preparing Butler Field after the storm, in order to host a football game on Sunday afternoon.

During the Building Report, Andrew Lennon, Assistant Superintendent for Business, first conveyed his deep appreciation for our bus drivers and all those who work in the transportation office. He described the commotion that resulted from the unexpected severity of Friday’s storm that left multiple phones ringing off the hook and the need for a myriad of drivers to make quick accommodations in order to respond to the weather emergency. Lennon explained how the entire team pulled together to work collaboratively and creatively to ensure that they deliver all of our students home safely. He commended the team on their flexibility and dedication to the safety of our students saying the teamwork of our drivers and transportation staff, their “can-do” attitudes, and their willingness to jump in, was incredibly impressive and left him in awe.

In addition, Mr. Lennon reported that during the weather event on Friday, multiple known “troubled areas” throughout the district were expertly attended to. Because of the attention and hard work of our custodial staff, we were able to keep leaks and water at bay in these spots and there is no new, major water damage to report. He also described how many custodians stayed in the buildings and worked continuously through the night on Friday to ensure the safety of our school grounds.

Both Dr. Patrick and Mr. Eric Rauschenbach described that administrators, faculty, and staff will meet with our DERT team in order to debrief about Friday’s weather event and to review their Emergency Response Plan. They hope to identify areas of strength as well as areas that may need improvement.

During the Public Comment portion of the meeting, PTC president Leah Dembitzer read a statement of gratitude in regard to the storm response:

“Good Evening. On behalf of the Scarsdale PT Council Executive Committee (PTC EC), which is comprised of the four PTC officers and the Presidents of the seven schools, I would like to extend a deep thank you to the District and Building Administration as well as the faculty and staff of our seven schools for your care of our community’s students and District Buildings. A special thank you to our building custodial teams - the best teams around. As it is National Custodian’s Day, the PTC EC would especially like to highlight the incredible hard work and care put forward by the building custodial teams.

The impact of Friday’s storm was unexpected and harrowing for so many in our community. The PTC EC thanks you for your sincere efforts and active communication under difficult and complicated circumstances.”

Dr. Patrick responded by stating that he was proud to be a part of such a supportive and wonderful community.

Other meeting highlights:

The BOE quickly reviewed the external audit report and the corrective action plan and later in the meeting resolved to accept the external audit report for the 2022-23 fiscal year as prepared by EFPR Group LLP and management's corrective action plan (CAP).

In addition to detailing current happenings at each of the elementary schools, in his update Dr. Patrick described a touching memorial service given at SMS for former Principal Mike McDermott. Fox Meadow elementary school will also hold a memorial for former principal Joan McCann.

.-Dr. Patrick congratulated Greenacres Elementary School on being named a National Blue Ribbon School.

-Dr. Patrick also announced that he will hold three Strategic Plan Public Sessions. The Scarsdale Public Schools are launching a series of public engagement sessions to discuss how best to prepare our students and our schools for the future. All community members are invited, and your input will be used to inform our next multi-year Strategic Plan. Please join us -- your voice matters! It's Our Future, Together. For more information and to sign up for one of the sessions please see: https://www.smore.com/ev921-our-future-together?ref=email

BOE Member Jessica Resnick-Ault, reported that the SAFE Coalition met on Monday 10/2 and discussed that October is National Bullying Prevention Month. They also discussed the “Everyone Knows Someone” program to be held on 10/27. For more about the SAFE Coalition click here:

Another BOE member Suzie Hahn who is also the liaison for the PTC, reported that a Special District Share Out Series will take place on Wednesday November 8th at 7:30pm in the Scarsdale Middle School Auditorium.
The PTC, SHS and SMS PTA joint program committees invite you to join us for an informative, two-part program as presented by district administrators. First Dr. Drew Patrick and Dr. Edgar McIntosh will introduce the Belonging Survey. Building on our theme of Connecting our WIDE (well-being, inclusion, diversity, and equity) Community, Dr. Patrick and Dr. McIntosh will outline the District's plan to engage students, parents, faculty, and staff this fall in a survey focused on belonging. They will explain how the survey fits into the district's DEI work, describe the survey measures and elements, and review the timeline for survey administration. They will also discuss how the results will be communicated and utilized to inform next steps in the work. Attendees will have the chance to ask questions during the session.
Next, Jeannie Crowley, Director of Technology and Innovation and William Yang K-12 Coordinator of Digital Learning & Literacy will share a selection of the survey results from the Technology Survey administered in June 2023. The Technology Department solicited survey responses from faculty, parents, SMS students, and SHS students. The anonymous surveys were collaboratively developed by the Technology Department, the PTC, and the STA. In their presentation, Ms. Crowley and Mr. Yang will highlight how the data artifacts can be used by parents, administrators, faculty, and students to learn more about the technology experiences of Scarsdale Public Schools community members.
A short Q & A session will follow the Tech Survey presentation. All are invited to submit questions prior to the presentation via this form:Technology Presentation Question Submission Form
The presentations will take place on Wednesday, November 8th at 7:30 pm in the Scarsdale Middle School Auditorium following the SMS PTA and SHS PTA meetings beginning at 7pm.

Dr. Edgar McIntosh reported that all of the fifth grade classroom teachers and PE teachers are working collaboratively to update the fifth grade Health Curriculum. When the update is complete, the new curriculum will be made available to parents.
-All NY State Test scores have been made available for parents to view. Though the state has not given the go ahead for any school district to discuss trends, or what the scores indicate for a particular district, as soon as the state gives clearance, McIntosh will present the findings.

Eric Raushcenbach related that the District Emergency Response Team (DERT) recently met to review all emergency response plans and conducted a tabletop exercise to practice what to do if there is a gas leak.

-Raushchenbach also reported that after the injury of an opposing team’s football player at our homecoming game, DERT met with the people who were present and administered care to the player, to debrief and review the response. The team evaluated response times and records and deduced that the timeframe from injury to the ambulance was 12 ½ minutes, in line with an expected timeframe. Raymond Pappalardi, our Director of Athletics, also described how Scarsdale goes above the state requirements and has a M.D. and athletic trainers at every football and hockey game. Dr. Patrick happily announced that the injured player is fully recovered.

Director of Athletics, Raymond Pappalardi presented an Athletics update for the BOE. Among many items, Pappalardi shared a thoughtful Statement of Purpose and also reported:

-In regards to the Field Study, two firms have been identified and are being evaluated.
-Fall enrollment in athletics is up this year and at the highest it has been in 5 years.
-All of our coaches take part in specialized DEI training.
-The Athletic Department is creating a survey that will be distributed to coaches and players before and after each seasonal sport. The department hopes to make sure that they are meeting the needs of all athletes and reaching appropriate goals.

To conclude the business portion of the meeting, the BOE discussed several information and discussion items, including a second reading of policy 5152 (Admission of non-resident students). The Board then voted to approve previously addressed policies, a new textbook for SMS titled Yellow Face, and gift proposals for Scarsdale Middle School, Scarsdale High School, and Quaker Ridge Elementary School.