Plans for Greenacres School Hang in the Balance

Though there was welcome news at the Scarsdale School Board meeting on Monday night about new construction at many Scarsdale Schools, a solution for Greenacres seems to be slipping off the radar. Greenacres has been passed over for work in the last two bond referendums and the previous administration promised that Greenacres would be a priority for a May 2017 bond vote, which is now unconfirmed.

Superintendent Thomas Hagerman followed up on a community wide email sent out on Sunday 11-13 that questioned and dismissed many of the concerns and assumptions parents and teachers have about the aging school.

He said the administration is "Revisiting all of the assumptions and design options that have been discussed to date," which he defined as air quality, water and mold remediation, aging infrastructure and the Model School program.

He announced that there are no issues with air quality, water or mold and that several other district buildings are the same age as Greenacres, and therefore the age of the building was not an issue.

Addressing concerns about the size of the classrooms, he said that some of architect KG&D's numbers were incorrect and they are re-measuring the classrooms and will compare them to the size of classrooms in other schools. Though some believe the model program refers to the square footage requirements defined by New York State and national education standards, Hagerman referred to the model program as a comparison of the size of the classrooms at Greenacres to the three other oldest schools in the district.

He announced that some of the kindergarten, first and second grade classes are "among the largest in the district," and said, "if anything, the fourth and fifth grade classes are small." He said, "We are going back and looking at every assumption and will come forward with an updated report when that information is finalized."

A few Greenacres parents were present at the meeting and waited until the end to comment.

Jon Krisbergh of 107 Greenacres Avenue said, "When the pause for Greenacres was announced I was worried that the administration and the board were re-setting evaluation criteria because one of the options was wholly inadequate and because that option did not solve the problems for the district the problem had to be redefined. We have seen the dangers of false equivalency and the two options should not be viewed as equally viable. The four pillars discussed tonight are not the standards considered before the board heard from those opposed to a new school. Three of the pillars fall under one of the rubrics originally used, i.e. school conditions. I could be wrong but the model program is not just a comparison with other district schools but objective criteria taking into account state standards. To go back and undermine those standards now seems to be disingenuous. The feasibility study listed several criteria including:

• Upfront costs
• Building conditions
• Educational adequacy
• Operational and ongoing costs
• Future expansion capability
• Aesthetic considerations
• Historical and community concerns
• Safety and security
• Accessibility
• Sustainability

I can't believe we are debating whether Greenacres needs or deserves updating
It sounds like we are going down a path where Greenacres will once again be left behind.

Referring to the square footage numbers in the architects feasibility study, Paulina Schwartz of 17 Oakstwain said, "I pointed out that the number were wrong and its incredibly important that the numbers are right.... I hope that the people (who are re-measuring) know what they are doing. Lets put out a comparison chart that is right – and put out floor plans for all the schools. At a minimum, the other schools have maker spaces that are not on that chart. Plus you need to add the new Heathcote cafeteria and Edgewood's brand new library. These can't be added at Greenacres. And I ask – but you never answer me ... Who is doing this analysis? Are we getting a new architect? Are you looking at doing something different or are you looking at doing nothing? Make public where you are going with this. Board members: Hagerman is telling you how fantastic the conditions at Greenacres are. I ask the board members to tour Greenacres. Go without him. Talk to the teachers. He has told you not to talk to them. But they will talk to you ... especially the ones with tenure. You will see why two years ago Greenacres was seen as a top priority for this district. Talk about the safety at drop off and the issues with having kids crossing the street to go to the playground. Go see this school and ask yourself, "Is this a 21st century learning facility?""

Mitch Kahn 198 Brewster Road said, "KG&D made numerous mistakes. They can't get this right. This is incompetence. They have led us down a path. This is shameful. I can't believe we're here again. It seemed like the Board was ready to vote on a renovation and now we're told that Greenacres is fine. We were told that we needed air conditioning in the roof and now we're told to put it in the basement. The only thing that has changed is that people said, we don't want you to renovate with children inside. People got more vociferous. All of a sudden Greenacres is fine! Seems pretty neat and buttoned up. People in Greenacres know that we have been left out of the last two bond issues and that there is more work that needs to be done in the district. If something is not done for our school those things are going to have a difficult time passing."

Dr. Hagerman responded. "I gave a specific update. I did not talk about the future of Greenacres ...I did not talk about a change in our commitment to this work. I talked about a step in challenging the assumptions we are working with this. Teachers have never been told they can't talk about the school! About the conditions or anything else they want to. I want to be sure that we are clear and accurate about the language that we share. There will be much more to talk about Greenacres. We have not lessened our commitment."

Board President Lee Maude also spoke, saying, "Every board member has toured the school including the basement and the boiler room and beyond. We saw every part of that building. Get that fact out there."

Watch the meeting here:

Have a comment? Please include your name and we will post it.