League Greets Scarsdale Superintendent Thomas Hagerman

The League of Women Voters drew an uncommonly large crowd to its meeting on Monday, September 8 when the new school Superintendent Thomas Hagerman as well as Board President Mary Beth Gose and Assistant Schools Superintendent Linda Purvis were invited to discuss priorities and answer questions.

Hagerman addressed the group and explained his process for getting to know Scarsdale and to assess the views of school administrators, students and their parents. He explained that since starting the job in July he has been engaging with the constituents, doing formal data gathering and incorporating feedback into future agendas. He also announced that the format of Board of Education meetings would change. All meetings will be held in rooms 170-172 of the high school so that they can be televised and watched live. In addition, each Board meeting will begin with a study session from 6:30 – 7:30 followed by a reception where the community will be given time to interact with the Board and administration. Upcoming work sessions at future board meetings will include discussion of personnel, insurance, special education, regulatory requirements and the bond issue.

The conversation then turned to the question of the bond issue. Mary Beth Evans asked whether or not the Board had time over the summer to communicate with the building level committees at each school to discuss questions about the project list. Diane Baylor suggested that the public might not realize that even after the bond issue was approved (if it is), construction details and project elements could still be altered depending on unknowns and new information.

Renee Baylor said she hoped that technology alone was not driving the project list saying, "The moguls are imposing their views on public education." Both Superintendent Hagerman and Ms. Gose assured her that human interaction was key to a successful education program. Gose said, "The most important part of education is human interaction. Collaboration is important – people work in teams – office structures are different than they were. We are not forgetting human interaction."

Hagerman agreed, saying, "Liberal arts, math, science, fine arts and technology are all important components of education. It's not about discreet facts – it is how to think deeply about issues, problem solve and use resources to solve problems."

Purvis said that she was hopeful that the Board would make some decisions at the meeting that night with a final decision at the meeting on October 6th. If approved by the Board, the bond referendum would be held in early December.

Nan Berke asked about the upcoming school budget saying that she noticed that pension costs were projected to go up by 7%. Gose said, "We are very concerned with the numbers. The official numbers have not come out yet for ERS (employee retirement system) and TRS (teacher retirement system). I am hopeful that we will have a good sense by December. Referring to Dr. Hagerman, Purvis said, "We have a fresh set of eyes. Everything is up for grabs and we will look carefully at the budget."

Mary Beth Evans asked a question about the health care reserve fund that was dissolved last year when the auditor ruled that the district could not maintain a reserve for the self-insured health plan. The group learned that though the State Senate and State Assembly had both voted to allow Scarsdale to maintain the reserve, the bill has not yet been signed by Governor Cuomo. League President Susie Rush told the group that the Governor's counsel is now looking at the bill and asking questions. It is not known whether or not Cuomo will sign it.

Board member Bill Natbony who was in attendance at the meeting said that a proposed new gift policy is on the Village's website. It does not distinguish between the foundation and other groups that could be formed. Under the new policy, the board would not abdicate its responsibility to decide what programs should run and could decide about disparities between schools.

Susie Rush asked Assistant Superintendent Linda Purvis if she had reconsidered her plans to retire and Purvis said, "No, I plan to retire March 7th though there could be some flexibility. I have a new grandchild and look forward to a new phase of my life."