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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 24 September 2019

Created: 24 September 2019

Last Updated: 24 September 2019

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Having spent the last few years focused on district facilities, Superintendent Thomas Hagerman and Assistant Superintendent Edgar McIntosh turned their attention to delivering a five-year strategic plan to guide the learning that will occur within these upgraded spaces.

The far-reaching plan was the subject of the educational report delivered at the Scarsdale Board of Education meeting on Monday September 23, 2019. Based on survey data and qualitative and quantitive research, the plan assessed stakeholder priorities and formulated these into 13 district-wide goals that will drive curricular decision-making in the years to come.

Describing the strategic planning process, Dr. Hagerman read a quote from a well-known educator, saying, “Strategic planning is not about writing an ideal document called a strategic plan. It is about shaping and crafting strategies that achieve intended results … strategy, like innovation, is not about what you say or believe. It is about what you do. (William 1994)”

He explained, “This is about the actionable parts of the plans … this is about what students can do with what they know.”

Hagerman and McIntosh explained that they began with a survey of community stakeholders including teachers, students, parents and community members to define their priorities. They sought to determine teachers’, students’ and parents’ priorities for the district and explore how these aspirations could be used to define specific goals for learning at all levels.

The survey asked responders from each of these stakeholder groups to assess how well the ideals identified in the following seven pillars were being implemented.

Describing their interpretation of these seven pillars, here is what they shared:

Student Autonomy and Responsibility

To what extent do students have autonomy?
What are the barriers to students addressing needs and engaging in interests?
To what extent is there clarity and consistency concerning student responsibility and their expectations for learning?

Educator Autonomy and Responsibility

To what extend do Scarsdale educators have the professional autonomy to meet the needs and interests of students?
What are the barriers to meet the needs and interests of students?
To what extent is there clarity and consistency concerning educator responsibility and learning expectations for students?

Cohesive Community

How can our community work best together?
To what extent are students and teachers able to develop meaningful relationships in academics, the arts and all areas?

Effective Learning Organization

What works and how do we know it?
What elements or values make up an effective learning organization?
Which do Scarsdale already exhibit?
How do the professional development offering provided by the District allow students, faculty and staff to grow and develop?

Sustainable Infrastructure

Who are our plans for refining and designing systems and structures that respond to the ethical and environmental and economic needs of our school and community and our planet?

Personalized Learning

How do we respond to educational research that tells us that tomorrow’s students and citizens benefit from curriculum, structure and environments that nurture creative and critical thinking, innovation and independence. What professional development supports this work?

Wellness and Well-Being

What factors do you feel contribute most to well-being in school? Community? Home?
What factors do you feel lessen well-being most in school, community, home
What additional steps could be taken to improve student wellness?

And here is the outcome of the survey data.

They noted that there was some cohesiveness among priorities for the stakeholders, on the importance of wellness and well-being for example but less so on the importance of sustainability.

At the beginning of the process, they envisioned that the District’s goals would emerge from these seven pillars but after doing an analysis of the data found that the priorities of the stakeholders were distinct from the pillars in isolation. These priorities might include elements from several pillars. So rather than looking at the pillars, they looked at high level priorities for each group of stakeholders.

Discussing the process, Dr. Hagerman said that “Strategic planning is a process that draws together the thinking of the community and gives stakeholders an opportunity to articulate their hopes for the future of this school, address issues that need attention and come to consensus on priorities.” He added that the plan, “describe the future rather than the past” and that the goals “are designed around improving our students’ experiences.”

Using their analysis, they came up with 13 goals for the five-year plan and explained them as follows:

Balanced literacy, creating the foundations of learning

Curricular and co-curricular approaches to health, wellness and well-being

Gardens and bio-mechanical innovations

Global citizenship education: Competencies and ethical responsibilities

Libraries, learning spaces and curated resources

Next generation standards development and implementation

Professional culture of life-long learning

SET 2.0, STEAM and Design Thinking

Student- centered opportunities and environments

Student supports

Sustainable schools and systems

Unified system of district-wide goal setting

Using technology to transform teaching, learning and assessment

Details about each of these 13 goals are discussed in the presentation that can be viewed here: McIntosh joked that the 13 goals were, “ambitious but not superstitious.”

Dr. Hagerman and McIntosh provided a 2019-20 timeline of how these goals would continue to be defined, refined and integrated into the curriculum along with a timeline for reporting on the progress to the board.

In a discussion following the presentation, several board members asked for more concrete examples of how this thinking would be integrated, implemented and ultimately used in the classroom.

Carl Finger said “As a new board member I am not clear about how all of these goals will be integrated. He said, “how will we see them?” Edgar McIntosh explained that creating the document was a collaborative process and offered teachers opportunities for innovation.
He said he would bring these goals to department meetings at the middle school and high school to see how they would be incorporated into day to day thinking. Dr. Hagerman said, “you will see this come out in different cabinet member’s reports and in the budget and facilities work.”

Seeking to provide a concrete example, Drew Patrick commented “How do we help a student’s idea about something we can do better go through a process to bring the idea to fruition and change? We have students who have great ideas about how we should be doing things differently. So one goal would we to provide a protocol or vehicle for getting an audience for an idea and ask for funding.”

Board member Ron Schulhof said, “This is fantastic.” He asked, “How would we get buy-in from all stakeholders? … I want to understand, what are we trying to accomplish with each of these goals. How do they differ from what we are already doing? …. It would be helpful to understand, “What does balanced literacy mean at the board level, at the building level or at the student level?”

Dr. Hagerman presented a template behind a goal with definitions, action steps and goals. He said, “We want these goals to define and motivate our work – and prevent us from goal “creep.” He said, “every one of these goals has a scope.”

Pam Fuehrer asked if there was a way to connect each goal with an administrative leader. How are we going to connect all the work that goes on in the district to a specific goal.?” Edgar McIntosh said, “We can build in protocols for sharing among teachers.” She later asked that this information be communicated on the district website as well.

Karen Ceske said, “Thank you for connecting the pillars and the goals. I appreciate the interconnectedness and the complexity of what you presented.” She asked, “Where is the concept of belonging in these goals?” McIntosh responded that this was part of the wellness goal and that work on belonging was now being done in the district.

Scott Silberfein asked for this information to be communicated in a digestible form – for a one page or brief summary of the strategic plan for the public to review. He asked for the teaching and learning component of each goal to be made explicit.

Silberfein also asked about the funding necessary to achieve this plan to which Dr. Hagerman responded, “If you create a strategic plan that needs a financial plan to achieve it then it is probably not a very good strategic plan. In other words, it has to be able to be achieved within the resources you have available to you…Much of this is process oriented and emphasizes making connections that did not exist.”

Ron Schulhof asked how many parents completed the survey and noted that 330 started to do the survey but only 236 submitted their responses. He also noted that only 57 students completed it. He asked the administration to consider the validity of the responses and the buy-in from the community given the low numbers of respondents. He questioned whether the survey should be given again to reach more people. He later said, “we need to add the response rate to this report.”

Carl Finger concurred saying, “I would be surprised if there were significant objections to these goals. I think that making this digestible and looking for feedback in the coming months is important. …I would encourage you to find a way to do this promptly…. give people an avenue to respond… Let’s make sure everyone is on board.”

View the entire presentation here: 

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 18 September 2019

Created: 18 September 2019

Last Updated: 18 September 2019

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The Westchester Community College Foundation is presenting its annual Great Chefs Series of wine tastings, cooking demonstrations, and three-course dinners. These tantalizing events co-sponsored by DeCicco & Sons and Wine Enthusiast will be held in the college’s state-of-the-art instructional kitchens and Culinary Dining Room on the Valhalla campus. 100% of funds raised from the Great Chefs series will benefit the Foundation’s scholarship fund and the college’s on-campus food pantry.

Host Chef Philip McGrath, Curriculum Chair of the college’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Program and former chef and owner of Iron Horse Grill, has assembled a stellar cast of local culinary celebrities who will create epicurean delights and teach you how to dazzle future dinner guests. The chefs will be assisted by the college’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management students.

The evenings begin with an exclusive wine tasting reception with specialists from Wine Enthusiast. Chefs will then demonstrate the how-to’s of each meal. Guests will enjoy the chefs’ creations paired with an accompanying wine, beer, or cocktail. Each guest will leave with a goody bag, recipes for dinner, and beverage pairing information.

Attendance at the Great Chefs series will help support student scholarships and special programs that provide students with critical services. The Foundation raises resources to meet student and college needs not met by public funds and has awarded more than $25 million in scholarships to over 18,500 students since 1969. Support for tuition alone is not enough to help our students; for some, their everyday needs are not being met including food insecurity. The college’s food pantry was established in 2014 and provides meals and non-perishable food items for more than 1,000 students and their families. In 2018, the Great Chefs series raised funds to distribute 250 Thanksgiving dinners to students in need.

Additional funds from this series created the “Great Chefs Scholarship,” an annual award for culinary students of excellence. The Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management curriculum leads students to careers, not only in restaurants, but also in commercial, on-site, and institutional establishments. Course work includes culinary arts, business management, work experience, and a basic liberal arts core. Culinary Arts and Management graduate move into positions in the field or transfer to four-year colleges to continue their studies.

Monday, October 7 at 6:00 p.m. Sonora (of Port Chester). Restaurateur and author Chef Rafael Palomino is keenly aware of flavors people love and crave. Drawing from his childhood in Bogotá and many years in New York City and France, Chef Palomino will share techniques and recipes for cooking mouth-watering Latin inspired dishes. Beverage pairing provided by StilltheOne Distillery Two and Wine Enthusiast.

Monday, October 21 at 6:00 p.m. Farmer and the Fish (of Purdys, Sleepy Hollow, NYC). Chef/Owner/Farmer Michael Kaphan raised the bar on “farm-to-table” dining by sourcing their restaurants with produce from their own five-acre farm in North Salem. Chef Kaphan will show why using fresh and local has been one of the main ingredients for their success. Beverage pairing provided by the Croton Tapsmith and Wine Enthusiast.

Monday October 28 at 6:00 p.m. The Cookery (of Dobbs Ferry) and Eugene’s Diner and Bar (of Port Chester). Known for his boundary-pushing style and thoughtfully creative dishes, Chef David DiBari will showcase courses from his various restaurants. Joining Chef DiBari will be Sajin Renae of The Cookery and Chef Iulia Mahu of Eugene’s Diner & Bar who are the core strength behind the creativity, passion and kitchen operations at each restaurant. Beverage pairing provided by DeCicco & Sons and Wine Enthusiast.

Monday, November 4 at 6:00 p.m. X20 Xaviar’s On the Hudson (of Yonkers). Join Chef Peter Kelly of the Xaviars Restaurant Group as he prepares a menu and cooking demonstration you can prepare at home for your next extravagant dinner party for family and friends. Beverage pairing provided by Midway Wine & Liquors and Wine Enthusiast.

Tickets for each event are $150. For details, please visit the college website. Contact Sue Mackey at [email protected] or 914-606-6558.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 10 September 2019

Created: 10 September 2019

Last Updated: 10 September 2019

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A suntanned and renewed Board of Education met for their opening meeting of the school year with three new members installed. Karen Ceske, Carl Finger and Ron Schulhof, elected in May ’19, have now taken their seats at the table, bringing a new vibe to the proceedings.

Superintendent Thomas Hagerman reported that the 2019-20 school year is underway and thanked the entire faculty and staff for preparing the district for the opening. He noted that the theme of inclusion and belonging is top of mind at all the schools, with the goal of having everyone feel welcome and engaged.

He reported that during the summer months, classrooms were renovated at Greenacres and air conditioning was added to select spaces at many of theJeffrey Langsam elementary schools so that cool spaces are available to all students on hot days. In addition, the roof at Heathcote School was replaced, a new stairway was completed at Fox Meadow, new boilers are being installed at the high school and the list goes on.

With the anniversary of 9/11 on Wednesday, Hagerman said that the day would be commemorated in an age appropriate way at each school. At the high school, the event will be discussed in social studies classes, middle school students will observe a moment of silence and discuss it in social studies class and the sixth grade will be engaged in a day of service and write letters to servicemen abroad.

Jeff Langsam

Dr. Hagerman reported that long time AV specialist Jeff Langsam passed away on September 8, 2019 and called for a moment of silence. Langsam was the son of Harriet Sobol, wife of Scarsdale’s former superintendent Thomas Sobol. Langsam was a familiar face around the district where he filmed many board meetings and school and community events. According to Dr. Hagerman, Langsam lost a battle with cancer and leaves a wife and a son. He was 53 years old. Funeral details can be found here: 

Enrollment

Assistant Superintendent Drew Patrick provided an enrollment report, showing that 4,748 students were enrolled overall, just two students shy of the projection of 4,750 and up slightly from last year’s enrollment of 4,726 students. He showed the graph below of the ten-year history of enrollment and said, “we are right in the middle of the ten-year trend.”

Reviewing enrollment for the elementary schools, he concluded that while enrollment at Fox Meadow and Quaker Ridge are on the rise, the number of students declined at Edgewood, Greenacres and Heathcote this year. An analysis of kindergarten enrollment shows that Greenacres has 37 children entering kindergarten this year, with one class of 18 and another of 19, as compared to Fox Meadow, with 85 children in 4 sections. Overall, there are 308 kindergarten students this year – with 396 students in fifth grade. Patrick conjectured that this dip could be due to real estate trends and “red shirting,” where some 5 year-olds attend pre-school for an additional year before entering kindergarten. Enrollment at the middle and high schools is consistent with projections and on par with last year. See the full analysis here: 

Facilities

Representatives from Park East Construction provided a more detailed report of the construction and renovations done around the district this summer.

At Greenacres, 11 classroom and six bathrooms were renovated in the original portion of the school. The rooms received new ceiling tiles, new flooring, casework and paint, new tile was installed in the bathrooms and temporary walls were constructed to separate the existing school from the construction area. For the addition, excavation for the foundation and footings are in 35% complete.

At Heathcote, the work on the new roof is 90% complete and at the high school the installation of the new boilers is almost finished.

Assistant Superintendent Stuart Mattey reported that the renovated classrooms at Greenacres now have more usable floor and wall space and more efficient storage He reported that rooms gained 35-100 square feet from the removal of cubbies, toilets and doors. New LED lighting allows seven different settings and according to Mattey, “teachers are adapting quickly to the use of the new space.”

The univents will be replaced in these rooms next summer. He said that daily air quality testing results would be posted daily on the district website.

Mattey said he plans to meet with Greenacres PTA and will also schedule a meeting with the Greenacres Neighborhood Association on October 30.

Running through the list of additional district work, here is what we learned:

-The security vestibules at the elementary schools are expected to be completed by October 1st.

-The outdoor stairs leading to the field at Fox Meadow is complete.

-Rigging for the middle school stage will be installed in December/January.

-The middle school hot water heaters were installed in August.

-HVAC will be installed in the orchestra room at the middle school.

-Installation of new elevators at the middle and high schools is more involved than anticipated and will be longer term projects.Greenacres Addition

Lights at Butler Field

Athletic Director Ray Pappalardi gave an update on the status of a proposal to install lighting on Butler Field. As the field is leased to the school district by the Village, the district needs clearance from the Village to move forward with the project.

The Village Planning Board met on July 31 to review the project.

Here is what they determined:

1. Location: Appears to be appropriate for the intended use and purpose.

2. Type: Appears to be improvements with respect to [diesel engine] noise, fumes and energy efficiency based upon the information presented.

3. Direction/Spillage: [Permanent lights] are an improvement over the current portables.

4. Elevations: [80 ft.] height is a negative that must be weighed against the other benefits. The height is a moderately negative issue for the substantial benefit of minimizing spillage.

5. Landscape/Screening: Landscaping and screening may be needed, especially on Wayside to screen the brightness of the field.

6. Impact: The Planning Board is not capable of making recommendations based upon greater use. [Our] recommendation is based upon similar use. If the use is similar, there is no significant impact. There is documented improvement in the sound system. The sound system is an improvement and a positive thing to have a sound system that is designed for the space. The Village Board of Trustees should consider types of usage and seasonal usage.

7. Regulation: Declined to make a recommendation.

Board President Scott Silberfeind said that the Board of Education would meet with the Village Board on September 25 to discuss the Planning Board’s recommendations, including screening, the sound system and usage.

Environmental Testing Update

The district hired a new environmental testing company, Louis Berger to conduct testing around the district. John Trenholm reported that Berger is quick to respond, thorough and knowledgeable.

Before the opening of school, they did baseline assessments of all occupied spaces in the district and identified 25 areas that needed to be addressed, which Mattey said was “a very low amount,” given the size of the district. All areas were remediated prior to the first day of school and there will be annual inspections in the future.

Post construction air quality tests were conducted at Greenacres, and these reports along with testing in the district office, can be found here: 

Safety and Security

District Security Director Michael Spedaliere reported that he met with building staff at all schools this summer to review drills and training and introduce the new security monitors. He conducted interviews with 32 candidates for security monitor position and hired 12. They were trained on the district’s visitor management policy and informed about the culture and climate of the schools.

At Greenacres, he worked with police and administrators on new drop off and pick up procedures due to the school construction and reported that everything is going smoothly.

A discussion then ensued about the district’s four safety and security committees, some with overlapping goals and missions.

The District Safety Committee has 40 members, including parents and a high school student. That committee discusses a wide variety of issues such as security, health, safety, building usage, parking, traffic and even playgrounds. The committee discusses and raises issues from committee members and the community at large.

Board Member Ron Schulhof asked the administration to reconsider the composition of the DERT committee, or District-Level Emergency Response Team. All members of that committee have offices in the district office. He said, “the DERT committee should have two members who are not located in the district office – in the case the emergency occurs in the district office. Stuart Mattey responded and said they would study this issue.

A discussion ensued about the composition of another safety committee, The District SSEM Projects Committee, that meets to review and recommend projects for implementation. This committee is comprised of cabinet members (administrators), staff leadership and a member of the Board of Education. There are no parents on this committee.

According to Dr. Hagerman, the role of this committee is to define best practices, look for opportunities for mitigation and put these projects into a timeline for review and implementation.

Board members Karen Ceske and Ron Schulhof asked the administration to assign a parent to this committee on a trial basis. Carl Finger asked the district to outline the roles of these various committees on the website to clarify confusion about the four committees. At the conclusion of the meeting, Dr. Hagerman said the composition of the SSEM committee would be re-considered.

Protocols for Written Communications to the Board

The board had previously discussed the idea of publishing letters to the board and the responses. Board member Chris Morin reported that the Village publishes these letters and the responses. However the NY School Board Association found no boards who do this, and Scott Silberfein said that though counsel said there was no reason they could not do it he asked them to consider if publishing the letters would have a chilling effect on communications to the board. Counsel thought that administrative and legal time to review these would outweigh the benefits of publishing these letters and the response. They decided not to make this change.

Contract for Aides and Assistants:

The Board reviewed terms of a new contract with aides and assistants, to be approved at the September 23 meeting. The terms of the new agreement are summarized below:

The agreement covers a four-year term, from July 1, 2019-June 30, 2023

Compensation increases according to Step movement, plus:

1.75% increase in 2019-20
1.50% increase in 2020-21
1.25% increase in 2021-22
1.25% increase in 2022-23

-Computer Aides shall receive an additional $1.00/hr
-Increase in the use of sick days for purposes of family illness from 2 to 3 of 10 days annually
-Sick day accumulation increase from 50 to 60 days
-District will opt in to 41-j of the Retirement and Social Security law, proving for retirement credit for certain unused sick leave days
-Increase in bereavement leave from 4 to 5 days annually
-Increase in personal leave use from 3 to 4 days annually
-Addition of a mentoring stipend for certain aides to provide support for newly hired aides
-Addition of a seventh paid holiday

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 01 September 2019

Created: 01 September 2019

Last Updated: 03 September 2019

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While most families are preparing for the opening of school on Tuesday September 3 by picking out kids' outfits, buying sneakers and backpacks, parents at Greenacres Elementary School have much deeper concerns.

After the district passed a highly contentious bond in 2018 that called for an extensive renovation and expansion of the school with the children inside, the district made plans for a phased construction plan to allow students to use the existing school during the construction. The administration assured parents that the classrooms would be ready for occupation on the first day of school and that the school would be a safe learning environment. Fearing that the interior work could not be done in time, both the Greenacres Building Committee and the District-wide Building Committee recommended there be trailers available if the rooms were not complete, but the Board of Ed decided to remove the trailers from the budget to save money.

This summer, the district embarked on the first phase of the work. They renovated the K-3 classrooms, removing casework, flooring and ceiling tiles and painting, spackling and provided new finishes.

A staging area for construction equipment was set up on the blacktop across the street from the school, and the streets around the school were often crowded with the cars of those working inside. Some excavation and demolition appears to be done outside the school, but the focus seems to be largely inside where the existing classrooms were prepared for the opening of the school.

The district almost achieved their goal of having the classrooms ready in time, with most set up in time for Tuesday. However, two second grade classrooms were not completed in time and the teachers in those rooms will need the first two days of school to set up their classrooms.

According to a letter from School Principal Sharon Hill, students in those two rooms will have the chance to meet their teachers, but then be taken to an available classroom and supervised by one of the Learning Resource Teachers for two days while their teachers set up their classrooms.

Parents also pressed for the release of environmental testing reports before the opening of school. The report was released late on September 1 and reviewed the results of testing of air quality, asbestos and lead. The full reports can be reviewed here.

The executive summary states that the air quality was acceptable, though rooms 8 and 9 were two hot and require air conditioning. Asbestos was not detectable. The lead test found that levels in the hallway outside rooms 4 and 7 exceeded acceptable EPA levels on August 30 due to dust tracked in during the construction. The areas were cleaned and retested on August 31 and found to be acceptable.

With the Huntington Avenue side of the school completely inaccessible and the demolition of one the school’s multipurpose rooms, back to school will be anything but routine this year at Greenacres.