School and STEP News

The Scarsdale Student Transfer Education Plan (STEP) held a reception and meeting to greet the new STEP student, Keith Martinez from South Dakota on Wednesday September 15. Martinez will be staying with Brandon and Mara Steiner and their children Nicole and Crosby. A football player, Martinez has already joined the Scarsdale team where he plays fullback and linebacker. His favorite school subjects are math and science and he is already finding SHS to be very “academic.” In the photos here he is pictured with his host family and with members of the STEP Club; (from the right) Will Hunnerson, Remi Landau, Claudia Taselaar, Caroline Rodman, Ben Rosenbaum and host Nicole Steiner.

In other district news, the Board of Education met with the leadership of the PTA’s and PT Council on Monday night September 13th. Board President Jill Spieler lead the meeting and updated the team on Board priorities and asked the PTA to provide feedback during the year on issues of importance to parents.

At the regular Board of Education meeting that night, the following was discussed:

• During the summer, the board passed a resolution to refinance Scarsdale School bonds, a move which will save the district $100,000 a year
• Superintendent McGill gave a report on school maintenance done during the summer and then discussed the effect of the Race to the Top on Scarsdale Schools. You can read more on the Race to the Top here:
• Joan Weber provided interesting enrollment statistics. Enrollment grew over the summer and there are now 2,172 elementary school students in the district, in comparison to a budgeted number of 2,135 students. Last year there were 107elementary school classes and there are now 109.
• Total enrollment in the Scarsdale Schools has grown from a projection of 4,706 students to 4,769 and enrollment is still in flux. However, since there are eight fewer faculty members than in 2009-2010, class sizes at the secondary level are expected to increase.
• The Board approved the hiring of the equivalent of 13.3 new teachers to fill in for retiring members of the staff and those on leave.
• The Board approved $75,000 for the Scarsdale Teen Center to be made in two payments of $37,500 each.
• The Board approved the course curriculum for the Scarsdale Teacher’s Institute
• The Board approved a bid for an outside Food Service Management Company to manage the district cafeterias. The Board has guaranteed the company .175 cents per meal or a minimum of $135,000. The Cafeteria is self-supporting and food offerings will not change.
• The Board approved a gift of $3,478.20 from the Greenacres PTA to the Greenacres School to purchase twelve tables for the school’s courtyard.