Schulhof and Pascutti to Lead the Scarsdale School Board

The Scarsdale Board of Education unanimously elected new leaders and welcomed two new assistant superintendents to the dais at their July 6, 2023 meeting. Last year’s Vice President Ron Schulhof was sworn in as Board President and Suzie Hahn Pascutti as Board Vice President. Former Board President Amber Yusuf will serve for an additional three-year term as will Board member Bob Klein.

The tone of the meeting was a marked departure from last year at this time when the school district was in crisis. In the spring of 2022, the public learned about a series of mistakes in payroll processing resulting in a tax lien and penalties from the IRS. Though all fines and penalties were ultimately returned, the board and the community were deeply shaken. The Superintendent resigned in January 2022 and then again in May 2022 saying the IRS matter was “too much of a distraction.” In an effort to unravel the debacle, the Board retained a consultant to investigate what happened and engaged additional consultants to conduct the search for the next superintendent. At the July 2022 meeting they questioned the activities of their auditors and discussed the retention of additional auditors to review payroll processing procedures.

This year the group was calm and poised to begin the 2023-24 school year with Dr. Andrew Patrick at the helm as superintendent and seasoned board members in place.

New additions to Patrick’s cabinet are Meghan Troy who was promoted from Principal of Scarsdale Middle School to Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Leadership Development and Andrew Lennon as Assistant Superintendent for Business who replaces Stuart Mattey who retired after eight years in that position.

With their new leaders at the head of the table, the Board held their organizational meeting, approving routine matters including the appointment of officers, district consultants and themselves as the audit committee for the 2023-24 school year. Andrew Lennon was assigned to certify all payrolls and to hold a district credit card and the Scarsdale Inquirer and the Journal News were named official publications for legal notices.

Code of Conduct

During a public hearing on the district Code of Conduct, PT Council President Leah Dembitzer asked if any potential changes were considered.

Patrick and Eric Rauschenbach said that the bulk of the conversation was about artificial intelligence and whether or not the district needed disciplinary measures around AI. They concluded that cheating and academic dishonesty are already covered in the Code of Conduct under plagiarism. Patrick said, “We thought it was premature to put it into the Code of Conduct but expect it to be an ongoing issue.

After thanking the Board and welcoming Troy and Lennox Patrick said that summer program improvement work is now underway and that over 70 meetings have already taken place between the end of school and now. He said the work “Includes a deeper dive into Reveal Math units of study, enhancing the ecosystem, Chat GPT and AI as a tool for World Language classes, incorporation of current events, media literacy and multi-modalities and literacy instruction and designing an interdisciplinary financial literacy course.”

The Treasurer reported that district revenues are over budget by $1,000,000 due to excellent interest rates.

Additionally Juneteenth has been added to the calendar as a district-wide holiday.

End of Year Tributes

Patrick and Board members thanked Amber Yusuf and Ron for their leadership during the 2022-23 school year.

About Yusuf, Patrick said, “Over the past two years, you've brought a strong and clear growth mindset to the work of board leadership. And you've understood well the important differences between being a board member and acting as a board is critical. You've been able to create an environment that allows for consensus to emerge. From thoughtful dialogue and from sharing, considered viewpoints. You've been supportive and in ways large and small, often behind the scenes to this new superintendent, and you've really helped to regain the confidence and trust of our community.”

To Schulhof he said, “Beyond bringing order to the function of Zoom public comment, your thoughtful questions, and clear explanations of your own thought processes serve as a model to both the board and the public. In education, we call this making your thinking visible and it's an important strategy that helps people learn. This is your approach to the work of board membership and leadership by making visible your decision-making processes you help illuminate the student-centered priorities that matter most to you, which ultimately makes the work for the board more transparent and accessible to our public.”

Shulhof credited Yusuf with her leadership on updating the school calendar, the renovation of the high school auditorium and in the search for a new superintendent.

Pascutti said this about Yusuf, “You know that “Profile of a Scarsdale High School Graduate” that we aspire to for our students? …. To me you are the very model of these qualities. A smart and critical thinker, a skillful practitioner, a lifelong learner, a compassionate leader, and a non sibi community member. You genuinely care about our students and school community and do this hard work for all the right reasons with grace and dignity and integrity. Your commitment to education and the whole child has been evident in how you approach everything you do and to guide our board work.”

Board members noted the team’s leadership through a difficult transition year and lauded Yusuf for continuing to serve in a non-leadership role for an additional three years.

Gifts

The Board accepted gifts for several schools, most notably a gift of $70,000 from the Greenacres PTA for work on the long-neglected courtyard of Greenacres School. The goal of the project is to provide outdoor space for whole-class learning, flexible spaces for small groups and independent work, and space to support students' mental health and wellbeing.

Phase one will cover all groundwork and will include improvements to the existing pavers and the addition of surface materials including pavers, synthetic grass, rubber surfacing and wood chip/mulch ground cover. Phase two will include outdoor tables and chairs for whole class learning, sun protection and other outstanding upgrades for an additional estimated cost of $48,000.

The Board accepted a gift of $70,000 to transform the courtyard of Greenacres Elementary School.

Take a look at the project plan above.

Additional gifts included

-$497 from the SHS PTA for non-sibi day stickers.

-$10,419 from Maroon and White to provide athletic banners for the high school and lamppost banner to celebrate athletic team successes.

-$10,000 from the Edgewood PTA for new cafeteria tables

The Board’s next meeting will be held on Monday August 28, 2023.