BOE Increases Transparency and Reviews New Gift and Nepotism Policies

Board of Education President Mary Beth Gose opened the first meeting of the 2014-15 school year by announcing a new format for BOE meetings, which will now be televised and streamed online. They will begin at 6:30pm with public work sessions which will be followed by a reception from 7:30 – 8 pm where members of the community can chat with the Board and School Administration. At 8:00 pm, the general business meeting will begin. All meetings will be held in rooms 170-172 at the high school. These changes are being implemented to enhance the spirit of openness and transparency between the Board, the administration and the community.

On Monday, the 6:30pm work session focused on the district facilities plan and the bond referendum. The Board unanimously approved a list of capital projects recommended by Superintendent Thomas Hagerman and plans to formally approve the bond referendum at their October 6 meeting. See more here.

Remarks from Dr. Hagerman

Dr. Hagerman remarked on the exciting start of school year. He visited each school during the first week and was impressed with the level of energy and enthusiasm. He spoke of his overarching goal of reaching out to parents and referred to the PT Council reception as a start. He discussed his desire to reach the broader Scarsdale community and mentioned a meeting he just had with the League of Women Voters to discuss relevant issues. 

Technology Talk

Board member William Natbony reminded the room that on September 16, Dr. Hagerman will be leading a Q&A presentation with Andy Jassy, SHS '86, who runs Amazon's web service. The public is invited and reservations can be made at www.surveymonkey.com/s/jassy.

Professional Development Plan

Board member Suzanne Seiden discussed the Professional Development Plan that is being submitted to the State Education Department. She spoke of the importance of professional development and mentioned several district programs that are a result of professional development initiatives such as Human Rights Day, Senior Options, Capstone Projects, and Science Olympiad. The Professional Development team will present later in the year, but the district is required to submit a plan at this time.

During the first public comment period, former BOE member Jonathan Lewis commented that the Professional Development Plan (part of the night's agenda) is the "secret sauce" that makes our district great. He has been a strong advocate for professional development in the past and reasserted his opinion that nothing is more important to our district.

Gift Policy

Board member William Natbony presented a proposed new gift policy that is posted on the district's website. The Board is poised to accept large donations from the Scarsdale Education Foundation, a private education foundation that did not exist when the gift policy was last updated in 1996. The intent of the new Gift Policy is to make sure that the Board has the final authority to make decisions about accepting gifts and to determine how those gifts will be used to benefit the entire school system. The revised policy seeks to make very clear what factors the Board will review in accepting gifts and in setting guidelines for the individual or corporate donors to prevent them from using the gift process as a way to influence the Board's decision making processes and outcomes.

During the public comment period, Former BOE member Liz Guggenheimer asked the Board to consider a few thoughts on the gift policy.

- Does it clearly lay out the substantive factors that the BOE is to consider when reviewing proposed gifts, and sufficiently distinguish them from the procedures for donors to follow if they seek to make a gift?

- Should the policy distinguish between more modest gifts and substantial gifts (5 or 6 figures)?

- She suggested that the new policy retain a phrase from the existing policy: "gifts should benefit as broad a group of pupils as possible."

She also urged community members to take the time to review the proposed policy and offer feedback to the Board.

Further discussion centered on raising the minimum gift amount that needs to be reviewed by the BOE. It was proposed that the amount be raised from $500 to $1000 and the Board generally agreed to this number.

Nepotism Policy

The Board then turned to a revised Nepotism Policy that can be viewed on line. The revisions were made to strengthen the district's position against nepotism. Natbony explained that the intent of this policy is to make sure that the appropriate people make hiring and other personnel decisions in an objective manner. However, he stressed that the policy does not state that the district should not hire family, friends or referrals of employees

During the public comment period community members Art Rublin, Mary Beth Evans and Harriet Sobol spoke about the proposed revisions. There were some objections to the language being "too broad" (i.e., the use of the term "close personal relationships" vs. "relatives") and also concern that the Policy would discourage people from referring qualified prior professional associates or personal contacts to the Scarsdale School District. Mr. Natbony thanked the community members for their feedback and said he would take a look at the language.

Personnel

Dr. Joan Weber provided the personnel report and announced the following new probationary hires: Andrew Brown, Edgewood, Fox Meadow, Quaker Ridge, Music; Christopher Casal, Heathcote, Computer; Francesca Erigo, LRC, Special Education; Lyndsay Freed, Fox Meadow, 1st grade; Sara Magnotta, Edgewood, 4th grade; Heather McCarren, Greenacres; Lisa Pomerantz, Fox Meadow, 1st Grade; April Soffel-Scheffler, Quaker Ridge School, Kindergarten; Daniel Tocci, Middle School, Science; Rachel Witmer, Greenacres, 2nd Grade.

Also, announced were part-time appointments, regular substitute teacher appointments, athletic coaching assignments, resignations of teacher aides, middle school stipends for directing traffic and the appointment of a part-time bus driver.

There were two retirements in the district office: Kim McKee, Director of Transportation and Catherine Inello, personnel office. Joan Weber and Linda Purvis lauded both retirees for their years of service, dedication, and performance.

Two new hires in the District office include Ivy Linares, Assistant to the Superintendent and Angel Nunes, District Clerk.

Education Report:

This meeting introduced a new agenda item entitled "Education Report" during which the BOE and community members will be updated on various initiatives in several areas of importance. This portion of the meeting will include brief presentations from Dr. Hagerman, Dr. Weber, Linda Purvis, Lynne Shain, Assistant Superintendent for Education, Eric Rauschenbach, Director of Special Education and Gerald Crisci, Director of Technology.

Joan Weber summarized the district hiring numbers, discussed the on-going recruitment of teacher aides, the large number of personnel changes in the central office and the exploration of a on-line application system.

Linda Purvis discussed facilities work completed during the summer months including science lab upgrades at the high school, a rebuilt staircase at the middle school, an office relocation at Greenacres and a fire alarm upgrade at Fox Meadow.

Lynne Shain talked about supporting classroom teachers in developing intervention strategies to help struggling learners in the classroom. The elementary schools will be rolling out a new screening tool called STAR and there will be screening of assessments 3 times per year in reading and math. Chromebooks are being rolled out to the 4th grade along with complementary curriculum. 5th grade capstone projects are being upgraded to reflect the Chromebooks available to 5th grade students. At the middle school, the e-portfolio is being expanded and gaming is being worked into the curriculum to promote active engaged learners. The high school is reviewing and refining Advanced Topics courses. Also, state test scores will be available on September 19 through the parent portal for 4th-9th grade.

Mr. Rauschenbach discussed how special education teachers are supporting general education teachers to become the first line of intervention for struggling learners (also discussed by Lynne Shain). The concept is that this will ultimately lead to a reduction in time that those with special needs are pulled out of the classroom for special services. He also mentioned that new resources are being developed to help students with the common core state assessments. His overall goals for the year include: An inventory of special education programs an assessment of needs and population, increased communications with stakeholders in special education, community outreach and professional staff development.

Mr. Crisci discussed district technology including plans for upgraded capacity. He also mentioned developing a K-12 coding curriculum and a large migration project that took place over the summer.

Many items of regular business were attended to including the approval of minutes, a settlement of a special education matter, student activities fund review, tuition rates for non-residents, appointment of the District Safety Committee, sales of used computer equipment, approval of Greenacres playground equipment, the renewal of the service contract with the cafeteria vendor, stop-loss insurance, a tax settlement with Verizon, approval of a foreign exchange program, and Scarsdale Teacher Institute fall courses.

The next Board of Education meeting will be on September 22.