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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 28 March 2023

Created: 28 March 2023

Last Updated: 28 March 2023

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At the March 27, 2023 Budget Study Session of the Scarsdale School Board, the Scarsdale PT Council Executive Committee and Budget Study Committee expressed their support for the proposed 2023-24 School Budget and the Bond for the auditorium.

Here is their statement.

Good evening, My name is Christopher Bach, and together with Mayra Kirkendall-Rodríguez, we are the Scarsdale Parent Teacher Council (PTC) Budget Study Co-Chairs for the 2023-2024 budget study season. After analyzing the proposed budget, both the PTC Executive Committee and PTC Budget Study Chairs support this year’s budget. We believe that the proposed budget addresses the PTC’s budget priorities identified in November, in addition to being fiscally responsible.

Source: ‘Proposed Budget 2023-24,’ Scarsdale School District, March 27, 2027.

We would like to thank and recognize Mr. Stuart Mattey, Dr. Drew Patrick, and others in the administration for your work on this budget. And we appreciate the questions about the budget from members of the Board of Education, PTC, and individual budget study liaisons of all seven schools. We also thank members of the Scarsdale PTA community for their involvement during this entire process; this has been a year of increased parent involvement, which we believe strengthens our community and educational system.

Community Priorities Identified By Budget Liaisons

In our statement from November, the PTC Budget Study Chairs identified four main categories of PTA community requests that the District Administration include in the budget. These four categories were:

-Delivery of Educational Services and Student Supports,
-Safety and Security as related to Transportation, Traffic and Grounds,
-Upgraded Facilities, to either enhance or replace existing aging items, and
-Sustainability

Based on the District’s responses to our questions we are pleased to offer our support for the proposed budget, as well as for the separate bond issue for the auditorium. The PT Council Executive Committee and Budget Study Chairs encourage the community to vote “YES” on both the Budget and the Auditorium Bond on May 16.

First, with regard to the community priority of Delivery of Educational Services and Student Supports, the PTC is committed to supporting high quality education for all students as a core value of our District. PT Council strongly supports continued small class size, robust learning and mental health student support, differentiated teaching and learning, and the development of the whole child. We support and encourage initiatives related to mental health and wellness as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. Additionally, PTC strongly supports continuing enhancements in curriculum and professional development district-wide to enrich and improve student learning in all schools.

We believe this budget will not only maintain Scarsdale’s educational system as a leader in the area, but also, will continue to push Scarsdale Schools to even higher levels. We respectfully request that the District continue to monitor all students’ performance with a critical eye and in a timely manner to always look for ways to support our students across schools, so that they can have the highest academic achievement and individual enrichment possible.

Regarding Safety and Security related to Transportation, Traffic, and Grounds, we are pleased that the full transportation study is included in the 2023-24 budget. As per the proposed 2023-24 budget $24,000 is designated for ‘a comprehensive transportation study which will, among other areas of focus, assist the District in navigating the zero emission fleet requirements of the upcoming years.’ The traffic study is long overdue, and we thank the administration for listening to our request and making it a priority.

On the Upgraded Facilities pillar, we are also pleased that the auditorium project is both moving forward and that it is being addressed via a separate bond issue. The PTC appreciates that the community can vote on the bond issuance. We believe that the District’s interest rate assumptions are presently reasonable. The cost of less than $40 per average household per year is not burdensome to the majority of taxpayers. We also appreciate the contingencies built into the budget, so that residents can be assured that there will be minimal deviation from this estimate. The PTC supports voting in favor of the auditorium project given the initial assumptions presented.

Source: Scarsdale School Auditorium Recommendations.

On the Sustainability pillar, we appreciate that the District views sustainability as a core value of our community and that the District considers sustainability in infrastructure projects. A case in point is the transportation study, which will also review the current fleet of buses with an eye toward analyzing zero emission requirements.

Considerations for The Near Future

For the near future, we respectfully request that the budget study process be revised. This year the proposed budget book was only released at 4:00 pm on March 20th. This is not sufficient time for more residents to be able to fully analyze the budget and to be able to pose questions to the Administration. Please consider allowing at least two budget meetings between the budget release and the community budget forum.

We reiterate our request from November that the District provide an updated plan and schedule for capital improvement projects across all schools for the next five years. Community members have been passionate in their requests for improvements at specific schools that they would like to see implemented, as we shared during our remarks in November. We recognize that some of these improvement requests are identified in the District’s Capital Projects document and realize that due to budgetary constraints, we cannot tackle all capital improvement projects at the seven schools simultaneously. However, the PTC would like to understand what the plan and schedule are for investments in capital improvement projects – whether in future budgets or financed via a future bond issue.

Since we began the budget study process last fall, inflation has continued its upward trajectory and the volatility in the banking sector globally has made the economic environment more precarious. As we did last year, we continue to recommend that the District consider creating and implementing a long-term financial plan that shows the community how our educational values and infrastructure needs will be financed. We thank you for designing a budget and a separate bond issuance for the auditorium that is respectful of the current turbulent economic environment. We value the financial stewardship that the District has shown as exhibited in the District current high credit quality rating of AAA; this rating is critical in keeping the District’s borrowing costs as low as possible.

We would especially like to thank Dr. Patrick and Mr. Mattey for their openness and transparency through this process, as well as their commitment to receiving feedback and giving us detailed explanations about the budget. By its very nature, designing a budget is not an easy process because there are myriad stakeholders, often offering different opinions. Dr. Patrick and Mr. Mattey were always willing to meet with the community, answer questions thoughtfully, make adjustments where necessary, and work collaboratively with the members of the Parent Teacher Council and the PTC Budget Study Chairs. Thank you for valuing cognitive diversity and discussion. We encourage Scarsdale voters to join us in supporting the proposed 2023-24 budget on May 16.

PTC Budget Study Chairs
Chris Bach and Mayra Kirkendall-Rodriguez

PTC Executive
Lauren Grossberg, PTC President
Leah Dembitzer, PTC President-Elect
Meredith Kent, PTC Secretary
Rokaya Hassaballa, PTC Treasurer
Vanessa Stoffels, SHS PTA President
Deb Lichtenstein, SMS PTA President
Alicia Bowman, Edgewood PTA Co-President
Andrea Fowler, Edgewood PTA Co-President
Berit Berger, Fox Meadow PTA Co-President
Michelle Schwartz, Fox Meadow PTA Co-President
Rachel Krisbergh, Greenacres PTA President
Samantha April, Heathcote PTA President
Dana Hirsch, Quaker Ridge PTA President

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 12 April 2023

Created: 12 April 2023

Last Updated: 12 April 2023

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This letter was submitted by Carl Finger:
To the Editor:

I wholeheartedly recommend Amber Yusuf and Robert Klein for re-election to the Board of Education. Working with them on the Board of Education through the severest of challenges confirms their qualifications as extraordinary Board Members who should, and must, continue to represent the community on the Board of Education.

Amber Yusuf emerged quickly and effectively as a leader of the Board in her first year on the Board of Education. She provided dedicated, diligent, and effective. Knowing Amber none of this was a surprise. However, her temperament in trying situations, her even keeled approach to the many challenges the Board faced, and her staunch advocacy on behalf the students, convincingly establishes her vital importance to the Board and the community. The successes of the past year can be directly attributed to her leadership as President of the Board and prior to that as Vice President of the Board.

Robert Klein displayed his thoughtful and considered approach to governance from the outset of his first term. No meeting passes without an insightful and often previously unstated perspective on an issue. Bob’s ability not only to consider and formulate a viewpoint but to articulate it for those present at any meeting continues to prove invaluable. Bob’s presentation often compels further discussion about issues ultimately leading to a well-conceived result. His unique perspective clearly positively influenced all decisions by the Board during his term and the successes of the past year can be traced to his contributions.

Both Amber and Bob have proven respectful and congenial colleagues who work well not only with the Board, but parents, community members, administrators, and staff. Their performance and accomplishments leave no doubt that they must be re-elected to the Board so that their excellent work and results will continue. Amber and Bob have my unequivocal support and I hope the voters will join me in re-electing them to the Board of Education.

Very truly yours,

Carl L. Finger
38 Butler Road
Scarsdale, New York 10583

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Written by Wendy MacMillan

Published: 14 March 2023

Created: 14 March 2023

Last Updated: 15 March 2023

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Dr. Matt Bellace with Michelle De FeoStress, whether our own or our children’s, is definitely no laughing matter…but Dr. Matt Bellace had his audience chuckling about it as he outlined how adults can foster resilience in teens and help them to make healthy choices. Not only a renowned neuropsychologist and published author, Dr. Bellace is also a stand-up comedian who has appeared in comedy clubs across the country. On Tuesday March 7th, parents were treated to a program with Matt Bellace thanks to the efforts of Scarsdale Advocates for Youth (SAY) and Scarsdale Middle School teachers Michelle De Feo and Cara Forray.

Though Dr. Bellace used humor to connect with parents in the audience, his messages about mental health awareness and how to cope with stress were serious and important. He began his program by recruiting volunteers to take part in an exercise that demonstrated the value of surrounding yourself with people who support you and hold you up. According to Bellace, the teen brain is a novelty seeking missile that searches out excitement. Therefore, he asserts,it is essential for teens to lean on healthy friends who provide positive support and encouragement. To illustrate this point, Dr. Bellace shared a slide highlighting mental health status by social support variables demonstrating that when teens have a high level of social support, they are much less prone to depression, anxiety, self-injury, and suicidality. What's more, when teens are surrounded by positive friends and meaningful relationships they tend to take good and healthy risks as opposed to risks that could negatively impact them or others.

Using narratives from his own family life, Dr. Bellace touched on the stress collectively felt by children and parents alike during the pandemic. He suggested that we all need to give ourselves a big hug for making it through such a hard time. Dr. Bellace described one anecdote from parenting during the pandemic which underscored an essential strategy we can all use to combat stress…movement. Talking about how his kids were sitting inside behind a screen all day, Dr. Bellace asked them to rate their mood. After taking his kids on a bike ride, he asked them to rate their mood again and noted that all noticed a marked improvement. Dr. Bellace extolled other strategies that can be utilized to diminish or even prevent stress and minimize the chances of making unhealthy choices. Some of the strategies include:Exercise to demonstrate importance of leaning on healthy people.

-5 Finger Breathing. Dr. Bellace asked his audience to all participate in this easy exercise to help get control of breathing which in turn can help us control our emotions. He first asked everyone to sit up straight with their feet on the ground. He then raised his hand and with the pointer finger of his opposite hand he began to “trace” each of his fingers inhaling deeply with each upstroke and exhaling on the downstroke.

-Meditation. Dr. Bellace also led the audience in a quick meditation, a practice he describes as a superpower to calm the mind and in turn, makes more room for us to express emotions in a healthy way. For optimal effects, Dr. Bellace suggests that we practice a few minutes of meditation every day around the same time.

-Music. Through more engaging audience participation, Dr. Bellace demonstrated how the purposeful use of music can lift your mood and help improve well-being. He explained that we can also use music to help us cope, get us psyched and change how we are feeling.

-Writing. Whether writing in a journal or writing songs or letters, Dr. Bellace described writing as an incredibly effective tool to help reduce anxiety and stress.

During his presentation, Dr. Bellace described the pitfalls of drug and alcohol use and how these substances adversely affect the developing brain. He explained that “weed” is not the same drug that parents used when they were teens and that THC shrinks the hippocampus and memory capacity. THC use can also thin the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brian responsible for decision making, planning, impulse control, and more. Because of these detrimental effects (and many more), Dr. Bellace advises delaying drug and alcohol use as long as possible, preferably until the brain is done developing in our mid-twenties. Instead of drugs, Dr. Bellace promotes trying to find natural highs that often release the same chemicals in the brain as drugs. Some natural highs he described include:

-LaughingBellace with SAY Co-chairs Wendy Gendel and Amy Rompala

-Cold water plunge

-Yoga, dancing, swimming, hiking, or any other exercise

-Watching a sunset or just being in nature

Another important takeaway from the presentation was Dr. Bellace’s reminder that “storms are going to hit no matter what” but “the most beautiful waves come from the biggest storms.” In other words if we choose to look for it, going through adversity can be good and can inspire growth and flourishment. These are only a few of the impressionable highlights from the program. For more in-depth learning, check out Dr. Bellace’s books: “Life is Disappointing…and Other Inspiring Thoughts” and “A Better High: Laugh, Help, Run, Love...and Other Ways to Get Naturally High!” To learn more about other helpful programs and workshops check out Scarsdale Advocates for Youth.