Board of Ed Holds Roundtable Meeting with Community Leaders

A wide swath of community leaders attended a roundtable meeting with the district's new superintendent, Thomas Hagerman, and representatives of the Board of Education on the morning of July 22 for an informal discussion. The community was invited to ask questions and the conversation turned to the new facilities plan, as well as more general discussion of the special education program, student testing and philosophical issues about education and funding.

Board President Mary Beth Gose introduced Dr. Hagerman, Scarsdale's new Superintendent of Schools. He explained that he has been meeting with key people at the school and in the community to get up to speed on Scarsdale and also toured the district's facilities with an eye toward the proposed renovations.

Conversation turned to the upcoming bond referendum to fund renovations and upgrades at many of the district's schools. After a four-hour meeting last week about the facilities plans, attendees had follow-up questions about the process and how decisions would be finalized.

In response, Dr. Hagerman said, "the community was involved in making the decisions and we will continue to honor this work. We are moving forward with the projects that have been identified but we are analyzing the scope of some of these projects.... At the end of the day there will be some disagreement about what should and should not be included."

Tracy McCarthy, incoming president of the Scarsdale Middle School cut short her vacation to return for the meeting. She voiced concerns about the lack of consensus about the alterations at the Middle School. She said that the Middle School Facilities Committee had recommended a plan that would enclose the breezeway at the entrance, and build a dedicated space for the orchestra as well as some multipurpose space. She said, "the orchestra deserves a dedicated space and the auditorium should be freed up to be a space everyone can use." However, the district wide steering committee was undecided between recommending that plan, or another that is estimated to be $700,000 less. This second plan adds a second music room adjacent to the current band room at the middle school while leaving the breezeway and courtyard intact.

Gose and Hagerman said that during their tour of the Middle School they learned that additional space might be available in the current structure, making the additional classrooms in the more expensive plan unnecessary. They reassured McCarthy and others that the Board agreed that a music room needs to be built – but were getting more information to decide which plan to adopt.

Linda Doucette Ashman said, "We are revisiting a decision that was made by a building level committee and people on those committees were considering the future. The process was transparent and the individual school meetings were very extensive. The community supported the process. I hope we don't lose this because we are in a hurry."

Diane Greenwald who sat on the district-wide facilities committee said, "The group did not come to consensus on which SMS project to build. However there was consensus on investment in the middle school. Architect Russ Davidson said that the three options presented were good, better and best."

Speaking more philosophically about the mission of the Scarsdale Schools Art Rublin told the group that "we are at a turning point." and asked the Board and Dr. Hagerman to consider the following five "F's" when moving forward:

Foundational Principles: Rublin noted that Scarsdale's schools have been of fundamental importance to the community for years. He cited a 1962 Scarsdale Inquirer editorial, quoted in Carol O'Connor's A Sort of Utopia: Scarsdale,1891-1981, which stated that Scarsdale's schools constituted "the village's greatest single asset...Neither expense nor effort is spared in maintaining them at high level..." Rublin suggested that he viewed this as not about a "blank check," but about robust investment in Scarsdale schools and, by extension, in the community.

Freedom: Rublin urged that priority be placed by the School Board and Dr. Hagerman on the principle of local control. Rublin contended that Governor Cuomo, for political purposes, is trying to impose "one-size-fits-all" dictates on school districts in New York State – ranging from testing to teacher evaluation to budgeting to a push for consolidation of school districts. Rublin stated that "one size fits all" is bad for Scarsdale.

Forward-Looking: Standing still is effectively falling behind, Rublin stated. He suggested that the Board and Dr. Hagerman should take care not to budget and otherwise run the District in a way that indicates a reluctance to move the District beyond current programs.

Facilities: A "penny-wise, pound-foolish" approach to finalizing the facilities plans for the upcoming proposed bond issue would be problematic, Rublin contended. Instead, he stated, the Board and Administration should recognize the importance of the quality of the District's facilities not only for the education of Scarsdale's students but for Scarsdale's homeowners. Referring to the Board's revisiting of an element of the capital plans for Heathcote on which the previous School Board had reached consensus in May, Rublin noted discussion in O'Connor's book about the national recognition that Heathcote had received when it opened in 1954, and about a School Board spokesman's statement at the time that "Heathcote has without question increased Scarsdale's prestige – and enhanced the value of all homes in the village."

Faculty: Rublin expressed concern about the effect that the "tone and tenor" of discussions in the District of late regarding Scarsdale's educators is having on faculty morale and on Scarsdale's schools, given the central role that Scarsdale's educators play in the community. He suggested that the departure of Dr. McGill as well as the many recent teacher retirements are indicators, and urged that the Board and Dr. Hagerman pay close attention to demonstrating that Scarsdale schools' educators are valued.

The conversation then turned to state mandated testing and Seema Jaggi said that her son had to take three standardized tests in the same subject at the completion of eighth grade. Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Lynn Shain called the process "convoluted" and explained why this occurred but also relayed that the district decided to opt out of "field tests" this year. In addition, rather than have Scarsdale teachers grade the state tests, the tests are now being graded by BOCES, freeing up Scarsdale teachers to teach.

At the conclusion of the session, Gose said that the Board would continue to seek input from the community on the facilities plan during the summer and encouraged residents to reach out to her or email the Board at: BoardofEd@ScarsdaleSchools.org.