A Politically Correct Halloween Costume ...Is There Such a Thing?
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We received this amusing note about what is and what is not allowed in terms of Halloween costumes at a New York City private school. After you consider all the rules below, what would be permissable? See below!
Hello 6th Grade Families,
Halloween is tomorrow and your children are permitted to wear their costumes in school. This is a good opportunity to begin a discussion with them, if you haven't already, about the importance of being sensitive when choosing their costumes. Here are some guidelines and questions that we encourage you to consider and discuss with your child:
· Wearing a funny costume: Is the humor based on making fun of real people, human traits or culture?
· Wearing a historical costume: If the costume is meant to be historical, does it further misinformation or historical or cultural inaccuracies?
· Wearing a cultural costume: Does the costume reduce cultural differences to jokes or stereotypes?
· Could someone take offense with your costume and why?
Today, I learned that some students are considering either dressing as a classmate (in a lovely, mutually agreed upon way) and/or dressing as someone of the opposite gender.
In line with our ethical values that pertain to inclusion and respect for culture and identity, dressing up as someone else's identity (e.g. race, gender, religion, nationality, etc.), even if mutually agreed upon, will not be condoned. I request your partnership in making sure that your students follow this expectation.
Attached, please find an article from Teaching Tolerance Magazine "What do Halloween Costumes Say?"
It is a bit long but it does have some good points to think about.
Many thanks and, as always, please feel free to be in touch with me if you'd like to discuss further.
Sincerely,
Your Principal
Village Trustees Agree on Revisions to "Noise" Code and Review Plans for Fire Station #1
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The late night and early morning clamor from deliveries, back-up beepers, steel doors and trash pickup have been irking residents of the Christie Place apartments who shared their pain with Scarsdale Village Trustees and managers. Though current Village Code prevents "the making of deliveries of supplies or merchandise or collection of garbage or refuse of any store or other place of business between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., except in cases of emergencies," this rule could not be practically enforced.
For one, the Scarsdale Post Office, which is directly across the street from Christie Place receives deliveries at 2:30 am, 4:30 am and 6:30 am – and according to the Postmaster these overnight deliveries are necessary to ensure the timely delivery of mail in Scarsdale.
In addition, Christie Place is home to the Village's only food market that is by necessity a hubbub of activity. The two trash compactors in the DeCicco's parking lot need to be emptied once a week in the off-hours, as the store's parking lot has to be empty to accommodate large carting trucks. DeCiccos receives food deliveries in the early morning hours so that fresh merchandise is available to shoppers.
A concerned group of residents from Christie Place met with Village Managers, the Chamber of Commerce, the police and downtown business owners on
several occasions to see what could be done to ameliorate if not prevent the noise. Over the past few months they met, gathered information, discussed and ultimately reached a solution that for now appears satisfactory to all.
Trustee David Lee, who heads the Law Committee of the Village Board of Trustees convened a meeting on October 22 to share information and propose a revision to the code.
Deputy Village Manager relayed his conversation with the Scarsdale Postmaster who said that the overnight deliveries were necessary but agreed to ask employees to refrain from banging open and close the steel delivery doors in back of the post office during night-time hours. The doors will also be greased regularly to decrease the noise when opening and closing.
Frank DeCicco, owner of DeCicco's was also present and agreed to prevent any deliveries before 6:30 am on weekdays and 8 am on weekends. He also said that smaller delivery trucks are now entering the store through the Spencer Place entrance to cut down on noise on Christie Place.
With that, Trustee Lee proposed that the code be changed to alter the hours for delivery and to make a distinction between weekdays and weekends. He recommended that there be no deliveries between 11:30 pm and 6 am on weekdays and 11:00 pm and 8 am on weekends. These new regulations would be enforced by the police.
Residents were pleased with the proposal and applauded the village for listening and working with them to come up with a solution.
Mr. Conroy of Christie Place said, "On behalf of the people of Christie Place I applaud the efforts of Village Hall and Mr. DeCicco to solve the problems." Another Christie Place resident said, "Some of the noise has already abated. I am delighted that you listened to us and allowed everyone to express their views. It's a great compromise."
The proposal was passed unanimously by the Board of Trustees. A Public Hearing on the code revision will be scheduled for the November 26 meeting of the Board of Trustees.
Following the agreement on new noise code, the Board turned to a discussion of renovations to Fire Station #1, the firehouse at Village Hall. The 1923 structure is badly in need of repair and updating to shore up the foundation and accommodate large fire apparatus.
The Board heard a presentation from Louis Grigg of Grigg and Davis Engineers on proposed changes to the 8,000 square foot building to resolve structural and safety issues.
Plans call for a new apron or driveway into the garage that will be rebuilt and graded downward to accommodate larger fire trucks. There will be larger garage doors and bays and the ceiling of the garage will be raised to give the trucks more clearance.
New facilities are needed to accommodate female firefighters. A second story addition will be added at the rear of the building to include a dormitory for female firefighters, an elevator and a stairway for public entry. The new addition will include a kitchen and an exercise room to help the firefighters stay in shape. The male firefighters dormitory will be renovated and the building will be brought up to code in terms of handicapped accessibility.
According to the Ms. Grigg the new facility will improve the village's emergency response capabilities while preserving Village period architecture on the exterior of the building.
The cost for labor and materails is estimated at $2.6mm with an additional $396,000 for professional fees, bringing the total for the renovation to $3,375,000. The project timeline calls for bids to be received by June, 2014 and construction to start in August 2014 for completion by August 2015.
Watering Restrictions Lifted: At the October 22 meeting of the Scarsdale Board of Trustees, Mayor Bob Steves announced that based on the reduction in water demand due to the change of season, the lawn watering restrictions adopted by resolution of the Village Board on July 23, 2013 have been lifted as of October 23, 2013,
High School Happenings: Maroon and White and the Summer Activities Fair
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Maroon and White is Scarsdale High School's parent athletic association that supports interscholastic athletics and the physical education department by gifting sports equipment that is used by all students. In fact, Maroon and White has committed to gifting at least $40,000 for cardio and cross training equipment for this school year. Additionally, Maroon and White sponsors Raider Pride Pep Rallies during the fall, winter and spring, the Holiday Basketball Tournament and helps fund several team tournaments. M&W also runs the Fall and Winter Sports Awards Dinners and a Spring Picnic that recognizes the accomplishments of all athletes, coaches and managers who participate on the interscholastic sports teams. All High School Families may join and support Maroon and White's mission by visiting their website at: www.maroonandwhite.org.
The Maroon and White Fall Sports Award Dinner to honor SHS athletes will be held on Tuesday November 12 at Lake Isle Country Club in Eastchester at 6:30 pm. To sign up, click here:
Shop Smart to Support Maroon & White: Shop at Lord and Taylor in Eastchester on Thursday November 14 to support Maroon & White. Click here to buy a ticket for $5 (proceeds go to M$W) and receive discounts on all purchases. For more information, please click here.
The Scarsdale High School Summer Activities Fair will be held on Wednesday, December 4th at 7:30pm. This is an opportunity for students and their 
families to meet representatives from a wide variety of exciting summer programs. Mark your calendar for December 4 to explore an endless array of programs offering precollege enrichment, sports, music, theater, travel, community service, language immersion, outdoor adventure, environmental studies and travel in the U.S. and abroad.
Update on District Facilities and Strategic Plans from BOE President Suzanne Seiden
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Here is an update from Scarsdale Board of Education President Suzanne Seiden on the Strategic Plan and Facilities Master Plan that are both currently in development by members of the Board:
Dear Parents and Community Members,
I would like to give you an update on two of our goals for this upcoming school year:
1. The Strategic Plan and
2. The Facilities Master Plan
The Strategic Plan
- Last year, the Board promised the community we would undertake a long range planning process. Given that we will have new leadership next year, we felt it was an ideal time to begin the process.
- The Board is not planning to hand our new Superintendent a finished detailed strategic plan to implement.
- This is really a plan for the plan.
- We want to understand community views and educational values. This will be achieved through focus groups and surveys. We hope you will participate.
- We also want to develop a quantitative fact base with a baseline scenario that projects the costs of maintaining current programs and enrollment. We will also consider denidenscenarios involving variations in enrollment.
- The new Superintendent should lead the strategic planning effort and "own" the plan. This background material will provide valuable information for the community and new superintendent so we can develop a detailed strategic plan together.
The Facilities Master Plan
- The Board promised the community that we would develop a long range plan for the District's facilities. The plan will include potential renovations and improvements to a high school building that will be 100 years old in four years.
- We need the plan for two reasons. First, it is important to understand what kinds of facilities may be required to support emerging technologies and teaching approaches.
- Second, we need to be able to project long term needs as part of our strategic budget planning.
- We do not know how quickly we will pursue these plans or how they will fit into long term financial planning. We probably will include some items in the regular operating budget, as we have for years.
- The only decision we have made is to develop a long range plan.
- As we have discussed with the community, we will consider whether some projects might be bonded. A natural time to do that would be in 2015-2106 when a significant portion of debt falls off, and renovation and construction might involve little or no increase in taxes.
- We are in the process of appointing a joint committee of community members and staff to help assure we are considering fully—the range of building needs and to help us understand community views.
We will continue to keep you updated on the strategic and facilities master plans. Please look for these updates and let us know if you have any questions.
Suzanne Seiden
President
Board of Education
Scarsdale Education Foundation Surprises the Community with $90,000 in Grants
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At their October 7 meeting, the Board of Education voted to accept their first major gift from the newly formed Scarsdale Education Foundation. These gifts, which were a surprise to many in the audience, will restore the funds that were cut from the budget for the Center for Innovation when the initial 2013-14 school budget was turned down from the community. At the time, the Board voted to cut $90,000 from the Center for Innovation Budget. The $90,000 in grants from the Foundation announced on 10/7 will allow the Center for Innovation to move forward with their plans. These grant awards were announced and accepted without community discussion on how Foundation funds should be allocated. A report of the Center for Innovation activities to date can be reviewed here:
Three grants were accepted:
- $30,000 was given to expand the work of the Center for Innovation at Scarsdale for a new program called HackScarsdale. This program allows students to learn computer programming, web design and web applications. It will begin as a club and grow as funding increases.
- $25,000 was awarded to the Middle School to develop and expand the use of interactive games following the successful introduction of these creative educational tools in 2012-13.
- A $35,000 grant was given to the Elementary Schools. Edgewood, Greenacres, Heathcote and Quaker Ridge will use the funds for the "Makerspace" program which will allows kids to use robotics, circuitry, and 3-D printers in creatively educational ways. Fox Meadow will receive a $5,000 grant to renew support for the Fox Meadow Pilot Project.
The community had little news about the Foundation's activities and many were not aware that they were in the process of fundraising or evaluating proposals for grant funding. Speaking for the Foundation at the Board of Education meeting was Scarsdale Education Foundation President Ellen Miller-Wachtel who said that the funds had been raised from individual donors. She promised to provide more details when time allowed. She also introduced Stephen Seward, a community member and professional fundraiser who has been selected to serve as the Scarsdale Education Foundation Executive Director, a part-time paid position.
In order to learn more about the Scarsdale Education Foundation and their funding sources we spoke to Seward who answered some of our questions below. At this point he would only share information that was discussed at the Board of Education meeting but said that more extensive presentation would be soon be given.
Here is what we learned:
When was the Scarsdale Education Foundation formed and what is the mission?
The foundation was incorporated in 2012, following a year of work by a Steering Committee appointed by the Board of Education. Our goal is to provide funding for innovative programs and services, as well as needed infrastructure improvements, that are supported by the BOE, administrators and teachers to enhance the education we offer students at all grade levels, and that could not be accomplished within the constraints of the general operating budget.
Who is on the Board?
Ellen Miller-Wachtel, President, Steve Gruber and Beth Zadek, Vice Presidents, Dave Shuster, Treasurer, Florie Wachtenheim, Secretary, Mark Bezos, Jeremy Cohen, Scott Eichel and Josh Silverman.
How much money have you raised so far and what is your annual goal?
Q. To date, we have raised over $1 million.
A. Have you made grants of all the funds you raised so far or do you have additional money in your account?
Q. Our first three grants were approved and accepted by the Board of Education this week, providing a total of $90,000 for MakerSpace (five elementary schools), Gaming and Simulation (Middle School) and HackScarsdale (High School).
A. How did you decide which projects to fund this year?
Q. The projects were developed by senior District leadership and discussed with Board of Education members before the Foundation board voted to approve the expenditures and submit them for BOE approval.
A.Is there a grant application process or do you work with the Superintendent to determine what should be funded?
See above.
Q. In the future do you plan to rely on individual donations or will there be fundraising events and activities as well?
A. We will be seeking community-wide support, but will be careful not to compete with existing organizations and efforts.
Q. You recently appointed an executive director. Please tell us about him --- how was he selected and is this a paid position?
A. Steve Seward has extensive professional background in non-profit development work and has been closely connected with the foundation on a volunteer basis since its inception. We are delighted that he accepted our recent offer to be the Foundation's first Executive Director, which is a paid position.
Q. Do you currently have offices?
A. We do not currently have offices.
Q. Are you looking for involvement from others in the community? If so, who should volunteers contact to find out how they can help?
A. We intend to return to a future Board of Education meeting to present the Scarsdale Schools Foundation in greater depth and to seek wider community involvement.
Seward did not reveal how they raised $1 million to date and who donated it. In addition, it was not clear whether or not the community would have a voice in making future decisions on how the foundation funds would be spent by the district. Despite questions, the $90,000 in grants and the news that $1million had been raised was a pleasant surprise to many and provided hope that the district would continue to be able to fund new initiatives.
