Scarsdale Boys’ Soccer: Top Dogs, But Still Hunting
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At some point during the Fall 2022 soccer season, the consensus was that the Scarsdale Raiders were the best overall team in New York State. Behind an inspired season from then-senior Nico Galeano, Scarsdale won the NYS title and ended the season with a record of 21 wins to 0 losses. The accolades, both team and individual, speak for themselves. The team closed out the season ranked among the top five teams in the country according to the United Soccer Coaches poll. Seven players received All-League honors, and three players - Lorenzo Galeano, Leo Khang, and Nico Galeano, were named All-Section and All-State. Nico Galeano became the most decorated player in Scarsdale history, being named the Section 1 Player of the Year, Gatorade NYS Player of the Year, and an All-American. Lastly, head coach Marcos Monteagudo was the NYS Coach of the Year and the Northeast Region Coach of the Year.
With such an astounding year of accomplishments, it is no surprise that the Raiders have had a target on their back to start this season. Coach Monteagudo is determined to change the mentality, however. He has often told his players, “Everyone is trying to hunt us down, but we’re the hunters.” The mantra has instilled a sense of confidence in Scarsdale players, leading them to a strong start to the season.
So far, all 3 games of the ‘23 season have gone according to plan. On Tuesday, August 29th, the team headed to Harrison High School, where they routed the Huskies 6-0. Next, they hosted Irvington on Friday, September 1st, again winning comfortably, 4-1. On Tuesday, September 5th, they were engaged in a more low-scoring affair, not scoring until the second half, when Lorenzo Galeano put two penalties away before the Raiders conceded one goal. The 2-1 victory was less of a dominant triumph, but it went down in the win column nonetheless, proving that this team is not afraid of the pressure of a close game.
Despite the losses of an especially strong senior class from 2022, the ‘23 team has shown they have the ability and motivation to contend for a second straight state title. Junior Lorenzo Galeano has played a key role in filling the hole left by his elder brother, stepping up to be the leading goal scorer on the team so far. Many other juniors have also stepped into a larger role this year. Winger Yusuke Sato has improved as a scorer, developing into a solid one-on-one player. Center-back Marc Hajjar has become a physical presence in the defensive realm, and midfielders Lev Stahl, Miles Newman, and Daniel Cisneros have progressed as dribblers and on-the-ball presences. Newman, especially, has been winning a lot of critical tackles.
The senior leadership has no doubt been vastly important to the team’s early success. Captains Henry McAllister, Zach Ruback, Alex Duval, and Lucas Kantor have all embraced their roles, contributing to an intense atmosphere in practice and a confident attitude. Having moved up from No. 3 in the preseason national rankings to No. 2, it is evident that the high school soccer community has confidence in the Raiders’ ability.
It seems that the Raiders have taken their roles as hunters to heart, so far displaying a sharpness on the field and a like-minded focus on defending their state title. They have remained the top dog in the state despite significant senior losses, prompting one to question whether the program’s success does not depend on any one player or group, but instead on a culture of excellence.
Such a culture, aided by Coach Marcos Monteagudo’s drive to inspire confidence, could mean that the Raiders’ program is in the early stages of becoming a powerhouse for years to come – a prospect that should excite all fans of Scarsdale athletics.
BOE Announces New Hires and Reviews Policy on Tuition for Non-Resident Students
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Students are just going back to school this week but the Board of Education, and many of our District’s faculty and staff, have been hard at work all summer to ensure a smooth start to the school year. Much of this work was discussed at the Board of Education meeting held on Monday August 8th, 2023. Here are just a few of the highlights:
BOE President Ron Schulhof outlined planning, hiring, cleaning, orientations and so much more work done during the summer months. Schulhof also made note of the progress being made to improve telecom cell service in and around the high school and Fox Meadow. Work with Verizon on Post Road is currently underway and the BOE looks forward to continuing to partner with the Village to bring improvements from the other carriers they met with over the summer.
Dr. Edgar McIntosh presented on the “Rolling Gradebook” a new pilot program being implemented at the high school. For more details on the program, please see our article SHS Pilots New Grading System here.
In the Human Resources department there have been many new hires.
Faculty appointments include:
Timothy Leddy has been recommended for appointment in the tenure area of Special Education. He holds a BA from Hunter College and a Masters from Manhattanville College. Mr. Leddy holds New York State Certification in Students with Disabilities Grades 5-9, English Language Arts Grades 7-12, and Students with Disabilities Grades 7-12. Prior to joining Scarsdale, Mr. Leddy has been a special education teacher in the Eastchester School District.
Aimee Baez has been recommended for appointment as a Leave Replacement faculty member commencing on August 29, 2023. Dr. Baez will be working as the school psychologist at Scarsdale Middle School while Dr. Hasler is out on leave. She holds New York State Certification as a School Psychologist and in Childhood Education Grades 1-6. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Bard College, a Masters in Science General and Special Childhood Education from Bank Street College, and a Doctor of Psychology from St. John University. Dr. Baez was previously an intern at the middle school and more recently served as a psychologist at the School at Columbia University.
Neil Epstein is recommended for appointment as a Leave Replacement faculty member commencing on August 29, 2023. Mr. Epstein will be the 7th grade social studies teacher at Scarsdale Middle School while Ms. Rothman acts as Interim Assistant Principal at the middle school. He holds New York State Certification in Social Studies Grades 7-12 and Social Studies Grades 5-6 Extension. He earned his BS in Finance from the University of Delaware and a Master of Secondary Social studies Education from Queens College. Mr. Epstein recently taught social studies in the Great Neck Public Schools.
Brandon Shea is recommended for appointment as a Leave Replacement faculty member commencing on August 29, 2023. Mr. Shea will be the 7th grade science teacher at Scarsdale Middle School while Ms. Mastroianni is out on leave. He holds New York State Certification in Biology 7-12. He earned a Bachelor of Science from SUNY of Environmental Science and Forestry and a Masters of Science for Teachers from Pace University. Brandon previously worked as an intern and student teacher at both Scarsdale Middle School and Scarsdale High School.
Jennifer McPherson is recommended to fill the position of long-term substitute teacher at the daily rate of $200 beginning August 29, 2023, and continuing as long as services are satisfactory and needed, but no later than October 31, 2023. Jennifer will be assigned to Scarsdale Middle School covering for Melissa Zeiler who will be on leave.
Assistant Superintendent for Special Education and Student Services, Eric Rauschenbach gave an Update on our Day Automation System Integration (Lockdown system) and said that the new system is set to be up and running by October 16th of this year.
During Public Comments, SHS Senior Rick Yang advocated for the creation of a Tier One Wellness Center in our district. Yang quoted startling statistics that support the need for a wellness center in addition to outlining the specifics of Governor Hochul’s grant that allocates $8.3 Million to Create and Support New School-Based Mental Health Clinics. Dr. Patrick thanked Yang for participating in the public comments and asked Mr. Yang to please email him directly to continue the discussion.
Non-Resident Students
While there were many other business and action items discussed at the meeting (if interested, you can find those action items if you scroll through the meeting agenda here), one point of interest was information item 11.09 Policy 5152 - Admission of Non-Resident Students where the Board engaged in a discussion of the payment of tuition by non-resident students experiencing exceptional circumstances. Dr. Patrick gave an example of one such exceptional circumstance describing a student in their senior year, who is no longer able to afford to live in the district but has spent their entire academic career here. The BOE would like to bring forward a draft proposing an amendment to the existing policy in order for the Board to have power to offer continued education here in Scarsdale in extreme circumstances like this. Many of the BOE members spoke in favor of bringing forward such a draft saying, “It is in the best interest of the student.”
The discussion of admission of non-resident students brings to mind another recent headline detailing statements from the New York State Attorney General's Office and the state Education Department. "Our offices write to remind school administrators that all children and youth in New York between the ages of 5 and 21 have the right to a free public-school education, regardless of immigration status, language proficiency, or whether the student is living in a shelter, migrant camp, or other temporary housing," they announced.
For better understanding on this topic we reached out to Ron Schulhof who said, “My understanding is that the letter issued from Attorney General James and Commissioner Rosa outlines already existing Federal and State laws. The Board and Administration regularly review District Policies to ensure compliance with the appropriate laws. For example, last year the Board adopted Policy 5151 - Homeless Children to address changes in the requirements of the McKinney Vento Act and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). At this time, the Board has not been notified that any specific policy regarding admissions requires an update based on the letter from the Attorney General and State Education Department.
Unrelated to the letter from the AG and SED, the Board did engage in a policy discussion at the August 28th, 2023 Board meeting regarding Policy 5152 - Admission of Non-Resident Students. The discussion related to this policy focused on payment of tuition by non-resident students experiencing exceptional circumstances. The Board came to consensus to have the Administration present a draft update to this policy that would add that authority to provide exceptions to the required tuition payment by non-residents under exceptional circumstances. Currently, Policy 5152 does not provide the Board nor Administration such authority if a student experiences an exceptional circumstance that results in loss of residency. As of note, the authority for the Board to provide such an exception already exists in the Policy for the children of District employees upon the death of the District employee while the child is still a student in the District. Should anyone wish to watch the full Board discussion, please visit the Scarsdale Board Video Page. The video of Board meetings is usually posted within a few days of the meeting. The Board anticipates discussing a first draft of this policy update at the September 11, 2023 Board meeting.
Financial Risk Assessment
A presentation of the Review of the Risk Assessment Update Report was given by the District’s internal auditor Richard Coffey of CPA Cullen & Danowski, LLP. As described by the BOE in their agenda, “As part of the NYS Comptroller’s five-point plan to strengthen financial accountability, school districts are required to engage an internal auditor to perform risk assessments and help boards of education in developing internal controls to reduce financial risk. The purpose of the Updated Risk Assessment Report is to annually review the critical business processes of the District including governance, accounting, revenue and cash management, payroll, purchasing, facilities, student services, and student-related data.
After their review, a recommendation is made to the Board of Education for acceptance of these reports. In addition, the Audit Committee, upon consultation with the Internal Auditor and Administration, recommends an area of intensive review for the upcoming year to be included in the Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures Report.”
Mr. Coffee’s presentation detailed many aspects of the report including positive attributes where the District is doing well, in addition to highlighting recommendations for areas of improvement in their Corrective Action Plan. The Corrective Action Plan suggested nine recommendations including:
Recommendations:
We recommend that the District strengthen the cash receipts process related to funds collected at athletic events during the evenings and weekends by developing procedures to require that a designated administrator assist with having these receipts safeguarded in the safe with the schools’ main office right after the event. This would reduce the potential loss or theft of these funds while being held by a person from the event until the receipts are deposited a day or several days later in the safe.”
However, Andrew B. Lennon, Assistant Superintendent for Business, explained that eight of the nine recommendations have already been completed and the ninth is pending and actively being assessed. You can read the full Risk Assessment Update Report here and see the recommendations and the management responses here.
Mr. Coffee also presented the Detailed Testing Audit Report and Management's Corrective Action Plan. The report explains, “We note that the District has protocols in place related to the processing of payroll transactions that includes a Payroll Process document with detailed steps covering various procedures and internal controls designed to mitigate the inherent risk within the payroll process (e.g., Payroll Clerk is unable to set up employees in SMARTS) and the Business Office understands the need to have proper controls in place. We also found that the employees we interviewed demonstrate a positive attitude towards improving procedures and are knowledgeable about the requirements related to their responsibilities.” The report further states, “We found some opportunities to improve operations as a result of our engagement.” The six recommendations for improvement and our District’s management response can be found here.
Mr. Lennon explained that a great deal of work has taken place to improve this area of business in our district, which can be attested to by the management’s responses to the improvement recommendations.
Seniors Step into the Workforce
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Senior Slump: “When second and third semester seniors stop doing their homework, give up on extra-curriculars that actually require work, develop mysterious illnesses, sleep until noon on a Tuesday, ‘forget’ to go to gym class…” (Urban Dictionary).
There’s a popular theory about the origin of Scarsdale High School’s Senior Options program: the senior slump. According to the theory, past seniors cut so many classes in the third and fourth quarters that they were in danger of not graduating. And so, the school created the Senior Options program to keep the graduating class on track to, well… graduate. The program requires students to complete a six-week internship of their choice. By giving seniors the opportunity to work in an area of interest, the program provides not only real-life work experience but also an incentive to meet the minimum number of educational hours required to graduate.
The program has given students the opportunity to write and publish novels, conduct research, and so much more. So, what are students up to this year?
Interior Design
Jadyn Susanke and Cate Bellesheim are interested in art, real estate, and interior design. Both Susanke and Bellesheim plan to major in fashion design and management, so it’s no surprise that they found an internship that combines their interests. The two are interning at Homestead Advisors, a company that stages, organizes, and designs houses. There, Susanke and Bellesheim sit in on staging and design consultations and participate in physically staging and de-staging houses. In addition to consultations and staging, the two spend time organizing and labeling inventory. The pair recently created three design spreads of college dorm ideas for each other as one of their final projects. Due to the intimate nature of the job—meeting and visiting clients—Susanke and Bellesheim have had their fair share of strange interactions. Bellesheim shared an amusing story: “One time during a client meeting at our sponsors house, a husband and wife came in, and the sponsor’s dog did not like the husband and would not stop barking at him. Jadyn and I kept running around, trying to keep the dog calm and away from the husband.” After the meeting, the pair found out that their sponsor’s dog could be suspicious of strangers.
Medicine and Biology
The Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps (SVAC) senior options program has grown in popularity over the years. This program is a six-week EMT Basic certification course that teaches students patient care and response techniques. Alex Vetrone (pictured at top) is considering pursuing pre-med in college and would like to get first-hand experience with patient care and contact. He plans to volunteer as an EMT over the summer and throughout his college career. Each day, Vetrone sits through lectures and practices skills like taking vital signs. As a part of the program, each student is required to get ten patient contacts. Vetrone stated he had taken vital signs and questioned patients in the field. The hands-on practice required for the course often creates comedic situations. According to him, “One day we were practicing car extrications and our ‘victims’ [students in the class], decided to put on quite a show. While they were fake screaming and crying about how they didn’t want to be taken to the hospital, concerned pedestrians began to peak their heads into the SVAC parking lot.” The instructors, used to dealing with nosy bystanders, “just gave them a smile and a wave as [their] victims continued to scream bloody murder.”
Law
Alicia XinAlicia Xin and Alison Jiang were involved in social and governmental extracurriculars throughout high school. Xin was particularly involved as a member and officer of Model UN. She stated that “I’ve done government internships before, and I wanted to look at different fields I could go into professionally and to help me make decisions about what to study.” Last summer, Jiang interned with 
Alison JiangShelly B. Mayer and Chris Burdick, where she learned more about politics. With their previous experiences, it’s no surprise that they decided to intern at Wilson-Elser, a law firm that specializes in medical malpractice, litigation, and insurance defense. There, the two draft summons and complaints, file documents, organize, and research for depositions. They not only love learning about interesting cases—illegal immigration, murder, insurance fraud—but also drinking the office’s free Swiss Miss hot chocolate.
Nature Conservation
The weather may be wacky, but some students are enjoying the late spring at local nature centers. Noa Shiloach wanted to work outside for her senior options and has been interning at the Rye Nature Center. She was interested in learning how to help the environment, which helped guide her to the nature center. There, she learns about any and all things related to nature, from bird species to invasive plants and insects. Shiloach regularly helps care for the native species, weeds, invasive plants, and plants trees. Although it’s often hot and rainy, she “…like[s] that it’s outside and that [she’s] making a difference to the nature center and environment.”
Noa Shiloach
Education
You may have heard the phrase “Mazel Tov,” but what about “Mazel Tots”? Meena Venkatakrishnan is interested in becoming a child psychologist and loves working with young children. She decided to intern at Mazel Tots, a local Jewish nursery school at Scarsdale Synagogue, where she helps manage the classroom and entertain the “Tots.” Venkatakrishnan’s favorite part of her internship is “getting close to the kids and forming real connections with them” each day. The kids have adopted a fond nickname for her—Ms. Meena. There’s never a dull moment at the nursery. According to Venkatakrishnan, “just the other day I was told that if I were a cake, I’d be chocolate because I’m brown.” She certainly has her hands full, teaching her “tots” about more than just letters and numbers!
Investment
Varun Bansal has been involved in business and investment for years as the president of the Business Club and Scarsdale’s branch of the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA). Bansal stated: “I’ve always been interested in business and finance, and while I’ve done a lot of theoretical research and investing through clubs and competitions, I wanted to see how that compared to real life.” It’s no surprise that he decided to intern at Alight Capital, a hedge fund in the city. There, he not only applies his current knowledge but also builds upon it and learns more from his mentors. Although Bansal cannot make executive investment decisions, he sits in on various meetings and participates in company research. According to Bansal, sitting in on meetings “gave [him] more perspective on how professionals analyze companies and make decisions.”
Mechanics
Avaneesh Rao is an aspiring mechanical engineer who has recently been fascinated by the design processes behind car manufacturing. He was excited to get some hands-on experience in an entry-level engineering environment by working at Casarella’s Auto Service on Hartsdale Avenue. There, Rao prepares the garage, performs basic repairs such as oil draining, and assists senior members in completing more advanced work. He describes his mentor as “patient” and the work environment as “relaxed” and “stress free.” Ultimately, Rao’s internship taught him “how to better communicate and cooperate in small groups,” skills that will be essential to his success as an engineer.
Baking
Halle Jakubowicz can often be found in the kitchen, surrounded by the delectable aromas of cookies, cupcakes, or some other baked goods. To get more “formal training” and improve her skills, Jakubowicz made it her mission to intern at a bakery for senior options. After weeks of searching, she found an internship at SugarHi, a bakery in Armonk run by twin sisters Hillary Assael and Elissa Weinhoff. There, Jakubowicz works as a cashier and designs candy bouquets, college 
candy boxes, and gift baskets. Although she enjoys her tasks, she is disappointed that she does not have a more active role in the baking process.
Cooking
Fuji Mart in Eastchester is more than just a grocery store; it’s home to a Japanese restaurant called Ramen Musashi. Like Jakubowicz, one of Haochen Liu’s favorite hobbies is in the kitchen—cooking. According to him, “being around food has always been a part of my life and learning about it in a professional environment has always been my goal.” Since the beginning of his senior year, Liu has been determined to intern as a chef for his senior options. After weeks of searching, he found a job at Ramen Musashi, where he works the morning and lunch shifts. In the mornings, Liu makes onigiri (rice balls) for the supermarket to sell, sets up the kitchen, washes and cuts ingredients for the day, and prepares boba (bubble tea.) In the afternoons, he prepares and packages delivery orders for hungry customers. Unfortunately, the restaurant is only doing takeout currently, which limits both the number of orders the restaurant receives and the number of orders Liu can make. Despite these limitations, his favorite part of his internship is all the “incredibly passionate and willing to teach” people that he’s met.
Like always, this year’s assortment of senior options internships has been particularly impressive. The program has not only allowed students to get work experience in a field of their interest but has also kept them on track to graduate. Jose Lamela, the program’s director, has ensured that each student has kept up with their 30-hour workweek requirements, fulfilling the state’s minimum time requirement. As the program ends, each student will be presenting to their teacher-mentor and peers. Then, it’s on to graduation!
Schulhof and Pascutti to Lead the Scarsdale School Board
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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.
Raiders to Keep Their Name, Inequities in Sports Participation, Gifts to the Schools and More from the BOE
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The NYS Education Department says Raiders can keep their name.At the last meeting of the school year, the school board got an update on the Raider’s name, discussed gift policy, named an interim Principal for Scarsdale Middle School and praised departing administrators Carol Priore and Stuart Mattey. The meeting was led by Board VP Ron Schulhof as Board President Amber Yusuf was out.
Cell Service
About improvements in cell phone service Schulhof reported that Verizon plans to have improvements at Fox Meadow and the high school in place by September and that discussions with T-Mobile are in process. He also noted that the Board held a retreat for self-evaluation and that he attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the district’s first softball field at Greenacres. See more here.
Raiders to Keep Their Name
Superintendent Drew Patrick and Athletic Director Ray Pappalardi held a conference call with David Frank, who serves as the Deputy Commissioner for Education Policy to review the new mascot regulations. Patrick explained what he learned about the Raider name and research on the name from Colgate University who uses the same mascot. He said, “We have no evidence of ever using indigenous imagery with our team name. I am pleased to report that Frank agreed – and assured us that we can keep the Raider’s name. Therefore the matter is resolved!”
Book Borrowing
Seniors display their copies of Bandersnatch
By the numbers: Patrick reported that Greenacres Library has analyzed their library book borrowing and found that one fourth grade student topped the list, borrowing 164 books this year. In total over 16,000 books were borrowed and over 2,000 students signed into the library out of class time. Patrick also noted that at the High School the 2023 yearbook, Bandersnatch, is out.
Graduation Dates
Patrick announced that the Alternative School graduation will be held on June 16 at 4 pm and the SHS Graduation will again be held in the evening, on June 22 at 6:30 pm on Butler Field.
Interim Principal for Scarsdale Middle School
Assistant Principal Chris Coughlin was officially named the interim Principal of Scarsdale Middle School effective July 1, 2023, replacing current principal Meghan Troy who is now an Assistant Superintendent.
Coughlin was named Interim Principal of Scarsdale Middle SchoolFacilities
Stuart Mattey gave an update on summer facilities work planned for the district.
-The Heathcote offices will be renovated this summer
-Beginning June 12, work will be done at Butler Field to repair damage from flooding. The work should take about a week.
Sports Participation Numbers
Athletic Director Ray Pappalardi followed up on some statistics he had presented to the Board in April, which showed a decline in girls participation in sports. He reported that he re-ran the reports and found that participation in girls flag football and boys crew had been omitted from the report. When those numbers were included he concluded that participation is actually on a good trend. Scarsdale currently has overall participation of 58% boys to 42% girls for spring sports which is in line with 2018-19.
Pappalardi said he did some research to determine what was behind the disparity in girls participation rates in sports. He spoke to parents, interviewed girls, and held focus groups.
He found that the following factors influenced girls decisions:
-A perception of competence – kids know what they are good at.
-Traditional vs. non-traditional sport participation – things like dance and alternate activities
-Expectations for participation in youth and high school sports are not always the same.
He plans to address these concerns in the future with:
-Clearer communication about our purpose and values, especially related to equity
-Development of a common language and shared purpose
-Inclusion of ISO’s (include parents, coaches and ISO’s, in the high school transition)
-Examination of our programs – need a streamlined survey process.
Jessica Resnick Ault thanked Pappalardi for coming back with more concrete numbers. She asked about the process is for assessing the introduction of some of those additional non-traditional sports?
He replied, “We assess the level of student interest and our ability to run these programs. At the middle school, we look for trends that will drive participation in our programs at the high school. We are going to try to make the transition easier from the Youth programs to the high school programs. “We will try to bridge that level of interest or a spectrum of interest for student athletes so that there's a balance of fun for fun sake, and competition, so that we don't drive students away with high levels of competition.”
Ron Schulhof said, “Are you collecting data on whether this would be the students first sport or a potential replacement?” Pappalardi said, “For example, Flag Football for girls has not become a siphon off of any other sports. I think we've had two girls who came from other sports out of the 40 on both teams. He added, “At the middle school we do try to gather information about interest and decide whether that is sustainable, and then whether there's competition for it.”
Safety
Eric Rauschenbach reported that he and Mike Spedaliere attended the first annual school safety summit put on by the New York State Education Department. He said, “There was a wealth of classes around Crisis Response, around bringing belonging into the school safety world as a major pillar, which we've been doing here. It was a validating experience seeing what the best practices were and in large part being able to check off those best practices things that we practice here in Scarsdale.”
He also said, “We are doing our final testing of the integrated lockdown system the week after school ends. So there will be notices going out to the community that they may hear lockdown announcements and drills at the various schools around the district. “
Case of the Missing Tortoise
Rauschenbach continued on a lighter note. He said, “At Fox Meadow it seems that we had the case of a missing tortoise. It disappeared out of one classroom and was found making a flee for it down the hallway. So we are investigating how the tort made its way out of a classroom and found his way down the hall. Patrick asked, “Does it have its ID?”
Summer Curriculum Work
Edgar McIntosh said that this summer teachers will be working in collaborative groups to update refine, align and enrich existing curriculum and assessments as well as expand and develop new curriculum and assessments. He outlined a long list of projects that will be done including interdisciplinary work on belonging, wellness, inclusion, diversity and equity. At both the high school and middle school they will be looking at grading practices and curricular and instructional alignment. “
Public Comment
During Public comments, PTC President Lauren Grossberg said, “I'm speaking on behalf of myself as in my role as the PTC president but not on behalf of the PTC. So you may or may not know but traditionally the outgoing PTC president makes a statement at the last Board of Ed meeting each year with a focus on wishing the outgoing board members the best of everything and unusual circumstances. We do not have any outgoing board members this year. This has only happened two other times since before 2010. The last time being 2017-2018.
Regardless, it didn't feel right to pass up the opportunity to say how much I valued being in the role of PTC president and being able to liaise with the board are open dialogue is crucial to the work we all do on behalf of our school community. I look forward to seeing all the great work this repeat board does next year. I'd also like to take a quick moment to wish Stewart Mattey and Carol Priore, a wonderful retirement and re retirement and welcome Megan Troy and Andrew Landon to the cabinet.”
Gift Summary and Policy
Following a discussion about a large gift from the Fox Meadow PTA to build an outdoor classroom at a prior meeting, Superintendent Patrick introduced the topic of gifts to the school. As a summary this year, the board accepted a total of $327,182.91 in gifts from 11 different donors or donor organizations. The largest single gift came from the Scarsdale Schools Education Foundation to fund the purchase of furniture for the Scarsdale Middle School library.
He said, “We also received generous gifts from each of our PTAs and from Maroon and White in addition to a few other organizations and individuals on behalf of the district. I want to express our collective gratitude once again for these gifts and we're grateful for the generosity of our community and appreciate each and every one of these gifts.
He introduced a draft of a document that describes gift procedures which you can see here.
He explained that the intent of the document is to help bring clarity and support organizations and individuals who are interested in gifting guidelines. It outlines what to think about, what to do, who to contact when, and how the process works from the district’s side, once an offer of a gift is made through the form of a letter or a notification.
He said, “The first step in the in the procedure as we drafted it flushes out some guiding questions like, is the proposed gift part of the core educational program and therefore something that districts should take financial responsibility for? Other questions are, does the proposed gift accelerate implementation of an idea or a program or a practice? How does it fit into the donors or the donor an organization, multi-year commitment? These are not questions that have to be written down and responded to, but they're a guide to the thinking that might take place as a donor individual or organization contemplates making a gift. “ The remainder of the document moves in the steps that are required for drafting of a memo submission.”
He continued, “The idea here is that this is a draft and then perhaps once we've lived with it for a little while, could become like an exhibit attached to the policy, and that way people would know it's linked. So that's something that board can consider and we may recommend doing that.”
Board members thanked Patrick and commented:
Suzie Hahn Pascutti said, “You might consider putting “equity” as just one of the considerations?
Bob Klein said, “Is it typical or not to put number boundaries on gifts or in terms of the amount or not?”
Jim Dugan asked, “How would this policy affect the process in terms of timing for a gift to be approved by the by the district and the board? Patrick said, “This doesn't mark any change the policy. This is just a procedure and it largely reflects the same timing that we followed as long as I've been paying attention to this.”
Speaking for Amber Yusuf, Ron Schulhof said, “In terms of step two, where there's discussion and a request for more information, the donor organization should provide that to the Board based on that discussion.”
For item three, whether it would be helpful to provide background on who the donor has already spoken to. I think the idea that Amber was trying to convey was just to bring as much information to the board ahead of time to get ahead of any questions that might come up.
Patrick discussed the benefit of outdoors spaces for education vis-à-vis the proposed gift from the Fox Meadow PTA.
Gift for Edgewood Elementary
The Board accepted a gift for $2,600 for the Edgewood School to purchase wireless mics to improve the acoustics at performances.
Praise for Mattey and Priore
Carol PrioreAfter a discussion of the Board’s self evaluation process, the Superintendent made some comments about retiring cabinet members Carol Prioire and Stuart Mattey.
He said, “So part of our plan for this section of the meeting was to recognize Ron and Amber for their incredible leadership this year, leading all of those ambitious goals and priorities that were just discussed in the self-evaluation. But we're going to wait till Amber's back and we're going to take the chance on July 6 to say some nice words and celebrate your leadership over the last year, both of you but we also have two other colleagues at the table who are moving on and this is the last board meeting of the year. So I'll start with Carol.
Carol as I took over as Interim Superintendent just over a year ago, I knew the biggest practical challenge facing me was how on earth would we navigate all the HR work ahead as I left that role? You stepped in with confidence, a can do attitude and with the necessary knowledge and skills to handle the work. Most importantly, however you develop the trust and confidence of those around you. Your previous service to Scarsdale meant that you had relationships and bonds with people but it is really your positive attitude, empathy, student centered belief system and your kindness that have made your work here so successful. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you've done for this district.
Turning to Assistant Superintendent Stuart Mattey, Patrick said, I can’t express how much your partnership has meant to me. Truly from the day I arrived in Scarsdale you helped me to read the culture. You supported me heavily in those early contract negotiations, then you let me take on more responsibility as I found my own footing. A careful considered discussion has been par for the course on every single topic we have put our heads together on, and since I have taken on the role of Superintendent you have taught me even more. And one of the things I am most proud of is this past budget process which we managed both behind the scenes and in public. Thank you for the strong foundation of practice that you’ve instituted over the past eight years. You have set Scarsdale and your successor up for success. I know you will enjoy the next phase of your life with Robin and your family and it is very well deserved.
Board Vice President Ron Schulhof also thanked Mattey and Priore on behalf of himself and Board President Amber Yusuf.
He said, “Stuart: Thank you for your dedication and commitment to this District and our students over the past 8 years. Throughout your time in Scarsdale you have overseen a budget process that provided the resources for our district to continue its educational excellence while also managing this process in the tax cap era. You have also successfully helped pass multiple bond issuances as well as ensuring the successful implementation of the bond work that touched every building in the district and most recently culminated with the bond to address the long overdue renovation of the High School Auditorium.
Stuart Mattey
While the community may see your work on the budget and bond firsthand at board meeting, you lead many other important areas that are student focused.
Your work to bring food service to four elementary schools will have a lasting impact, and your willingness to work with parents to bring healthy and nutritious options to all students is notable. For several years you also managed the District’s Safety and Security work, including ushering in many key improvements throughout the District such as the security vestibules and safety monitor program. In addition to all these areas, you have also managed our large and complex transportation program and have kept our buildings running day in and day out through quite a wide array of challenges, from flooding to pipe breaks to emergency repairs.
We wish you a wonderful retirement and hope you’ll stop by for the first performance in the new auditorium space.
Carol: Thank you for taking the time out of your retirement to come back to Scarsdale and support our district this year. It’s been quite the busy year for recruiting at all levels throughout the district and our buildings. You ensured our human resources and leadership development areas continued the high level of excellence throughout the year and maintained our collaborative approach to hiring and professional development training. Thank you for your leadership during the collective bargaining process this year. We wish you all the best as you continue your retirement and thank you for being here for this year to support the Scarsdale Schools.”
