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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 09 September 2021

Created: 09 September 2021

Last Updated: 09 September 2021

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Broken glass and downed trees at the Tulane Business School.After a year of remote learning, social distancing, masks and COVID scares, it’s fair to say that seniors in the SHS class of 2021 were hoping to have a normal introduction to their freshman year in college.

Even their college application process was out of the ordinary. Some, like Julia Gurden SHS ’21, never got the chance to visit the schools on her list and had to decide where to go to college based on virtual tours. So when it was time to actually go to college, the entire Gurden family decided to travel to New Orleans to tour the city, sample the cuisine and give a “normal” send-off to their college freshman who would be attending Tulane.

The Gurdens arrived in New Orleans a few days before the dorm move-in date and visited the French Quarter, Bourbon Street, Audubon Park and had some great meals. Though the weather was steamy, they toured, explored and got a fix on what New Orleans was all about.

On move-in day, Julia’s dad and sister flew back to New York, while her mother helped her set up her dorm room on the Tulane campus. They hadAll set for classes to begin: Julia Gurden in her dorm room at Tulane. anticipated every need and designed the room in shades of lavender and violet, with curtains, a rug, matching comforter and many stuffed animals and pillows. She had a calendar to keep her organized, plenty of school supplies, a flashlight and a refrigerator and microwave, which proved to be essential in the weeks to come.

The initial week of orientation was fun. Gurden enjoyed a host of orientation events with free snow cones, free burgers, and a great night of music. She met people from California to Maine and lots of fellow New Yorkers, many, like her, from Westchester.

On Monday August 30 school began, and Gurden got organized and dove into the required reading and multiple assignments that were given in the first few days of classes. Though the material did not seem to be more challenging than what she had encountered at Scarsdale High School, there was a lot of it and the pace was swift.

Toward the end of that week, she started to hear about an impending Hurricane. First it was a tropical storm, then perhaps a Category 1 and then her teachers began to ask their students about their plans for the hurricane. Would they stay in the dorm? Evacuate? Some of the students were making plans to drive to Houston or even Florida – but for the kids from the Northeast, an easy escape was not feasible.

Gurden's mother was monitoring the storm from New York.Gurden had been scheduled to go on a kayak trip with an outdoor adventure group that Sunday, but her mom called and said that she doubted that would happen.

Initially the school predicted that the hurricane would hit 90 miles from New Orleans and told the students not to be too concerned. But as Friday turned into Saturday, the storm was upgraded to a Category 4, and the school was sending out multiple warnings. Gurden’s Sociology teacher told the class on Friday that if it was a category 3 storm she would stay, but if it was a Category 4 she would leave town. She promised to email them to let them know her decision.

Some of her classmates attempted to evacuate by car and plane but got stuck in hours of traffic and turned back or missed their flights due to the logjam.

On Saturday, with the storm in sight, the school instructed students who were staying to stock up on food and drinks and sent shuttle buses to the dorms to transport students to Walmart for supplies. Gurden couldn’t believe the scene at Walmart. There were no more shopping carts so she grabbed a box she found on the floor and collected some hot pockets and snacks to tide her over. People were grabbing everything on the shelves and Gurden wondered if they thought the world was coming to an end. She watched as locals filled their carts with beer and alcohol and quickly saw how they planned to ride out the storm Louisiana-style.

Her mother instructed her to buy duct tape, and though she thought that sounded extreme, she listened. When she returned to the dorm she taped the windows she could reach and thought she was safe.

But then alarms started to ring and she was receiving warnings of up to nine feet of flooding and high winds. At that point, it was too late to leave.

Students passed the hours playing games in the hallways.Not knowing what to expect she went to sleep on Saturday night and woke up to the sound of gusts of wind on her window on Sunday morning. At that point she really wished she had a roommate, because she was alone in her room and frightened. Most of the other students and the Resident Advisor had evacuated from the girls’ hall and only five students remained. At first it was just gray and windy, but then the winds picked up and torrential rains began. She could see from her windows that the power was out in the city, but the universities generators kicked on and on Sunday they still had power and air conditioning in the dorm.

At that point, an RA from the boys side knocked on her door and instructed her to move into the hallway, away from the windows as they feared they would shatter. She took some games and a blanket into the boys hallway, where the remaining students huddled and played hours of “Truth or Dare” and “Never Have I Ever.” She had never met most of these students but got to know them rather quickly.

One boy got tired and stretched out with his bedding and went to sleep on the floor of the hall. She could see debris flying outside and she ventured up to the eleventh floor of the building in the elevator where she could feel the tower swaying and watched water sloshing in a glass from the building’s vibrations.

From texts they learned that others had to be evacuated from their dorms as a large construction crane was on campus for renovations and it posed a risk to the dormitory where these students were housed. They were told to stay in the lunchroom on the floor. They received pictures from other students of shattered windows and water flooding the dorms.

Periodically they heard loud explosions and were told that these were transformers blowing up nearby.

After hours in the hallway, Gurden returned to her room and was dismayed to find that her floor was soaked. She looked up and found water pouring in from the window above her bed that she had not taped. The rain appeared to be coming in horizontally. When she stepped down on the floor she noticed it was very hot and smelled something was burning in her room. It turned out that an outlet in the floor had shorted out and was frying a hole in the carpet.

The Marriott in HoustonShe managed to sleep in the wet room and woke up Monday morning and was told that a hot breakfast was available in the cafeteria. She ventured over there and was relieved to be able to have a meal.

However, when she got back to her room, she decided to take her wet bedding down to the laundry room to attempt to dry it out. The laundry room was open and the dryers were working so she was in luck!

But by Monday at 11am things took a turn for the worse. With no warning the power went out. That meant there was no light, air conditioning, elevators and the key card security system was disabled. The first floor of the dorm was flooded with six inches of water and the air was hot, sultry, steamy and very uncomfortable. Panicked, Gurden rushed down the stairs to the basement, hoping to retrieve her bedding from the dryer. She got some of it and left the laundry room only to realize that the door had locked behind her. In an instant she knew that the rest of her laundry would never be recovered.

The world seemed to close around her. There was broken glass, fallen trees, and a telephone pole had fallen into the river. The Wifi was gone and with no power the students realized their phones would soon die. Despair set in and Gurden wondered what would happen to her. Her room was swampy and a stench arose from the wet carpet. She knew that it would soon be uninhabitable, but she had nowhere to go.

Later that afternoon, Gurden got a text on Whats App from her mother letting her know that the university had announced plans to evacuate the school. Though the text was sent to the students as well, many had lost phone service and failed to receive the notice from the university.

Gurden was instructed to pack up her things and report to an open field on Tuesday morning for a trip via Coach bus to Houston. From there, her mother would make her a plane reservation to fly back to New York. It was not anticipated that the students would return to campus any time soon.

The dorm was pitch black, the floor was soaked and Gurden struggled to find the clothing, devices, chargers, textbooks and materials she would need for the next few weeks. It was eerie to look out her window at downtown New Orleans, a city that parties all night, and see no lights. She wondered how she would be able to sleep in her damp, steamy, smelly wet room, so she took an ice cold shower and managed to fall asleep for a few hours before waking up in a puddle of sweat.

On Tuesday, she dragged her suitcases and belongings to the field and waited in line for a few hours with hundreds of other students to be admitted to the cool Coach buses. The university scanned each student’s ID to be able to track their journeys on the 32 bus caravan.

Led by a police escort, the bus ride to Houston, usually a four hour trip, took seven hours. At one point they stopped for food, but only found snacks in vending machines.

Once in Houston, things looked up. Tulane alumni had arranged for the evacuees to stay at a large and luxurious Marriott hotel. The kids stretchedSafe and dry in Houston. out in clean, air conditioned rooms, swam in the hotel pool and treated themselves to a nice dinners out. The school asked the students to make plans to travel home from the hotel, offering them up to seven nights of free accommodations until they could leave.

Gurden’s mother had reserved her a flight at 2 pm the following day, (Wednesday), but that was cancelled. Hurricane Ida was due to hit New York Wednesday night and the airlines were getting prepared. Frantic for Julia to get home before Ida touched down in Scarsdale, her mother spent three hours on the phone with Delta and got her onto a 6 am flight on Wednesday morning to Atlanta with a connection to New York.

Gurden got up at 3 am to get to the airport for the early morning flight and landed in New York at noon on Wednesday September 1, just hours before the deluge hit Scarsdale.

She was so exhausted and relieved to be home that she got into bed and slept through the entire storm in New York. She woke up to realize that Ida had followed her home, flooding Scarsdale, closing schools and wreaking more havoc in her path.

She’s been home for a week now and is awaiting the resumption of classes online on Monday. Again she will be doing remote learning until Tulane can clean up the storm damage, repair the windows and permit students to return to campus, hopefully in early October.

She says, “It was a once in a lifetime thing that I will never forget. I lived through the hurricane in two different states …. I would not have made it without calls and texts from my Mom.”

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 23 August 2021

Created: 23 August 2021

Last Updated: 24 August 2021

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School administrators presented succinct plans for the opening of the Scarsdale Schools next week at the August 19 meeting of the school board. They told parents, “Though the Delta variant remains an obstacle, we hope that vaccinations and risk mitigation efforts will help us open school in a more traditional way.”

The plan offers details on all aspects of the school program and can be reviewed here:

However, here are some of the highlights:

COVID Statistics

Assistant Superintendent Eric Rauschenbach provided the current COVID metrics as defined by the Centers for Disease Control.

Here were the statistics as of August 19, 2021:

-The positivity rate was 3.8% in Westchester and the trend is slowly increasing

-The seven day total for cases per 100,000 residents is 139.

-The infection rate was 1.16 per person.

-Westchester County is an area of high transmission. Though the positivity rate is low, the seven-day rate at 139 puts the county in the highest tier.

-75% of those over 12 are fully vaccinated and 81% have received at least one dose

Rauschenbach explained that the NYS Department of Health guidance is no longer in place so the Scarsdale Schools will use guidelines from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Westchester County Department of Health can adjust quarantine guidelines and contact tracing rules. He said, “All the guidance recognizes the value of live in-person instruction.”

Dr. Hagerman said, the district no longer has to provide testing data to the state. About vaccines, he said, “We are monitoring the vaccination status of our faculty and will survey parents on their children’s vaccination status.”

He continued, “We will be fully open to all students beginning Wednesday September 1, 2021 and we are celebrating a return to school the way we aspire them to be. We will return to norms for the most part. We are not planning on offering hybrid or remote learning unless we must.”

Rauschenbach continued, “The priority is the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff, wellness and social emotional well-being, risk mitigation efforts and to provide as normal a schedule and as many of these activities as we can under the circumstances. There will certainly be some restrictions around overnight trips. We will do everything we can do safely. As the situation improves we hope to lift restrictions.”

Social Emotional Well-Being

Rauschenbach said, “What assessments do we need to support our students? We will continue to partner with Scarsdale Family Counseling and outside consultants if needed. Each building has psychologists and we have two district psychologists and retirees who are willing to come in if needed. We ran courses this summer about positive psychology during professional development. We stand ready to receive our students and understand where they are at and intervene if necessary.”

Masks

Masks will be required universally indoors for all individuals, regardless of vaccination status. Outdoor masking is optional but masks are recommended for those who are not vaccinated and for large gatherings like graduation and the elementary school picnics. Masks will be required at Board of Education meetings.

COVID Mitigation

The district will continue to provide hand sanitizer and hand washing opportunities and has a stockpile of masks and gloves for those who need them. They will provide PCR tests for faculty and staff and outside providers in regular contact with students. The schools cannot require students to be vaccinated but they strongly recommend that parents provide information on student vaccinations.

They are sending a survey about vaccination status to parents with kids 13 and up and the county will provide free testing to school districts for K-12 students.

Physical Distancing

The CDC is recommending 3 feet of social distancing in school and the district will maintain 3 feet of distancing in regular classrooms . At some special activities like band and choir more distancing will be required. Music classes may have to be broken up into smaller groups and they not be able to have musical performances.

Lab activities will be resumed and equipment will be cleaned in between uses.

The school libraries will be open.

Physical education will be outside for as long as possible.

Lunch

Lunch will be served in traditional and non-traditional settings. Tents will be used at the middle school. Elementary food service will offered as pre-ordered package lunches and at the middle and high schools there will be hot and cold lunch options.

Students will be asked to wash their hands before and after lunch. Barriers will not be used, but students will be six feet apart at lunch when masks are off. The schools will use all available spaces to spread kids out during lunch.

Academic Intervention

Academic intervention services are fully in place. Students who are at risk of not achieving state learning standards will be assessed and given extra services if needed.

Athletics

Athletic Director Ray Pappalardi said, “We are happy to offer all sports during their traditional seasons.” The good news is that 95% of student athletes are vaccinated. The 29 varsity athletes who are not vaccinated will be tested weekly. All sports will practice and compete during their traditional seasons using guidance and there will be no daily screenings. However students who are symptomatic should stay home and present a negative test to return. Face masks must be worn indoors and on buses but they will not be required for cheerleading while stunting and tumbling.

For outdoor sports masks are not required, however those who are not vaccinated are encouraged to wear a mask.

Spectators may be asked to distance three feet or more. The school will use locker rooms and allow access for indoor teams, but they will not plan any overnight travel.
When there is a positive case the district will follow their protocol. Games will be live streamed and home and away spectators will be permitted.

Cleaning and Ventilation

Assistant Superintendent Stuart Mattey reviewed cleaning and ventilation plans and said that last year’s enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols will continue. There will be daily cleaning and wiping down with Viking Pure water and there will be a focus on elementary schools due to the vaccination status of the youngest students.

About ventilation he said, all ventilation has been upgraded to the fullest extent possible. He said, we will allow fans and window air conditioning units and windows will be kept open to the fullest extent possible.

Transportation

Bus transportation will return to normal and students and staff will be masked on buses with windows open as much as possible. Buses will board from back to front and will be cleaned and disinfected daily. There is an increase in bus usage and this will help to reduce car traffic around the schools. In addition, no left turn will be permitted on Weaver Street from the Quaker Ridge School which should alleviate traffic.

Absences

Students or staff who have symptoms of COVID 19 must remain home. To return to school they must have a negative test or permission from their physician. Nurses will follow up on absences.

Quarantine Rules

The new quarantine rules are complex and summarized in the chart below:

If students are quarantined they will no longer have remote access to their classes. The district is in conversation with the STA (teachers’ union) on how to provide instruction to students who are quarantined.

Visitors

In order to safeguard the school community there will be restrictions on visitors during instructional time. All visitors will be screened and will be asked to wear masks. For after school activities and PTA activities held in school, masks will be required. Outside entities can apply for usage of the schools but will need to follow district rules.

See the entire presentation here:

Enrollment

Dr. Hagerman provided the following district enrollment numbers. Overall, the district is down 127 students from the projections, due somewhat to families moving out of state and internationally. More information on trends will be provided at the next meeting.

Here are the counts by school:

Elementary schools

The total projection for the five elementary schools was 2052 and there are now1982 enrolled, down by 70 students.

Edgewood has 11 few students than projected

Fox Meadow has 31f ewer students than projected

Greenacres has 25 more students that projected

Heathcote has 12 fewer than projected

Quaker Ridge is down 41 students from the projection

Scarsdale Middle School enrollment is at 1131, which is 19 students less than the projection of 1150.

Scarsdale High School has 1,477 student enrolled, which is 38 students less than the projection of 1,515.

Other News

Community Read: “The Person You Mean to Be” by Dolly Chough

Board member Bob Klein said that the faculty is reading “The Person You Mean to Be, How Good People Fight Bias” by Dolly Chugh and encouraged the community to read the book. He said, “It’s an easy read and shows the bias in our society and the extent to which your background informs your unconscious biases. We can learn more about ourselves and others by reading this book.”

Moseley to Retire in August 2022

Dr. Hagerman announced that Rachel Moseley, the Director of Data Technology and the Chief Information Officer for the Scarsdale School District will retire in August 2022. He said, Rachel has been here since 2013 and called her a “phenomenal part of my team and the district and touched so many lives.” In her retirement letter she said, “It has been a privilege to work with all units” and “she has cherished building, leading and mentoring in her department.” She spoke of the “joy I found in working with everyone,” and plans to spend time with her family and pursue her varied and interesting hobbies.”

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 19 August 2021

Created: 19 August 2021

Last Updated: 19 August 2021

Hits: 2106

Learn about the School’s Chamber Music, Early Childhood, Suzuki, Orchestra and Adult Programs

Learn more about Hoff-Barthelson Music School’s offerings by attending one or more of the School’s Fall Open Houses! Families and individuals interested in attending are asked to RSVP by visiting the School’s website www.hbms.org.

Masks, social distancing, adherence to the School’s Fall Safety Guidelines and RSVP are required for all in-person event participants.

Chamber Music and Piano Ensembles Open House
K-12 string, wind, brass and piano students and their parents are invited to attend an in-person Chamber Music Open House on Wednesday, September 1, from 6:00-8:30 pm.

Students will have an opportunity to learn about the School’s new Piano Ensembles program, participate in chamber music activities, and music games while parents attend an interactive meeting with program directors Donna Elaine and Tomoko Uchino and Deans Kathy Jones and Christopher Kenniff. All will enjoy performances by faculty and student ensembles. Parents unable to attend in person are invited to participate in the meeting and Q & A with the program directors and deans via Zoom.

Suzuki Open House and Porch Party
Prospective Suzuki violin students and their parents are invited to visit the School on Saturday, September 11, 2021, from 4:00-5:00 pm for a Suzuki Fall Playdown and Open House! Come learn more about the School’s exciting plans for the 2021-22 Suzuki program, meet Suzuki faculty, other Suzuki families, and help the School kick off the year!

Conditions permitting, this event will be held in person; should conditions necessitate, the event will be moved online.

Early Childhood Program Open House
Families eager to enroll their very youngest members in high-quality, safely delivered music education are invited to attend an in-person Open House on Monday, September 13, 2021, from 10:00 to 11:30 am. Learn more about the School’s Dalcroze-based music and movement program and get a taste of program activities parents and children can look forward to together. Children ages 9 months to 5 years and their adults are invited to join in the fun of a music and movement class at 10:30 am, followed by a brief Q & A with faculty

Youth Orchestra Program Open House
Join music directors Jun Nakabayashi (Festival Orchestra), Robert Schwartz (Young People’s Symphonette, Chamber Orchestra), Joseph Piscitelli (Wind Ensemble), Dean Christopher Kenniff, and HBMS Executive Director Ken Cole for a lively online discussion via Zoom about the School’s four-tiered Youth Orchestra Programs on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, from 7:30-9:00 pm.

Hoff-Barthelson is the only community music school in Westchester with a four-tiered orchestral pyramid, culminating in a full symphonic orchestra for high school students at the highest level of technical ability and musical artistry. The discussion will include information about repertoire, educational goals, performance schedules, safety protocols, and more! Students enrolled in private lessons elsewhere are welcome to enroll in these ensembles on an a la carte basis.

Adult Programs Open House
Adult learners are invited to join Dean Christopher Kenniff and Associate Dean Kathy Jones on Saturday, September 18, 2021, from 2:15-3:15 pm (in-person or online) for a discussion centering on the new semester, safety protocols, how to make the most of the School’s programs, course offerings including the Adult Jazz Ensemble, Ring Your Bell Handbell Ensemble, Group Piano Class, Scarsdale Singers, as well as other opportunities for adults.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 08 July 2021

Created: 08 July 2021

Last Updated: 09 July 2021

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Karen Ceske is the new President of the Board of Education for the 2021-22 school year.
After Alison Singer, the Vice President of the 2019-20 Board of Education lost her bid for re-election in May 2021, there was much speculation about who would assume leadership of Scarsdale’s Board of Education. Singer had been poised to take on the Board presidency and campaigned on the premise that previous experience on the board was necessary to lead successfully.

However, neither the School Board Nominating Committee (SBNC) nor the voters bought in to this idea, and she failed to win the nomination of the SBNC, and then did not garner enough votes when she ran as an independent candidate.

Some saw her loss as a backlash from voters who were unhappy with the district’s response to the COVID crisis. With schools closed and the administration resisting calls for a timeline or metrics for reopening, many parents expressed dissatisfaction with the length of the school closure and the lack of transparency around decision-making.

Rather than re-elect the current Board VP, voters chose two newcomers, Jim Dugan and Jessica Resnick-Ault. The two candidates promised to listen to residents and improve communications.Amber Yusuf being sworn in by Superintendent Thomas Hagerman.

Before Dugan and Resnick-Ault took their seats, at the final meeting of the previous board on June 21, the outgoing board voted to extend the Superintendent’s contract, adding a fourth year to the three remaining years on the contract which now runs to 2025. Though there was over an hour of public comments objecting to the contract extension, the Board approved it, with the only dissenting vote coming from Ron Schulhof. Board members Amber Yusuf abstained and Karen Ceske did not attend the meeting. This move, by an outgoing board, after perhaps the most contentious year in the history of the Scarsdale Schools, further enraged some community members. In the meeting highlights, emailed from the administration to the community to recap the proceedings, the hour long discussion of the superintendent’s contract was omitted.

At several meetings during the last school year, Schulhof had attempted to speak out on behalf of concerned parents and at one meeting he was silenced by Board President Pam Fuehrer. Last year he served on both the district Restart and Communications Committees, giving him added insight into the workings of the administration and the views of parents, who appeared to see him as more sympathetic and responsive to their concerns.

Following the heated Board of Education election, some hoped that the Board would elect leaders who would exercise more oversight over the administration and challenge decisions rather than promote the administration’s agenda to the community.

However, at their first meeting of the new board on July 7, 2021, it was business as usual. There was no sign that the contentious election and surprising results had impacted current board members. By a vote of four to three, the Board elected Karen Ceske and Amber Yusuf, two community volunteers and former PTA leaders, who seem to be very much in line with the former Board President and Vice President.

Ron SchulhofFor President, there were two nominations. Karen Ceske was nominated by Board Member Carl Finger, and Ron Schulhof, was nominated by Jim Dugan. Schulhof shared his guiding principles and said his focus would be on education and the students, along with listening, community engagement and collaboration with all stakeholders. He said, “We have exciting opportunities before us and I look forward to discussing topics to pursue with other Board members.” He also said, “I have the time to put into the job and I have relevant experience.”

Ceske and Schulhof both had similar tenure on the board, as they were both elected in 2019. Both served on the district communications committee last school year.

When the superintendent called for votes, Ceske was elected Board President with ayes from herself, Carl Finger, Bob Klein and Amber Yusuf.

Schulhof then ran for Vice President, but also failed to get the necessary votes, losing to Amber Yusuf, who had less board experience, by a vote of 4-3.

If the Board had wanted to embrace the factions of the community that were disenfranchised last year, they might have extended an olive branch by electing Schulhof as either President or Vice President. This might have helped to build consensus and community support. Instead, it appears that four of the board members closed ranks to resist opposition, despite clear signs from the community that they want change.

This is the opinion of Scarsdale10583 site founder Joanne Wallenstein.