Supporters of Irin Israel Discuss Trust, Cheerleading and Working as a Team

Here are three letters in support of Irin Israel for School Board – one concerning cheerleading, another about trust and a third from a colleague who worked with Irin on events for Historic Hudson Valley.

This year our Scarsdale High School Cheerleaders practiced hard all season, with hopes of competing for the Section 1 Championship in March. They’re really good. They could’ve won.

But an organization called the American Academy of Pediatrics advised against it.

Now before you get confused, this is the American Academy of Pediatrics we’re talking about, not the American Pediatric Association – a common mistake – or the American Pediatric Society or the American Board of Pediatrics. This is the one based out of Itasca, Illinois.

The AAP justified their advice based on: “The theoretical risk that the mask may get caught on objects and become a choking hazard.”

They did not weigh in on other theoretical risks such as a rip in the time/space continuum sucking our athletes into a wormhole, but perhaps they will address that over the summer.

Despite the hypothetical dangers of evil medical equipment and multidimensional anomalies, the NYSPHSAA decided to hold the cheerleading competition anyway. And 27 out of the 30 eligible cheerleading squads participated. But not our girls.

Why? Because the Board of Education voted against it, unanimously. The stated reason was not safety - that would be absurd – it was “liability”. Or possibly COVID. It depends on whom you ask.

The Board could have taken a stand for our kids. The other towns did. Instead, they chose to outsource the leadership and common sense which we elected them for to whichever alphabet soup agency declares itself most hysterical.

This was a travesty. But worse than that, it was a pattern. When given a choice between a hard decision standing up for our kids or an easier decision not to, the board has consistently chosen the latter.

That’s why I’m voting for Irin Israel for school board.

For those of you who don’t know Irin, he is, I believe, the individual most responsible for getting our kids back in the classroom. He saw Scarsdale lagging behind neighboring towns in in-person learning, and the harm it caused our kids. He simply refused to accept it.

He spent hundreds of hours researching laws, regulations and science. He advocated tirelessly and spoke up courageously. He even designed effective and creative ways to safely get our kids back in the classroom by improving upon the prevailing models.

Irin is a natural problem-solver, a dedicated advocate, and a great negotiator whose arguments are rooted in the best data. He is also a particularly nice guy. I met him recently.

We have an abundance of bright, competent, well-meaning people on the board already, and four more running. We are stocked up on those virtues. But we are sorely lacking others. Maya Angelou once said, “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently.”

Irin Israel has the courage to always stand up for our kids. We need Irin’s voice in that room. His voice is our voice. And he is not afraid to use it.

Frank Murtha
Jefferson Road

I am the parent of a SMS student and a Fox Meadow Elementary student. I am thrilled that our Scarsdale schools have returned for full time, in person learning. However, I firmly believe that damage has been done to our community by the lack of transparency and the seeming unwillingness of our school administration to lead. For these reasons, I strongly support Irin Israel as he runs for the Scarsdale Board of Education.

Like all districts, we faced unique and unprecedented challenges during the pandemic. Simply put, our district did not rise to the occasion. Our Board of Ed, which is there to provide oversight, didn’t do enough to ensure transparency of process to the community at large or hold the administration accountable for their misrepresentations. There was little creativity, out of the box thinking, or urgency to get the students back in school. There was obfuscation, refusal to answer questions, and uncorrected misrepresentations made to the community regarding the reopening process. We often heard through rumors about changes to reopening plans, before we heard if from the top.

The community responded to this by searching for clarity, answers, vision, and yes…. fracturing.

Facebook groups were formed, petitions circulated, and people from all corners of town were coming out of the woodwork with ideas, questions, suggestions, and successful implementations seen being used in other districts. It was a great mass sharing of the struggle we were all in, the struggle to get our children back into their classrooms, as safely as possible. And in the often noisy discourse that took place, one voice cut through it all with a clear, resolute mission; fact based analysis and the determination to keep the pressure up for the good of our children. That voice was Irin Israel’s.

You don’t have to take my word for it, see facebook and read it for yourself. Irin invested an incredible amount of time, energy, knowledge and good old fashioned “can do” attitude to illustrate (quite literally) for the district how ALL of our elementary students could have fit in the buildings and maintained the social distance required at the start of the school year. He provided the district with this study in the fall. They chose to, basically, ignore it. Yet, it was clear he was right all along when the district DID INDEED get all the elementary students back into the buildings, in March.

Irin spent incalculable hours doing research on health and safety guidelines, learning what other districts were doing, speaking directly to agencies such as the Department of Health, and having an open dialogue with all those who had questions for him. He was always civil and clear in discussions with other parents and community members. There were intense discussions and debates, yet Irin never wavered in his core principle. He pressed the district to openly share the metrics, facts, data, and decision making processes they were using to arrive at the decisions they arrived at. He took a lot of heat, weathered a lot of criticism, but he never wavered.

And so we find ourselves with a School Board election coming up, in a year where we need to rebuild not only our student’s education, but also the trust between the community and the administration. As far as I can see, the only way to get there is with full accountability. We need fresh eyes, fresh drive, and fresh ideas. We need someone on the board who has sat where so many of us have been sitting... at the kitchen table with our struggling children. Sitting there, wondering if the rumors we heard in the neighborhood are true. I believe Irin Israel is the person to hold our district accountable and be a voice for all of us who want clarity and excellence to be the hallmark of our Scarsdale schools for many years to come.

Sincerely,
Colby Mulvey
Olmsted Road

To the Editor,
I applaud Irin Israel for stepping forward and running for Scarsdale School Board, a position so important to the continuing proper education of our children.

I met Irin Israel three years ago during our managerial and planning positions on local Westchester events the Great Jack O Lantern Blaze and the Horseman’s Hollow, events attended by 200,000 adults and children. These events are vital to both the sustainability of Historic Hudson Valley, as well as the communities they support. Although they can be seen as fun family Halloween events, they are rooted in historical locations, and are used to garner interest and support in both history and community.

I realized Irin’s dedication, and communication skills right away. Although he was new to the group, you would have thought he was a veteran of these specific events. If the weather, or attitudes of people around him changed suddenly, he remained himself, always unruffled. An active listener, compassionate, and a guide through the storm however trivial it may seem to another individual. He was able to resolve issues, while continuing to motivate his team, with the end goal in mind.

Having Irin with us brought a new perspective to an event which had been running for over 10 years. Although one would have thought it was a well-oiled machine by then, but Irin engaged management with both staff and vendors to enable it to run smoother.

In today’s world, it is important to have some who is level-headed, and not afraid to go against the grain and ask questions. Even though sometimes Irin did not agree with the way the establishment was directing him, he would seek to change their direction with new information, and work to a consensus. Always maintaining civility without arrogance or fears of being looked down upon then allowed him to earn the respect of senior members quite quickly.

Wouldn’t you want someone like that on your team?

Ted Sherman
Ossining, NY