Village and Schools Boards Confer on Capital Projects and More

The Village Board and the School Board held a pre-Thanksgiving work session on Tuesday November 25 to discuss items of mutual interest to both boards.

Police

The meeting opened with Scarsdale Police Chief Steven DelBene reviewing the department’s collaboration with the schools to keep children safe.

After the school shootings at Sandy Hook in 2012, police began patrolling the two to three schools each day. The walk throughs helped police familiarize themselves with the layouts and workings of each school – and served to get staff and students used to seeing police in the schools. Though the initiative initially caused panic, now it has become commonplace.

Police also use school facilities for defensive tactic and active shooter training. The training is conducted on matted gym floors at the high school when students are not present. This is a federally funded program and the availability of school facilities allows police to attract trainers to host sessions for multiple departments.

Since 2022, police have access to school cameras which they can open in emergency situations such as fires or lockdowns.

Another collaboration involves Youth Detective Moleski who teaches over 30 classes at Scarsdale Middle School and Scarsdale High School.

Commenting on the collaboration, Mayor Justin Arest said he was grateful for the relationship which has made significant improvements since 2018. He said that he attended a recent active shooter training session and was impressed.

School Board member Amber Yusuf asked if police were looking at solutions for parking around the schools? She said, “Can we remove the 3-hour school parking limitations? I think there is a real problem with student parking – if they cannot park at the Girl Scout house students will get more tickets.”

Joint Field Study

Village Manager Alex Marshall reported that as a result of the Joint Field Study between the Village and the schools, the Village is proceeding with a turf field and parking lot at Winston Field. Funds are in the 2026 Village budget and traffic and a parking studies have been done. New tennis courts are also being built at Crossway.

The schools are considering field work to be funded by the upcoming school bond. In the plans are a turf field at Scarsdale Middle School that would allow for more playing time when the ground is wet. Two new basketball courts at Scarsdale Middle School are planned along with a field for the varsity girls softball team to be constructed at Greenacres School.

Also in the works is the addition of a turf practice field at Scarsdale High School. Plans have now been submitted to the state for approval and they hope to build it in the spring or summer.

The Mayor requested that if the Scarsdale Middle School project moves forward, culverts or retention basins could be installed underneath the turf to alleviate flooding.

Capital Projects

The two boards then turned to discussion of proposed capital projects:

Deputy Village Manager Dara Gruenberg explained that the Village is now considering three options for replacement of the Scarsdale Pool Complex.

The options are:

-A full indoor/outdoor pool complex with locker rooms, meeting rooms and more at $70.4mm

-An enhanced outdoor-only complex at $47 mm

-Replacement of the current facility: $35mm

-Close the pool complex.

There have been numerous public sessions to get feedback. The Village Board will hold a work session on December 16, 2025 to decide which way to go. She asked the school administration to consider whether or not they would use the pool for physical education classes for students.

School Board member Bob Klein raised the issue of the timing of large projects by both the schools and the Village. However the Mayor explained that the Village must move forward now to prevent the closure of the pool for more than one summer.

School Superintendent Andrew Patrick discussed the four components of the ongoing bond discussions.

Under consideration for spatial work are additions to Fox Meadow and Edgewood Elementary Schools and renovations of the libraries at Heathcote and the Scarsdale Middle School.

There is a long list of infrastructure upgrades to bring buildings up to current code.

The proposal includes funds to add air conditioning to large spaces such as cafeterias and gymnasiums at all seven schools as global warming is making it challenging to use these facilities when temperatures rise.

Last there are the field projects previously discussed.

At the December 15 meeting of the Board of Education, the board will hear a presentation of estimated construction costs. They now have prioritized about $113mm in work, and the Board has asked the administration to trim that to $100mm. the $10mm bond exceeds the current debt neutral $40mm bond that falls off in 2027-28 by $60 mm.

Freightway Garage

Last there was a brief discussion of the possibility of resuscitating plans to develop the Freightway site. Mayor Arest said the Village was looking to partner with the schools on developing plans which could enhance the Village and raise additional tax revenues. He said the Village would continue to maintain the garage until new plans were in place.

Village Board Meeting

Following the work session the Board of Trustees held their regular meeting and approved the following:

Placement of a menorah in Boniface Circle from December 5-8 by Westchester Reform Temple

Placement of a creche by IHM Church in Boniface Circle from December 19, 2025- January 2, 2026.

Acceptance of a gift of $159,871 from the Scarsdale Little League for the purchase and installation of dugouts, bleachers and fencing at Crossway Fields 1 and 2.

Appointment of Leo Naughton to the Committee for Historic Preservation.

Appointment of Seth Morgulas to the Board of Architectural Review.

Hiring Capitol Market Advisors to provide strategic financial consulting to the Village.