School Board Reviews Building Plans, Collective Bargaining and a New School Website
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Collective bargaining, building plans and a new district website were all on the agenda at a study session at the October 7 meeting of the Scarsdale Board of Education.
Dr. Bernard Josefsberg, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, provided a brief summary of the negotiation framework and status of the 4 labor contracts covering over 700 district employees that will be up for renewal this academic year. The largest contract unit is the Scarsdale Teachers' Association (STA). Others labor groups include Principals, Middle Managers and Teachers' Aides. He stated that the STA contract generally sets the tone for the others and will likely be the first to be completed. Both the district and the STA are in the data gathering phases of the process and the first proposals will be exchanged no later than February 15, 2016. Face to face meetings will follow. Josefsberg noted that this process, by statute, is not intended to be transparent. Until an agreement is reached, the public will know "little more than good faith negotiations are continuing" balancing the issue of cost containment with compensation and benefit packages that allow Scarsdale to attract and retain the best teachers in the field.
Jerry Crisci, Director of Instructional Technology, provided an update on the roll out of the new district website. He discussed the processes used to develop the new site (user focus groups, studying other district sites) and some of the guiding principles behind the design (Maroon color scheme, Scarsdale seal, preference for a classic look with modern design). He showed a mock-up of the page that has been agreed upon to date. The new design allows for more categories of information accessible from the front page (such as quick links, upcoming events, headlines, popular links, calendars, etc.). He also discussed how the new page will be linked with social media accounts so that Facebook could draw more users to the website and the site could send information to Twitter. Many hundreds of pages of site content are also being updated as part of this roll out. The website design team is also looking at where information is located within the site and received a lot of feedback from the parent focus groups on how the information should be organized. Crisci would still like to receive feedback from the community on the design and to that end he will be posting a link on the district webpage with a screen shot of the latest version of new design and an area for comments. The current plan is to finalize the design this month and launch the site in the November/December timeframe. There will also be a mobile app launched in December.
Finally, Stuart Mattey, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Facilities, discussed the status of December 2014 bond projects and planning for future bond projects. As previously reported, the plans for the 2014 bond projects have been submitted to the State Education Department (SED) for approval as required. Unfortunately, SED is very backlogged and the latest update is that they are requiring 11 months on average to approve projects. The Board of Education intends to use all available avenues of advocacy to obtain approval as quickly as possible. However, there is a real possibility that the construction timeline will be delayed and that costs will increase as a result of inflation if the project is not approved until the spring when the district hoped to already be going to bid.
While the projects await SED approval, the construction committee is preparing for the bidding process and met on October 5 to review updated estimates to be used for the final bid plan. The bid plan estimates are currently $3 million more than initial cost estimates. Although it is not uncommon for the bid plan amount to exceed the original design estimate, Mattey said this variance was higher than expected. At this stage, the bid plan is still being fine-tuned by the architects and engineers. They are tightening estimates and will work on suggestions and options to decrease the variance amount. The next building committee meeting will convene in 4-6 weeks and updated information and estimates will be provided after that meeting. District spending on these projects is not allowed to exceed the original amount authorized by voters. Therefore, some items that may have been part of the original base bid plan may need to be shifted to a list of alternates.
Finally, Mattey discussed future bond projects. The District commenced planning for new projects based upon known and projected needs of aging facilities with a planned community bond vote in May 2017. There is a retirement of debt in 2019-20 that allows for the opportunity to borrow funds in support of a major district wide project. Current estimates show an amount up to $62.2 million could be financed to support major facilities work without additional tax property growth. Input for selecting projects will include the building condition surveys currently underway. It was also decided that a master plan for the fields be incorporated in the overall facilities needs assessment. Building level committees will be formed to provide input to decision making.
The recently reconvened Greenacres building committee will be working on recommendations for the Greenacres School. The planning timeline associated with this bond is highlighted above in a chart from Mattey's presentation. It shows the Board of Education receiving formal recommendations from building committees in May 2016 (earlier for Greenacres) at which time they will turn the process over to a District Wide Steering Committee to prioritize needs and make recommendations back to the Board at the end of 2016. There will be public forums with the first set planned for the January/February 2016 timeframe. Under this timeline, any construction financed by a voter approved bond issuance would commence in the summer of 2019.
The entire October 7 meeting can be viewed at the Scarsdale School's Video on Demand site. The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 19.
Streetlight Falls at Red Plum In Mamaroneck, Stop Sign Run Down in Hartsdale
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Around 2 pm on Saturday, when the SOWE Music Festival brought many to town, a van hit a lamppost on the sidewalk and knocked it over onto a table at the Red Plum Restaurant where many were sitting outside enjoying lunch. Fortunately, that one table was unoccupied and no one was hurt, but the accident did cause pandemonium on the sidewalk.
Following the accident, emergency vehicles were dispatched to clean up the mess.
Stop Sign Run Down in Greenacres
A Greenacres resident who took an early morning walk on Saturday 9-19 at 6:50 am reported that he found a Stop sign knocked over at the top of Exit 16 of the southbound Bronx River Parkway, near the Hartsdale Train Station. This must have happened sometime after 7PM on Friday night when the man walked home from the station and remembers that the sign was standing.
Looking closely at the marks on the pavement, he assumed that the driver of the vehicle was either under the influence, fell asleep at the wheel or was driving so fast that he or she lost control of the vehicle, climbed the curb while turning and knocked the sign over. From the tire marks, he could not tell what kind of car or truck was involved.
The Stop sign is at least two feet from the start of the sidewalk and it looked like the rear wheels of the vehicle also climbed the curb, which is more than six inches high at this point.
The vehicle may have landed with a thud when it finally fell off the curb and back onto the road because the curb was about a foot high at the point the vehicle wheels re-entered the road.
Since the Stop sign is mounted on steel and looks quite strong there must have been a considerable impact.
Cyberbullying Incident Spurs Social Media Campaign
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A hurtful photo circulated in a private chat group among Scarsdale High School students has become the impetus for a social media campaign against cyberbullying.
When SHS sophomore Jillian Stachyra learned that other SHS students were sharing a photo of her face atop a whale with the caption "JillWhale," she took the negative and turned it into a positive. She posted the image on her Facebook page with the following message:
"This hurtful picture was created to bring laughter to others at my expense, which is absolutely disgusting, I want to take this time to talk about how realistic cyber bullying is and how it can affect one's mental state. You think you know people, you think these things won't happen to you, but it's 100% possible! I know that being well known throughout SHS obviously has its ups and downs, I know that people talk S***, it's part of life and I usually brush it off. But being subject to this kind of bullying was completely tormenting and heartbreaking, especially being exposed to it during school, which is supposed to be a safe place. I am sharing this with all my facebook 'Friends' to prove I am more than what stupid boys say, I am more than any meme, and I am more than 'JillWhale' I am taking this as a learning experience and an opportunity to prove to myself and only myself that I AM BEAUTIFUL and anyone saying otherwise is simply incorrect. (btw that picture is legit from 7th grade, like c'mon)"
Friends have rallied to her side, by taking the whale photo, affixing their own faces to it and posting it on Facebook with the hashtag #whale yourself.
Jillian's mother brought the photo to the attention of the SHS Assistant Principal who took it seriously and let the parents of the offenders know what their children had done.
Note: Due to complaints from readers and the tone of the conversation, all comments on this article have been "unpublished" and no new ones will be posted. If you wish to reach the editor, email scarsdalecomments@gmail.com.
Summer Game at Scarsdale Library Encourages Young Readers
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The Scarsdale Public Library's Summer Reading Game attracted 294 participants who read an average of 23½ books each. The program encourages children from infants through 5th grade to read or be read to during the summer months.
The most popular series was the perennial favorite, "Curious George." Other popular titles were "Thea Stilton" by Geronimo Stilton, "Babymouse," a graphic novel, and the "Garfield" series.
The largest group of readers was second graders and there were numerous pre-school children who came to the library to be read to.
Fewer children participated than in 2014, but each child read on average significantly more books, a sign of the commitment by those who signed up. The average number of books read was the most in recent years.
The Summer Reading Game encourages children to read or be read to during the summer months. Research has shown that reading during the vacation helps children maintain their reading levels when they return to school in September. Non-readers fall back somewhat from levels they achieved at the end of the school year.
Awards are given based on the number of books read or listened to. As an incentive to come to the library, children received a raffle ticket each time they visit. Four raffle tickets will were pulled each week with winners receiving a book.
"When the children come to the library, we like to have them discuss the books they have read with a librarian or have someone read a book to them," says Karen Zielinski, head of Youth Services. "The program has also become family event with older children reading to their younger siblings."
Armed Robbery at Gas Station
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A Mobil station at 280 Saw Mill River Road in Greenburgh was the target of an armed robbery at 2:40 am on Sunday August 30th. According to the clerk, three men wearing ski masks and gloves entered the gas station, announced a robbery and forced the man to empty the cash from the register and turn over his own cash and cell phone. The clerk was "pistol whipped about the head and face" by one of the suspects. After taking the cash and phone, the three fled on foot.
The clerk had minor injuries which were treated by the Greenburgh Police EMS.
Police searched the area with the assistance of the Westchester County Police K9 unit.
Police describe the suspects as follows:
"Male black, 19-22 years of age, wearing a black mask to cover their faces, long sleeve shirts, dark colored pants, and gloves. All three were armed with what appeared to be semi automatic handguns."
On Sunday, August 30, 2015, at approximately 2:40 A.M., Greenburgh Police responded to the Mobil Gas Station located at 280 Saw Mill River Road, in the Town of Greenburgh on a report of an armed robbery. Responding officers located the store clerk who disclosed that three males entered the store wearing ski masks and gloves. The suspects announced the robbery and forced the clerk to empty the cash from the register and to surrender his own personal property, which consisted of cash and a cell phone. The clerk was pistol whipped about the head and face by one of the suspects. All three fled the scene on foot in the direction of Beaver Hill Road.
The police are seeking the public's assistance regarding the incident. Anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or has any knowledge pertaining to the robbery is asked to call the Greenburgh Police Detective Division at (914) 989-1725 or (914) 989-1710. All calls will be kept confidential.
