Questions Arise Over Decision-Making Processes at the Scarsdale Schools
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Profound questions about the management and decision making at the Scarsdale Schools erupted at a marathon six-hour meeting of the Board of Education held via ZOOM on Monday night February 8, 2021.
The evening began with a budget study session that showed that the district’s finances face some real challenges for 2021-22 and beyond, with a decline in surplus funds, dipping fund balances and the threat of the loss of state aid. That meeting, which was scheduled to run for an hour extended into two, postponing news of a school re-opening until eight pm.
Following the budget discussion, School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Hagerman and Assistant Superintendent Eric Rauschenbach provided details of their February 5 announcement that in-school hours would be expanded as follows:
Elementary:
Return of elementary students (Gr. 3-5) full-time before the end of March.
Middle School:
Wednesdays will have normal, full instructional days, and A and B cohorts will alternate in-person learning every other week by mid-March.
Scarsdale High School:
Expansion of the A/B schedule to two, full-days for each cohort by mid-March.
Though most greeted the news that third through fifth graders would attend school full time, many wondered why, since August, the district has insisted there was not enough room to keep students in school, six feet apart. The district architects were even invited to a BOE meeting to demonstrate why there was not enough space. Yet suddenly this requirement had been relaxed, or additional school spaces had been located?
In the past, the district said these decisions were made by the Restart Committee, but in a statement from the parents on the committee, PT Council President Dalya Kahn said that the PT Council and PTA representatives on the committee serve in an advisory role, briefing the committee on parents views garnered from conversations and social media. The parents denied having any decision making power. Even a Board member who serves on the Restart Committee appeared surprised by the district’s announcement. So the question arose, who is making decisions and based on what criteria?
At the meeting and in an email sent the following day, Dr. Hagerman sought to explain this change of course citing:
-decreasing infection rates
-the successful transition of K-2 to full days safely, including during lunch;
-increasing evidence suggesting school spread has been very low over this school year;
-the downward trend in community spread over the past several weeks; and
-the availability of, and access to, vaccines for school faculty and staff.
However, some were skeptical about the explanation. The community was previously told that the lack of sufficient space for social distancing was the reason schools could not re-open. The district never provided a list of additional metrics that would need to be met to open schools including infection rates and the availability of vaccines but now these were being offered as the reasons for the change in policy. And though elementary schools will be fully open in March, there are no benchmarks or a timetable for a full time return to the middle school and high school.
School Board Member Ron Schulhof who serves as a Board representative on the Restart Committee raised the issue with Dr. Hagerman. He said, “Is our decision on this predicated on a change in state guidance? … He continued, “On one side I am happy we are bringing kids in grades 3-5 back… For months we were told the kids would not fit – and now we’re told they do. How do we move forward and garner trust? …. We brought in an architect who said we couldn’t do it. It is hard to ask the community for trust when we have been telling them one thing – and now it’s not. I appreciate the work that is going into this but how do we stand in front of the community and say to high school parents we can only have students in for two days and Middle School for two and half days.?”
Dr. Hagerman replied saying, “We are giving up six foot mitigation as we are coming on with vaccinations. We can fit – but we can’t fit with six foot of social distancing – which is the commitment we made to our staff and students. It is a phased in process. … The health metrics are going down. We have vaccinations for our teachers. We will continue to make changes in an incremental way as we can.”
Schulhof continued saying, “We should have said we can fit the kids at six feet but we don’t believe we should do that -- here is why. This is what happened at the beginning of the year. I am part of the Restart Committee. We have to be forthright about what’s possible. There should be trust in the system. We have to look back at what we could have done better.”
Families rallied to open schools in White Plains on Thursday February 4, 2021
At that point, Board President Pam Fuehrer jumped in and said, “There are other Board members that wish to speak” and then provided her interpretation of the issue. She said, “When we heard they couldn’t fit we were talking about instructional spaces – not learning commons, libraries and cafeterias. We were not sure how long this would go. We were not willing to spend the money (to set these spaces up as classrooms.)
The remaining Board members then presented their views of the policy change and diverged on their understanding of the six foot requirement and why it was no longer an obstacle to full time school.
Board Vice President Alison Singer said, “My understanding is that students will be six feet apart when they are seated at their desks – but there will be points in time when they will not be six feet apart. I am only comfortable moving forward because of the vaccines. I have a feeling the new CDC guidelines will see vaccines as a mitigating factor.”
Carl Finger said, “I think there were times I heard about using classrooms and other portions of the school. It could have been clearer but it was discussed. It sounds like Ron was a party to information that I was not -- now we feel confident that a significant number of staff and faculty will be vaccinated by March, along with masks….
Amber Yusof agreed. She said, “I did not have the same information that Pam and Ron had. It wasn’t clear to me that we weren’t considering gyms and learning commons. As a board we’re supposed to all have the same information. It’s a process problem. This important committee is meeting and we don’t have the background. I think having a public discussion is valuable on some of these subjects.”
Bob Klein explained, “Kids and teachers are not frozen in a space. Kids are moving around. Fitting vs. fitting safely is a nuance. We know more about transmission rates and the vaccine now. Teachers are one of the constituents. I am not defending the confusion. But I think it’s great we can fit more and feel that it is safe. It’s taken time for teachers to feel comfortable with this.”
Karen Ceske said, “I agree with what Bob said. Our kids will have to be more static and teachers too. I understood that we could fit them, but it will change the experience.
Eric Rauschenbach responded, “There is going to be greater density within the building. It is not a normalized situation. Most teachers will be moving between two spaces. The bigger classrooms can fit the entire class.”
Asked if the high school would return full time, high school Principal Ken Bonamo said, “If we get to April break and if there is no change to the CDC guidelines, we might ask families to decide whether their students will be in school or remote through the end of the year.” He explained that if only a percentage of students want to return full time they might be able to accommodate them, thought he hopes that more kids will come back.
About the middle school, Principal Meghan Troy said, “We are planning for a full re-opening at the middle school – that is our hope. If the guidance changes and we can bring back kids more fully we are planning so that we can make changes quickly.”
It was past midnight when the Board opened the floor for public comments and several parents spoke about this policy change. Irin Israel, who has presented his own floor plans of how the students could fit safely into the classrooms, said “I am grateful that grades 3-5 are going back to school in March. However it has been stated that we can’t fit elementary at six feet. This is disingenuous. Suddenly these issues have disappeared. This had nothing to do with vaccines. The density has not changed. We may have reached the same conclusion, but you have a duty to be forthright and transparent.”
Sharon Chesler said, “This is a woeful example of where at one board meeting we are told one thing and then another. It hasn’t been clear what is driving these decisions. Is it the teachers union? I ask for transparency and communication.”
Diane Gurden had five points to make: She said;
“Trust: it’s important to be honest.
Every single parent has the right to speak – parents have been shut out of this process.
We need a written plan.
What is the plan for rapid testing?
Attendance at Scarsdale High School is only 50% --we can fit more students in the school.?”
Evelyn Harris asked the Board to hold a town forum to answer questions. She said, “It is now 12:15 am. CNN is saying “School Age American Children are 10 Times More Likely to Die by Suicide than by COVID. My son is a freshman – he is lost.”
Christine Weston said, “The Scarsdale community is confused and frustrated. Allow parents to partner with you. Our kids are crying, screaming and sleeping all day. If we are following the AAP guidelines for sports, look at the AAP guidelines that place kids 3- 6 feet apart.
Diane Greenwald said, “We’ve spent hours and hours and hours discussing how we can permit wrestling. If we are serious about letting these kids wrestle, then we have to let them back into the classroom. Our values are out of whack. If there are ways to mitigate for risk for wrestling then there are ways to mitigate risk for kids walking down the hallways in school. The Board has not been integral to decision making in this process. Please bring these decisions to the entire Board.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, much remained unclear. Will the older students return to school? If so, when? Is there a threshold in the number of vaccinated faculty members that needs to reached for schools to fully re-open? Will vaccinated teachers be required to return to work? What is the position of the teacher’s union on these questions? What guidelines is the district following? The state, the CDC? Who makes the decisions, the Restart Committee or the Administration? None of this was made clear.
What was clear is that school board members are not privy to all the facts and have not been given the opportunity to weigh in on key decisions such as the reopening of schools. The process is not transparent to the community because even their Board members don’t appear to have the full picture. The Board cannot exercise oversight if they are not informed. What is also clear is that throughout this process the administration has not shared all the facts with the community. But why?
Pressure Mounts for a Full Return to School in Scarsdale
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Pressure is mounting from Scarsdale parents for a return to full time school for their kids. They are concerned about their children’s mental health, loss of motivation, isolation and fears that their kids are falling behind in their education. And with new information out that shows that COVID does not appear to be spreading in school, they went to know why Scarsdale Schools cannot re-open for full time learning. They cite falling COVID-19 infection rates in the community and vaccinations for at least a portion of the faculty and staff that should make it safer to come back to school.
At previous Board of Education meetings, the Scarsdale Schools administration said they would not revisit the current hybrid school schedule until March. But events in recent weeks may be causing them to re-examine that decision. Residents have become more vocal and are reaching beyond the Board of Education. They are appealing to local, county and state authorities, signing petitions and attending rallies. Frustrated by the reaction they are receiving from the school administration and the Board of Education they are seeking to reopen schools through other means.
County Executive George Latimer
At a Scarsdale Rotary Club meeting on January 26, a parent called in to ask County Executive George Latimer for his help to re-open schools. At the time, Latimer said he did not know the Scarsdale Schools Superintendent and later said that decisions surrounding the schools were in the hands of the state.
Rally in White Plains
A Westchester Group has organized a protest at Renaissance Plaza at 200 Main Street in White Plains for Thursday February 4 at 3:30 pm called the “Open Our Schools Rally.”
Petition
In Scarsdale, kindergarten through second grade students are now in school full time, while third through fifth graders attend for half days. A group of parents is now circulating a petition to have third graders go back to school full time.
Attendance at Scarsdale High School
Last week, Scarsdale High School released a three minute video hosted by school principal Ken Bonamo and student leaders encouraging high school students to attend school -- that is to go to school for the two mornings a week they are currently scheduled. In recent weeks, attendance has been flagging and the school issued a survey to determine whether students would opt for in-school or remote learning for the third quarter. The results showed that only 50% of students said they would come in and caused some parents to ask why those who do want to go to school cannot attend full time.
Full time School in Rye City
On February 2, 2021 the Rye City Schools announced that the entire district, grades K-12 would return to full time school in March, with a remote option in place for any students who choose to learn at home.
Why? According to a presentation at the Rye City Board of Education meeting:
-on Tuesday January 26, the CDC released a report in support of schools reopening with proper mitigation in place.
-on Wednesday January 27, Governor Cuomo said in an interview on CNN that schools may reopen and that localities have the authority to make the decision to do so.
-on January 5, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated their school guidance based on data and the latest research recommending 3-6 foot social distancing.
-Research from the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard led to updated recommendations for schools with a focus on air quality rather than surface cleaning as the latest research clearly shows that surface transmission of COVID-19 is minimal.
The Harrison School District quickly followed Rye and on February 3, 2021 the superintendent announced a phased return to school for all grades in April. The district cited vaccinations for faculty and staff, weekly COVID testing for 10% of the school population and the installation of air filtration technology as “tools to help ensure the safe return of students.”
In Westport, CT, kids in grades K-8 returned to school this week with the goal of opening up the high school to all students soon.
In other news, Governor Cuomo relaxed restrictions on indoor weddings and will allow parties of up to 150 people provided guests are tested for COVID-19 as of March 15, 2021.
Scarsdale Schools and Social Distancing
The Scarsdale Schools administration had originally insisted that there was not enough room to have all students attend school and remain six feet apart. However, New York State guidelines currently allow for either six feet of space between students or physical barriers for those more closely spaced. They say, “Specifically, appropriate social distancing means six feet of space in all directions between individuals or use of appropriate physical barriers between individuals that do not adversely affect air flow, heating, cooling, or ventilation, or otherwise present a health or safety risk. If used, physical barriers must be put in place in accordance with United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines, and may include strip curtains, cubicle walls, code compliant materials, or other impermeable divider or partition.”
Therefore, as proponents of in-school learning have been arguing, if there is not adequate space to keep everyone six feet apart, plexiglass can be used.
We reached out to Scarsdale’s Assistant. Superintendent Eric Rauschenbach who heads the Restart Committee to find out if the district is reconsidering their plans. Has the district looked into purchasing plexiglass dividers? With the high school only half occupied, can high school students choose to return full time?
Rauschenbach indicated that the administration is considering the new information and will provide an update at the next Board of Education meeting on Monday February 8, 2021.
Greenacres Elementary Celebrates Opening of Expanded School
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Principal Sharon Hill and students cut the green ribbon.Though School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Hagerman hoped to hold a community wide ribbon cutting ceremony for the renovated and expanded Greenacres Elementary School, the celebration went on, but most watched online.
On Friday January 22, school board members, school administrators, teachers and students gathered in front of the large Greenacres sign on Huntington Avenue to mark the opening of the expanded school.
School Board President Pam Fuehrer began the ceremony saying that the project was a “great example of listening and understanding the desires of the faculty, students and community members.” She said, “Over three years there was significant study and discussion … the school community asked for more flexible spaces.” She said, the new building “Aligns therapeutic spaces and specials” and “meets engineering, health and safety concerns,” many recommended by the Greenacres Building Committee. She continued, “The result of all that listening, discussing and collaborating was a bond proposal,” and she went on to thank architects and engineers BBS, construction managers from Park East and members of previous boards.
Dr. Hagerman called the school “A place to inspire and ignite learning in its many forms,” with flexible space for “innovation, play, the arts, wellness and nutrition in our new classrooms, library, learning commons.” He thanked members of the current and past boards and former Facilities Director John Trenholm who shepherded this through and especially the teachers for “this truly spectacular finish.”
School Board President Pam Fuehrer opened the ceremony.Greenacres School Principal Sharon Hill said, “This is a proud moment for the community,” and said “life has been changed at Greenacres forever.” She said the new building “resonates a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere.”
Representing the faculty, teacher Joan Farella said she has worked at Greenacres for 33 years and this was the largest renovation. She read comments from faculty members who said, “the classrooms are an absolute pleasure … they are big and beautiful.” The new furniture is “amazing” and “flexible,” and the hallways are “bright.”
Students were also invited to speak. One said, “We can’t go to school full time but we can enjoy our classrooms, new cafeteria and so much more.”
Another said, “I love the new fifth grade wing. I could never have imagined it would look so beautiful. I am excited to be in a fun learning environment. I love going up the big beautiful stairs. I love the new school and know you will too.”
A fifth graders said, “The renovations have positively impacted my learning …. we have our own desks that can roll to meet with study partners. The hallways create an ebullient atmosphere. The classrooms are more spacious. I think the renovations represent what we, the students at Greenacres Elementary School are …. an optimistic, clean and hardworking community.”
A video tour is available online showing the new learning commons, an expanded art room, cafeteria, new classroom and an ADA compliant playground at the back of the school. Tour the school yourself here: https://www.scarsdaleschools.k12.ny.us/GreenacresTour
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Greenacres Elementary School on Friday January 22 at 9 am
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The Board of Education and Administration of the Scarsdale Public Schools announce a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for the newly expanded and renovated Greenacres Elementary School on Friday, January 22 at 9:00 a.m.
Due to pandemic restrictions, attendance at this event is limited and by invitation only. However, the event will be live-streamed on SPS-TV and Facebook beginning at 9:00 a.m. The program of the ceremony can be found here.
As a complement to the Ceremony, the District will be sending out links Friday morning so that community members may view a video tour of, and interview about, the process and new spaces.
The expansion and major renovation of Greenacres Elementary School is the result of many years of work by the Board of Education, administrators, faculty, parents, and community members who served on various committees related to the project over the past six years. The fruit of their labor is evident in the larger and more flexible classroom spaces, multipurpose rooms, bright hallways, renovated library, new cafeteria, updated playgrounds, and so much more.
The project includes eight new 800 square foot classrooms space for fourth and fifth grades. There is also a beautiful, new Learning Commons and Multipurpose Room. Originally designed to be flexible and highly- configurable spaces, the Learning Commons and Multipurpose Room have both been adapted for use as socially-distant Kindergarten classroom spaces since November.
The renovation also allowed for the school to be completely reconfigured into a more effective and organized learning environment. Now, services like occupational, physical, and speech therapy have dedicated spaces, each in the same hallway. Art and music classrooms have also been relocated and clustered together.
Perhaps the crowning jewel of the project is the new Library. The bright and airy space is whimsical and inviting. It’s also closely integrated with a new Maker Space and a renovated and upgraded Computer Lab.
The school was also renovated for ADA compliance, including repairing doors for greater accessibility. An accessible ramp was also constructed to enable students of all abilities to access the upper playground, which was also outfitted with new and accessible equipment.
The renovation and expansion also addressed many structural issues, including new heating boilers and burners, classroom ventilation systems, roofing and gutters, and fire/security upgrades. Work was also performed on the building’s fire alarm and electrical systems. Renovated bathrooms and new drinking fountains were also included in this project.
“The new school is absolutely beautiful and is a testament to the dedication of the Scarsdale community to its schools and its children,” said Superintendent Dr. Thomas Hagerman. “We are thrilled with the new building and how well it is already performing.”
Greenacres Principal Sharon Hill echoed Dr. Hagerman’s sentiments.
“It’s not just a new building, it’s a functional building,” added Ms. Hill. “It makes such a difference to our children to have services all together, to have their classes in the same area. We are grateful.”
Because of pandemic-related construction delays, a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the fall was postponed. Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony will be an outdoor event. No one will be permitted inside the school at this time. The festivities will be broadcast live on Facebook and SPS-TV, and a video tour of the new school will be available.
First Look at 21-22 School Budget, New Quarantine Rules, Staff Vaccinations and More from the Board of Education
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At the same time that the school district is experiencing perhaps the biggest COVID outbreak of the school year, the first meeting of the Scarsdale School Board in 2021 was filled with hopeful news about teachers receiving vaccinations, new protocols that will reduce the need for quarantines, the possibility that grades 3-5 could return to school full time and the launch of a summer enrichment program for Scarsdale’s elementary school students.
New Quarantine Rules
Additionally, the district received some hopeful news with regards to mandatory quarantine guidelines. The requirements for close-contact quarantine will remain the same – someone who is less than six feet apart for more than 10 minutes from a person who tested positive for Covid-19 will have to quarantine regardless of whether or not one or both parties were masked. Under the old guidelines however, a person would also have to quarantine if they shared a room with a person who tested positive (masked or unmasked) for more than 10 minutes. Under the updated rule, a person will only need to quarantine if they shared a room for over 10 minutes with a person who tested positive and they did not wear a mask. It is anticipated that this update will significantly reduce the number of students and teachers who will need to enter quarantine, and it may affect some of the mandated quarantines that came into effect this past week. This change was made based on conversations with experts at the New York State Department of Health and the Department of Health’s contact tracing patterns.
School Budget:
Stuart Mattey, the Assistant Superintendent for Business and Facilities, presented the Board with a first look at the 2021-22 school budget and staffing recommendations. While there are still many unknown factors at play, such as to what degree and how soon are students and teachers vaccinated, and what safety mitigations will need to continue into the next year, Mr. Mattey clarified that in terms of the budget, there will not be any Covid-19 related recurring expenditures. The preliminary budget includes $800,000 in budgetary appropriations from the fund balance, for relevant Covid-19 related expenses that may arise during the year.
This first draft is for a preliminary budget is $166,616,462 which represents a 2.41% budget-to-budget increase from last year. This represents a 2.38% increase in the tax levy which is slightly above the projected tax levy limit of 2.25%
Staffing and School Enrollment
Next, Dr. Drew Patrick, the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Leadership Development reviewed the decreased student enrollment trend that Scarsdale Schools is experiencing. While there is always some decrease in student enrollment in a typical year, this year there was a particularly large drop, with 211 students withdrawing from Scarsdale Schools during the 2020-2021 school year. The district believes that the Covid-19 pandemic and related challenges to in-person education are a primary cause for this decline.
Next, the Board reviewed the staffing recommendations for the school year. Staffing needs must be justified by clear alignment to one or both of the following principles:
• Student educational outcomes and achievement
• Mandates and best practices
The Board heard the staffing recommendations for the elementary, middle, and high schools that aligned with these values. For example, in the high school, the district is requesting an additional 1.0 FTE (full-time equivalent) high school special education instructor for the Learning Resource Center. In the middle school, the district requests 0.20 FTE psychologist secretary to meet the goal of improving the curricular and co-curricular approaches to health, wellness, and wellbeing in the school. At the elementary level, the district is requesting 5 additional cleaners, one for each elementary school, to maintain the high standards of hygiene and cleaning that has been undertaken during the pandemic.
In addition to these primary requests, the district also reviewed three carryover requests from the 2020-2021 school budget. These staffing requests are:
• 1.0 FTE middle school computer science teacher
• 2.0 FTE high school freshman team teachers
• 1.0 FTE freshman dean
When specifically discussing the request for increased high school special education instructors, board member Alison Tepper Singer made an important point and stated that "the fact that more elementary students are moving to special education in the middle school and that more middle schoolers are moving to special education in the high school represents a success in our long term strategy of keeping special education students in Scarsdale instead of (them choosing to) move outside the district. This increased need for teachers is representative of the success of this strategy.”
The district also proposed the addition of summer enrichment program school for elementary school students on an elective basis. This would be focused on literacy and math and would be offered to help students who may need additional support due to the cutbacks in in-school time this year. The administration proposed the addition of $250,000 to the budget for this program and is hopeful that state aid might also be available to fund it.
After review and thorough discussion of the staffing recommendations, the Board of Education moved on to a Restart Update presented by Mr. Eric Rauschenbach, the Assistant Superintendent for Special Education and Student Services.
Restart News
Mr. Rauschenbach opened with the hopeful news that as of January 11, 2021, teachers, education workers, and all school employees have the approval from New York State to sign up for a Covid-19 vaccine. While some staff members had difficulty requesting an appointment on the state website, many others succeeded in securing an appointment in the coming weeks. Mr. Rauschenbach also announced that the district is working with Dr. Holly Gilbert, an infectious disease specialist, to secure additional vaccine doses for Scarsdale School staff. While she has ordered the doses, it is currently unclear how long it will take to receive them due to the complicated logistics of the vaccine and the limited supply available from the state.
Mr. Rauschenbach updated the Board on Scarsdale’s Medical and Nursing Task group, which is working to answer some complicated and important health questions that the district must answer. For example, the district needs to know how the vaccines will affect the health and safety practices of the schools, and how the vaccines will allow us to increase in-person instruction. Mr. Rauschenbach also provided the Board with an update on the district’s COVID testing strategy and said that New York State is pleased with Scarsdale’s plan.
The district is grappling with the possibility that Scarsdale will become a mandated testing zone in New York State. In this case scenario, the district is looking into how we would set up testing groups, what the timing of testing would look like, and what the procedure would be for handing out and collecting the testing kits. Currently, 50% of students and staff would volunteer to participate in Covid-19 testing if Scarsdale becomes a mandatory testing zone.
The next agenda item for the Board was to review the long-term planning and the pathway forward that the district is charting for students. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Hagerman presented “Our Journey Forward: A Learning Plan For Scarsdale Schools.” The main categories he reviewed were What We’ve Done, What We’re Working On, Next Steps, and Long-Term Goals. Here are some of the highlights from each category:
In addition to these broader strategic goals, Mr. Hagerman also presented specific current goals for the elementary, middle, and high schools. For both the middle school and high school, the district aims to increase in-person instruction. For the high school, accomplishing this could involve implementing a full day schedule on an alternative basis, cohorting students into a daily AM or PM schedule, and including Wednesdays as an instructional day. The middle school is also considering including in-person instruction on Wednesdays as a way to increase in-person instructional time.
For the elementary schools, the district has two specific goals: Improve instruction for homebound/quarantined students and increase in-person instruction. To improve at-home learning for quarantined students, the modifications being considered include dedicating district personnel for at-home synchronous learning, live streaming of homebound students to in-person class, exploration of creative options combining various platforms, and increasing time allotted for home instruction. To increase the in-person instruction time for students, the district is considering having grades 3-5 return to the classroom full-time in mid-March.
New District Website
In response to calls for a more centralized information source on COVID communications, protocols, health and safety and more, the district developed a new website to be used as the central hub for ongoing developments. Dr. Hagerman and Mr. Jerry Crisci, the Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation, presented the website: Our Journey Forward: Our Plan for Scarsdale. Expected the launch within the next few weeks, the website has several categories for information including Innovative Practices, Student Progress, Health and Safety, School Schedules, Guidance and Statistics, and the Archive.
Under the Innovative Practices category, the website will show users the successful efforts that teachers made and advancements that were achieved during this period of remote learning. Under Student Progress, users will find statistics and stories of academic success in the district. Under Health and Safety, information will be available on the district’s guiding principles as well as updates on Covid-19 testing, the restart plan, cleaning efforts, food service changes, and Scarsdale mothers and doctor’s safety guides. Under guidance and statistics, information about the pandemic in New York State will be available. Finally, the archive will link users back to older models of the Restart Plan.
Public Comments
Sharon Chesler from Brewster Road said she has two children in the schools in kindergarten and second grade who are both in school full time. She asked why some classes are split and others are all together in the classroom. She asked why third graders cannot return to school, even if all students in grades three through five cannot be accommodated. She asked the district to think about adding individual grades. About the testing consent form, she asked, “If parents won’t sign the testing agreement, will their kids be permitted to attend school?” And last, discussing the district’s Medical task force she said, “I strongly encourage you to invite doctors from the community to join your committee.”
Anirudh Bansal of 40 Birchall Drive said, “I am relieved that the district plans to open full time and in person in September. That will be helpful for parents who are trying to decide to keep their kids in Scarsdale next year. Virtual learning is virtually worthless. The American Academy of Pediatrics advocates that all plans should start with having the children physically present in school. Social distancing should be weighed against the risks of keeping kids home. The weather will be getting warmer. Please plan for outdoor education in the spring.”
Bob Berg of Black Birch Lane referenced a BOE meeting in December when, he “asked how much Stuart (Mattey) expected the budget to be reduced.” He said, “Instead we have a 2.38% budget increase and that will exceed the tax cap. This is a disturbing start to the budget season.
The withdrawal of 221 students from the district reflects dissatisfaction – and they might not be coming back. Most troubling is the cost of the cleaners for $350,000. Five cleaners is too much based on economic realities this year. I urge you not to test the tax cap this year. That will not end well. Will the district require all teachers and staff to get the vaccine?”
Teresa Harpster from Post Road asked if home COVID tests could be used by the district to meet testing requirements if named a yellow or orange zone. She also asked if there was a section about sports on the new district website.
Mayra Kirkendall-Rodriguez from Fox Meadow Road continued to press for a long term financial plan for the schools. She also said that she and her husband are concerned about the cyber attacks on the district website and said, “We would like to know what you are doing to combat these.” She said she is “Looking forward to a summer program, as is done in other countries.”
Irin Israel of Stratton Road questioned why third to fifth grade cannot return to school full time. He said, “There is room for the third grade and probably the fourth grade too.”
Responding to public comments, Edgan McIntosh answered the questions about split vs. whole classes. He said, “Since the spaces are different, various recommendations were made school by school…. Smaller cohorts allow for focus, larger sections allow for increased pace… either way, all students will reach their learning goals by the end of the year, despite the model.”
Rauschenbach said that “At home COVID tests can count toward the testing goal of 20% for yellow zones and 30% for orange zones.” About the question, “Can we mandate the vaccine?” Rauschenbach said, “According to our attorneys, we cannot do that now, but the NYS legislature might mandate it for all New Yorkers.”
And last, about consent form Rauschenbach said, “If they don’t sign, they can still come to school. Testing cannot be mandated.”
They also responded to the question about more grades returning to school, saying “No other grades will return to school before March”
In the discussion that followed, Board Member Carl Finger addressed continued calls for more children to return to school full time. Turning to the administration he said, “Is there any reason that the administration does not want to get as many kids back into school as safely as possible.? The answer is no! The architects reviewed Israel’s plans, as well as teachers, physicians, and the combined experience of educators and collective bargaining units. If there was a better plan to get the kids in, we would have done that.”
Retirements
Drew Patrick announced the following retirements as of June 30 2021
James Andreski, MS English Teacher who served in the district for a total of 49 years.
Katharine Leary, Teacher at Heathcote Elementary School who served in the district for a total of 26 years.
Douglas Rose, MS Computer Teacher who has served in the district for a total of 41 years.
Jane Strobel, MS Special Education Teacher who has served in the district for a total of 23 years.
Fitness Stations
The Board approved a plan for Simon Bandsma’s Eagle Scout Project to add two additional fitness stations adjacent to the Butler Track and Field. This will extend the work that is brother Ward Bandsma did last year.
Textbooks
The Board approved the use of Brit Bennett’s novel, The Vanishing Half, in SHS English classes.
- When Will Scarsdale Children Return to School Full-Time
- Online Kindergarten Registration for Scarsdale Schools Starts January 15, 2021
- Retirements Announced, COVID Counts, Budget Talk and a Report on Culturally Responsive Education from the Scarsdale BOE Meeting
- Teachers Aides Get Pay Increase, COVID Testing in School and More from the Scarsdale School Board
