001Hello, good evening. I would like to call a special meeting to order and note that all board members are present with the exception of Ron Schulhof, who could not be here tonight due to a family matter. We are also joined by Dr. Patrick and his administrative cabinet. Thank you to all those joining us for the special retirement ceremony in the audience on the live stream and over zoom and with that I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Patrick. Thank you very much Susie. Good evening everyone I add my welcome it's delightful to see so many faces in the audience and our first part of the evening tonight is dedicated to honoring our retiring teachers The Scarsdale Public Schools seek to sponsor each student's full development, enabling our youth to be effective and independent contributors
002in a democratic society and an interdependent world. We emphasize educating the whole child while developing a sustained love of learning. We challenge our students to learn actively and collaboratively, to think critically and creatively, and to make connections locally and globally. Non-SIBBY, not for oneself alone, is an overriding philosophy that recognizes the impact our community can have on a world full of complex problems that need to be solved for the benefit of all people. The magic that brings this ambitious set of goals to life is found in the developmental relationships that our extraordinary educators form with their students. This evening, we are recognizing a group of educators who together have served the district for a collective 227 years. These remarkable individuals approach the work of teaching and learning as a mission and as service to our
003community. Their talent, their decisions, their care, their curricula, and their passions brought this mission to life for our students. They created opportunities for thousands of Scarsdale students to experience the joy and richness of thinking and problem solving, reading and writing, speaking and listening, researching and synthesizing, hypothesizing and experimenting, playing and collaborating, practicing and performing. On behalf of a grateful Scarsdale community, I thank you all for your distinctive contributions to our students. to our schools, and to our community. Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement. We wish you joy and happiness as you continue to pursue your passions, especially on random weekday mornings unencumbered by the first bell. I'm delighted to turn it over to Megan. Thank you, Drew. I appreciate having this opportunity tonight to congratulate and honor our nine faculty members who are retiring this year.
004When I think about your collective and individual impact on our students and the larger school community, it is truly remarkable. You have helped your colleagues to grow and learn. You have supported thousands of Scarsdale families over the years. And you have touched and altered the lives of the many students who have sat in your classrooms or in your gyms. As they head into retirement, we have so many hopes for all of you in the future. And so I'd like to take a moment and read a book, I Wish You Happiness, by Michael Wong and Anne Baratashvili. And Drew has it up for us. I'm a secondary teacher by nature, so I'm not as good with the opening of the book. I wish you dreams and aspirations to spread your wings and reach for the stars.
005I wish you courage and strength for the magic begins at the end of your comfort zone. I wish you imagination and creativity for the world is a blank canvas to paint your masterpiece. I wish you adventure and curiosity to go where there is no path and leave a trail. I wish you health and well-being for they are worth more than all the riches in the world. I wish you peace and tranquility to listen to the birds and gaze at the stars. I wish you knowledge and wisdom for they are the foundations of a successful life. I wish you grit and resilience to never give up. I wish you success and prosperity to trust yourself and your ability to succeed. I wish you luck and opportunity for the more you try, the luckier you get. I
006wish you faith and hope to believe everything will be all right. I wish you family and friendships for they are life's greatest source of happiness. I wish you joy and laughter, to laugh long and loud until you gasp for breath. I wish you kindness and generosity, for no act of kindness is ever wasted, no matter how small. I wish you love and affection to fill your beautiful heart with an ocean of joy. I wish you all of these wonderful things, but most of all, I wish you happiness. These hopes and wishes are all gifts you have given our students and colleagues over the years. And you can really see each retiree in the pages of this book. As an elementary teacher at Fox Meadow, Kim Isatley, Kim, if you don't mind just standing while I...
007Has shared kindness and generosity with her students for many years. She knows her students well and provides the care they need at every moment. Long after the words of her famous read-alouds are forgotten, her kindness and generosity will remain. She has truly shown her students that no act of kindness is wasted, and I hope she feels the same in the future. P.E. teacher Jim Borgia. has shared much laughter and joy with his elementary students in PE class. What a gift for students as they enter the Heathcote gym. They can run, jump, climb, spin, push, talk, and laugh. There's probably no place in a school where kids consistently have a smile on their faces. Jim has brought that joy to them, and I hope that in retirement he's able to laugh so much he can't catch
008his own breath. It makes a day better. Elementary teacher Sue Hendler. has spent most of her career in a kindergarten classroom educating and caring for our youngest learners. She has created a family in her classroom where kindergarteners form their first friendships. It's where they learn how to share, care, and play with peers. Nothing is more important than these connections, and I hope Sue has time to enjoy this greatest gift with her own family in retirement. As a PE teacher, the PE Health and Wellness Department Chair and Coach, Bob Keith, has dedicated his career to educating our students and colleagues about health and well-being. Beyond educating, he has modeled what this looks like through his many marathons, plant-based diet, and daily bikes to work. He has shown us that they are worth all the riches in
009the world, and I look forward to hearing how he continues this life of wellness in retirement. Mary Leach, the High School World Language Department Chair and Teacher, has given students the gift of curiosity and adventure. Throughout her career, she has opened doors to international places that don't look like Scarsdale and people who speak different languages. She's encouraged her department members to be curious and to think about their new approaches to instruction and learning. As a result, trails have been made where no path laid before. I'm sure Mary will engage in many adventures of her own based on what she is curious about. ELA coordinator Sue Luft has shared her knowledge and wisdom with students and colleagues for her entire career. She's a lifelong learner as is evident in her involvement with the STI and she's
010a lifelong teacher of both students and adults. She has helped provide the foundation of learning for all those around her and that foundation will lead to success for all. Based on what I know about Sue, she'll continue to learn which will further her success in retirement. Elementary teacher Beth Martin. has encouraged her students to have dreams and aspirations. Through her extensive classroom libraries and her love of ELA, Beth has brought her students to places beyond the walls of her classroom and the community of Scarsdale. Her students always eager to learn and engage in new and interesting experiences. This has allowed them to spread their wings and fly, which I know Beth will do in retirement. Elementary instrumental teacher Adam Weber has brought out our students' imagination and creativity. He's allowed students to find their passion
011in music and that is a gift they carry with them throughout their entire lives. Through his work with students, he's helped to paint a masterpiece on what was once a blank canvas. The world is a more beautiful place because of the music he has brought to it and I'm sure he'll continue to work on this masterpiece with his own musical talent in retirement. As a high school chemistry teacher, Jim Williams has given our students the gift of grit and resilience. He's taught students to think about how to problem solve in chemistry, but also beyond the walls of his science classroom. Jim gave students the opportunity to persevere and engage in challenging problems. This life skill will stay with them long beyond the chemistry class he taught. And I wish Jim that same grit, which he
012might need as he hikes to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro this summer. All of you have empowered students to feel like they can do anything and all of you have helped students to believe in themselves. Thank you for your years of service and the care you've provided to our students, their families, and your colleagues. You will be missed by all whose paths you have crossed. And when I call your name, please, if you would come up, make your way around the table to be congratulated by all of us and receive your book with a written message from us. Kim Asatly. Jim Borgia. Sue Hendler Bob Keith Our next retiree Mary Leach Sue Luft Beth Martin and Jim Williams I'll now turn things over to Susie for a few remarks Thank You Megan on behalf of
013the board I would also like to express our appreciation to this year's retirees for all that you have done for our students and for our school community for so many years You have provided such an important impact to so many students that have come through these hallways and classrooms. Your careers have been distinguished and your contributions significant. Thank you for your unwavering dedication, your years of service, and the legacy you leave behind. We wish you joy, rest, and new adventures in this next chapter. Thank you. And with that, can I entertain a motion to close this special meeting? Colleen, thank you. Second? Bob? Any discussion? Vote. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Okay, thank you. This meeting is adjourned, and we'll just take a quick five-minute recess before starting the business meeting. Thank
014you. Good evening. I call this meeting to order and note that all board members are present, with the exception of Ron Schulhoff, who isn't able to be present due to a family matter. Joining us this evening is Superintendent Dr. Patrick and members of his cabinet. Thank you for all of you joining us this evening in person, on the live stream, and over Zoom. As we begin the last business meeting of the 2024-25 school year, I'd like to reflect on what we have accomplished as a board in the past year. Last summer, with a fresh new strategic plan in place, the board looked to support the district's work supporting learning, living, and leading in our Scarsdale schools. Even before the school year began, members of the board were hard at work studying ways we can improve
015our gifting policy, enhance communication and community engagement in our work, and develop a process to consider the role and craft a selection process by which to elect student ex officio board members to our table for the first time. On the point of gifts, this process makes me grateful that we are so fortunate to have so many hardworking and generous collaborators to our schools, including the PTAs, the PTCs, Maroon and White, and FMA. Thank you for your partnership enriching the student experience in our schools. In terms of community engagement, the board once again started holding board coffees, and I'm very pleased to report that we held six coffees with 52 attendees this year. This format allowed board members and community members a more informal setting in which to engage in a two-way dialogue about matters important
016to our school community. Thank you to all those who dropped by to meet us, to my fellow board members for their participation, and to Honoré for managing all aspects of these coffees. The work of creating and selecting the student ex officio board member role began last summer as well. I would like to welcome and congratulate Anish Mehta as our class of 2026 representative and Lucy Eisenberg as our class of 2027 representative. These students were elected by all students in the high school grades nine through 11 as presented with three other candidates per grade as slated by the student government. Congratulations and welcome to the board table. We are so excited to begin our shared work with you. To all the students who ran, the board thanks you for your interest and your dedication to your
017fellow students and school community. I'd also like to thank Principal Bonamo and his team for guiding this process and overseeing the election. The student election was on the same day as the general school board election, May 20th, and I would like to congratulate Colleen Brown to a second term and welcome Laura Liu, to her first. I look forward to working with you and the rest of the board this year. Other goals of board work included work around advocacy, budgeting, capital projects, including the planning and development of a bond proposal, collective bargaining, community engagement, conducting thoughtful evaluations, governance, ongoing district work, and supporting teaching and learning. While these goals were wide-ranging in their scope, they also connect back to providing the best education for our students. I want to thank all board members, Dr. Patrick, cabinet
018members, administrators, many faculty and staff members, and our students and community for helping with these great strides in all of these areas. The dedication and time given by board members this year has been tremendous. With that, I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Patrick. Thank you very much for sharing that, Susie. I appreciate that. Good evening, and I add my welcome to everybody tuning in and here in the room. Susie pointed out this is the final business meeting of the school year I want to acknowledge that being our last meeting of the year there are a large number of consent information and action items on the agenda more than usual including the appointment of new faculty members some of whom are in the audience all that is to say thank you in advance for
019your patience as we work through tonight's agenda Before I go to some year-end thank yous, I do want to congratulate the Scarsdale High School girls flag football team on winning state championship. With a 22-0 record, they defeated Fayetteville Manlius on Saturday and Half Hollow Hills on Sunday, yesterday, to win that title in Cortland. Thank you to our coaches, Tom Newkirk and Minnie Genovese, and to Scarsdale PD for the championship escort they provided to our returning athletes as they came to their supporting family and friends down Post Road and to SHS. I also want to congratulate tennis player Sam Saeed on his second place finish in the state. And note that Coach Jen Roan was nominated as the NFHS Tennis Coach of the Year. It was another great athletic season, and our track athletes are actually
020still at it, with some of them heading to states this upcoming weekend. Cindy Parrott, our athletic director, has been sharing updates throughout the postseason via ParentSquare, and they can be found on our website as well. I hope our community gets a chance to read them. A busy agenda requires a great deal of preparation behind the scenes and work by board members over the weekend. I want to extend my gratitude tonight to the cabinet for all of their work to bring these items forward each and every time we have a meeting. some of which some of these items are almost a year in the making and to each of our exceptional Board of Education members for your preparation questions and suggestions both in advance of this meeting and throughout each and every time that we meet
021throughout the school year Thank you. I also want to recognize the full administrative team and our exceptional faculty and support staff. They approached another challenging year with fortitude and the commitment to excellence the school district is known for. Thank you. I also want to thank all of our parents and caregivers, our parent-teacher council, the PTAs for their unwavering support throughout the year along with Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service and our partners at the Village including the Mayor, Village Manager, Parks and Rec Department, Scarsdale Police and Fire. These are essential partners in our work and they've been by our side throughout the year. Most of all I would like to congratulate all of our students. and especially our 5th graders, 8th graders, and our senior class of 2025. I hope we've helped to advance our vision
022to foster the potential of our students to live well-balanced lives full of meaning, purpose, impact, and joy throughout this year. The excitement of transition to new schools and for our graduates the commencement of a new chapter of their lives is something to be savored. These milestones can serve as important points of reflection. So I urge our students to pause and take a quiet moment before their respective ceremonies and reflect on all they have accomplished. An extraordinary future awaits each of our students next year and beyond. Thank you, Drew. And with that, we'll move to board member updates. Are there any updates from the board? Thank you, Bob. Thank you, Susie. On June 2nd, I attended the annual Code of Conduct meeting. Representatives from the faculty, administration, parents, students, Board of Ed, and lastly our legal
023counsel participated. It should be noted that the recent mandate of the bell-to-bell ban of cell phones was not included and will be handled separately over the next year. The Code of Conduct already addresses conduct issues related to cell phone use. All the topics discussed were not considered legal changes or legal mandates. To give you a sense of some of the topics we included, we had a discussion on the definition of corporal punishment versus type of physical force that's allowed and under what situations. We talked about the distribution of videotaping during the school day and sharing online. We had conversations about the definition of substantial disruption. And one student rep requested discussion on language related to hate speech off campus. This resulted in a discussion of the First Amendment and when the school actually gets authority
024to employ the code of conduct. Lastly, the revised code of conduct will be presented and adopted at the July 1st, 2025 meeting. Thank you, Bob. Any other updates? I have two very quick ones. On June 1st, I had the pleasure of attending the second Tunes in Bloom concert presented by Friends of Music and the Arts, Classified Musicians, and the Scarsdale Public Library. With over 100 people in attendance of all ages, it was truly a heartwarming event with student performers K-12, as well as special guests, Ms. Gundling, Chorus Director of the High School, and our very own Dr. McIntosh. Not only was their performance beautiful and melodious, but sharing their stories and their musical journeys with the students was truly inspiring. Thank you. Also, tomorrow I look forward to attending the Gold Award Ceremony of the
025Scarsdale Edgemont Girl Scouts, honoring two recipients, including Samantha Levine, a Scarsdale High School student. Samantha's Gold Award project focused on supporting food pantry recipients who receive free food but do not know how to prepare simple, healthy meals with it. She created a website in English and Spanish with healthy eating resources, distributed informational flyers, and also taught cooking to Girl Scouts. Thank you for personifying and living our school motto of non-civi. With that, I'd like to turn it over back to Drew. Okay, thanks. We have three updates tonight in the cabinet updates. I'm gonna start with the first one We have posted and published an update to our school calendar for next year to include the elementary parent-teacher conference dates Those dates are in the agenda. I'm gonna read them real quickly December 5th and December
02612th are half-day early dismissal for students in k-5 for parent-teacher conferences and December 9th is after school conferences, 3.30 to 5.30. And then in the spring of 2026 for grades K-2, Thursday, March 19th and March 26th are half-day early dismissals, and March 24th are after school conferences, approximately 3.30 to 5.30. And then that will also be the date, March 24th, for our grades three through five Zoom after school conferences. I'll turn it over to Edgar, and then we'll end with Megan. Thanks, Drew. I look forward to welcoming over 80 elementary school parents and guardians to our district elementary math coffee this Wednesday, June 11th in this room. The doors will be open at 8.30 a.m. with a very different setup than the one we have here now. There will be 16 math learning stations led
027by 16 K-5 teachers from across the district who will be demonstrating a range of math lessons and routines. We'll have participants rotate through two learning stations and then break for a presentation. During this section, I'll answer some frequently asked questions about our process, rationale, and our pathway forward. And finally, we have three more stations for parents and guardians to move through. At one, building administrators will be collecting feedback about families' experiences in math. At another station, district administrators will answer any questions about the monitoring, assessment, and review cycle of our math programs. And finally, there will be a station in which math coordinators will discuss the parent-facing resources in the foundational research for our math practices. I look forward to this in-person opportunity to describe our math program, allowing discussions in real time. Thank you,
028Edgar and Megan. Well, wrapping up the 24-25 school year, we've also been busy with recruitment, hiring, and onboarding these past few weeks. And so we are fortunate to have a wonderful group of faculty who will be joining the Scarsdale School community. And when I call your name, if you don't mind just standing up so we can officially welcome you. So we welcome Aaron Krug, who will be joining us as the new special education teacher in the 812 program at Scarsdale Middle School. Erin holds a master's in childhood education and students with disabilities from Pace University and a BA in psychology from the University of Massachusetts. Erin's looking forward to building this new program at SMS and has exciting ideas about how to create authentic, real-world learning experiences in the community for our students. Erin is
029currently teaching at Dobbs Ferry Middle School, so welcome, Erin. Steve Delmora will be joining the middle school as a PE teacher and the department chair for the PE health and wellness department. Steve holds an MA in educational leadership from Bank Street College, an MA in health education, and a BA in health and physical education from Ithaca College. As a coach and teacher, it is evident that Steve has an incredible work ethic and a willingness to engage in anything to help the team. Steve is currently working in the Katona Lewisboro School District. Welcome, Steve. Welcome to Eli Espinosa, who will be a Spanish teacher at Scarsdale High School and the High School World Language Department Chair. Eli holds an Ed.D. in Policy and Organizational Leadership from the University of Illinois, an M.A. in Teaching from Missouri
030State University, and a B.A. in Spanish from SUNY New Paltz. He approaches his work with a desire to learn and brings a calming spirit to every conversation. His warmth and ability to listen will make him approachable to both students and colleagues alike. Ellie's currently teaching at Ellenville Central School District. Welcome Ellie. Jacob Hart will be joining the high school science department as a chemistry teacher. Jacob holds an MA in education and a BS in chemistry from Binghamton University. His love for teaching chemistry began back in high school when he was a lab assistant for his chemistry teacher. We look forward to seeing Jacob pass on that same love of chemistry with hands-on and engaging learning experiences for our students. Jacob's currently teaching in the Washingtonville Central School District. Welcome, Jacob. And a familiar face, Matt
031Peters, will be returning to Scarsdale Middle School as a sixth grade social studies teacher where he is currently serving as a leave replacement. Matt holds a BA in education from Manhattan College. He has created already a space in Fountain House where students feel valued, included, and seen. This is evident in his daily interactions as he brings ancient history to life for his students and helps them understand the why behind their learning. We look forward to seeing Matt's continued work at SMS. Thank you all for being here. Congratulations. We have a couple of items to do before the consent agenda, which will be your official appointment, and you do not have to stay for that. So you're invited to have an earlier night than we will. But congratulations and thank you for being here. And with
032that, before we close, I'd like to ask if any board members have any questions. Yes, Amber. Thanks Susie and Drew actually my question is on the calendar this was the first year that we did the zoom after school conferences how did that go I mean I guess it went well since we're doing it again but yeah the feedback was positive there these are five minute conversations with so you'll remember we didn't have three through five conferences in the spring so this was sort of a middle middle ground step there was some I think some helpful communication beforehand about what the conferences could be could be like and then we got some feedback afterward that I think we'll take into account as we design it for next year but I think the general sense of it
033was that it was useful great I'm glad to hear that thank you any other questions No? Okay, then we will move on to the next item on our agenda, which is the public comment session. And first I will read the public comment preamble. Members of the public are cordially invited to speak on district related items or other non-personnel related matters during two separate public comment periods. When it is your turn to speak, please state your name, address, and if you are speaking on behalf of an organization. For those commenting remotely, please mute the live stream voice, turn on your camera, and then unmute yourself. This might be a good time to do that now. Speakers will be asked to conclude their remarks after four minutes and will be given a verbal cue at the three
034minute mark. If at this point a speaker has additional comments, they may send them in writing to the board via email at boardofed at ScarsdaleSchools.org. The public comment period is reserved for comments only. The board will not engage in dialogue. The board reserves the right to respond to comments and questions at its discretion, either during responses to public comment or at a later time and place. Response to public comment will take place after the first and second public comment periods. And with that, I'd like to ask if anybody in the audience would like to come make a public comment. Good evening. I'm Hidan Chung, 46 Woods Lane, and I'm speaking on behalf of the League of Women Voters Board of Directors. The League Board wishes to thank Board of Education member Ron Oshula for his
035dedicated service to the Scarzell School District. Ron, we appreciate your efforts throughout your tenure on the Board of Ed. both as a member and as president. There are many examples of your leadership and excellence to highlight during your time on the board, and several come to mind, particularly during the course of your leadership year. Your experience as a seasoned board member is especially valued during this time. You led the board during the first full year with a new superintendent. That same year, the school budget was passed over the tax cap, and a new teacher's contract was negotiated, the first one post-COVID. Thank you for your years of advocacy and dedication to ensuring excellence in Scarsdale schools. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Thank you. Would anybody else like to make a
036public comment? I've never done anything like this before, but I was told to come here. Hi, Dr. Patrick. I'm Alex Lieberman. I'm a mother to two elementary-age children in Scarsdale school system. I'm here to express... May we have your... Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt. May we have your address, please? 2 Fairview Road. Thank you. I'm here to express to you my and many other parents' concern as a Jewish person with children in the school system and my dismay with the handling of anti-Semitic issues Jewish children are facing in this school administration. We move to Scarsdale with the expectation of a diverse community with inclusion of Jewish community as part of that faction. My son has learned of Diwali, the Chinese New Year, and many other cultural observances that he has never known before. But he
037has never been to any assemblies teaching about anything regarding Jewish culture. That being said, my main reason for addressing this board is to discuss the anti-Semitic events that have occurred in the elementary school, middle school, and high school, and to ask you what you plan to do to combat it. January 28, 2025 was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a mournful day for Jews. I remember my grandparents on this day. I'm not sure if it was discussed in our schools, but what I'm sure of is that there was a third grade student in my son's school, Green Acres, wearing a Free Palestine t-shirt. Free Palestine is half of a longer slogan. Free Palestine from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. It is a slogan that is widely used and spread across social media as
038a call to exterminate Jews from Israel. The vast majority of Jewish people consider this a threatening term and a term of hate speech. Some concerned mothers call me to discuss the event and I call the interim school principal three times and when she finally called me back I expressed to her how uncomfortable many of the Jewish parents in the school felt about this because it starts with one kid and then it moves on to other kids and teachers and then what? School is not a place to express hate speech and I highly doubt a hate slogan to any other minority group would be thought of as free speech. Free speech should not be used as a blanket statement to cover hate speech. The phone call was 10 minutes or less. I expressed my concern and
039was told that I would get a call back. I did not, and I dropped it. And I shouldn't have, and I won't now. Recently, an email was sent out regarding a swastika that was found in high school. I've read the email, and I don't think it's enough. My heart breaks for the student who found it, and it angers for the students that probably were laughing about it. Jewish people do not feel safe. People are protesting in the street for annihilation, screaming free Palestine. Parents need to consider if they could send their children to certain colleges because students are being blocked from walking across campus while students in mass scream free Palestine. In the past two months, there have been three notable and very public terrorist attacks in which the aggressor yelled free Palestine. First, the
040senator's house was lit on fire during Passover when the arsonist yelled that slogan two weeks ago. Two innocent people were shot and murdered outside of a Jewish museum by a terrorist screaming Free Palestine. And last week, a bomb was thrown at a congregation in Colorado screaming Free Palestine. Free Palestine should not be protected in our schools under free speech. It is hate speech. As shown in the examples above, in the students' rights and responsibility portion of the Scarsdale Code of Conduct, it is stated that students have the right to be free of discrimination and students have the responsibility to refrain from actual symbolic speech containing obscenities or personal attack. Free Palestine is a slogan that has been chanted in the past 20 months to commit these types of acts. I would like the following terms
041to be considered official slogans of hate speech in our school, and many parents agree with this. Free Palestine from the river to the sea and anything claiming intifada revolution. As a parent to Jewish children, I do not feel like the school administration is doing enough to keep our Jewish students safe. It is your responsibility to ensure the safety of our children. One is enough enough. What are you going to do to keep our Jewish children safe from hate? We should not wait for someone to be harmed. Their safety is more important than your fear of deciphering what is considered free speech. Not all speech should be free. Swastikas drawn in bathrooms deserve more attention than an email, and this can no longer be swept under the rug. Thank you. Would anybody else in the audience
042like to make a public comment? We'll be moving on to Zoom. Jim? There is one attendee on Zoom, but hand is not raised. And with that, I will close this first public comment session of the business meeting and move on to the next item, response to public comment. Just got in. That's up to how we want to proceed. But I mean, it's there. The person is now there with the hand raised. Was it the same person? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I'm promoting the attendee to panelist. Please unmute yourself. And yeah, your video's on. So thank you. Hi, thank you very much. This is Mayra Kirkendall Rodriguez, and thank you very much for allowing me to speak. There is unfortunately a lag, so I appreciate the BOE person. I couldn't hear who it was who understood that
043it takes a while. So am I still being heard? There's a lot of echo. yes mr dugan we don't hear any echo on our side brilliant okay thank you so much uh so again maida kirkendall rodriguez i apologize there's a there's a lag to be able to get on so thank you for your patience um i wanted to thank the district and the board uh obviously for a long year of a lot of a lot of work obviously the board of ed members are volunteers so i appreciate uh the time that you all put into this i appreciate the coffee hours that you've been having i realize that there's never a perfect time I sometimes can't show up in the morning or the evening, but I was able to go to one which was a
044very fruitful discussion. I do encourage you to try to have another coffee at some point in the coming academic year, perhaps at lunchtime via Zoom. That way, for people who are in the labor force, they would be able to to zoom in. So please take that into consideration. It might be useful for parents. I realize it's hard to to have these meetings. The second thing I wanted to talk about. which is a very serious concern to me, is that the Board of Ed will be meeting next week with the Village Board of Trustees. I understand that this is not a public meeting and no doubt that there's a variety of matters, perhaps school security or other kinds of issues that you discuss that for some reason, you all have decided to have this kind of
045meeting. privately, I do urge you perhaps before next week to send out an email explaining why is it that this meeting is not public. I appreciate the fact that the Board of Ed and the Board of Trustees in the last couple of years are working more together. There's a lot of areas of interest for both. And at the end of the day for taxpayers. For us, even though there's two separate boards, you know, we are paying out of the same pocket. So I do appreciate very much that the two boards are working more closely together. However, I am very concerned that the Board of Trustees, to make it clear to anybody listening to this call, I'm talking about the Village Board of Trustees, held a secret meeting on April 8th to sign a contract with
046Flock Safety, which is one of America's largest surveillance technology companies. Residents were never... ever given the opportunity to opine on the technology and to my knowledge there are no surveillance technology experts at the board of trustees or at the board of ed if i'm uh if i'm making a mistake you can let me know earlier but i have reviewed the professional profiles of both boards and i don't see anybody who has expertise in this technology so i'm very concerned that there are discussions next week between both boards and the residents We're not permitted by the Board of Trustees to apply on this. We have zero idea of how this data is going to be used. What exactly are the drone the cameras, the license plate readers going to be collecting? How is that going to
047affect the mental health of our students, our teachers, our administrators, staff, knowing that this kind of surveillance technology is around? There are numerous articles and I've sent many to both boards already indicating that flock safety has been sharing this data with. uh immigration uh ice uh you know agency and other kinds of of government entities so i really urge the board of ed to handle these discussions with great care. You're dealing with a board of trustees that's completely homogeneous and I see zero evidence that they have taken any input from the public, especially given how diverse our student body and parent body is. So I urge you to look at these matters very carefully. I'm very concerned that the district has given approval or support, perhaps a better word. for this surveillance technology in a
048very generic letter and we have no idea how this letter is being used. I have seen some of the letters being sent to others so again I urge you to look at this matter next week. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh yes, Fox Meadow Road, not far from you. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else on Zoom, Jim? We'll wait a little bit. Thank you. And now with that, I will close this public comment session and move on to response to public comment. I think there's some clarification that we should make. Yeah, on the two-by-two meeting? Sure. The meeting that the speaker referred to is not a meeting between the boards. It's a meeting of our two board officers, the mayor and the assistant mayor, and myself and the village manager. Sometimes we might have
049one other person, maybe Parks and Rec or someone there on occasion. It's a structure that is a communication and collaboration structure. We talk about topics of shared. mutual interest and keep each other informed and I'll buy have pulled up on my screen the district safety plan it's actually this is articulated in appendix 7 of our district safety plan that talks about all the different types of ways that the village and the school district collaborate and communicate no I think that was great thank you so much just a board of board of ed yes please come in if you'd like to With that, we will move to item six on the agenda, written communications, and I believe that is Jim. Okay, thank you, Susie. Please note the Board of Education email is also viewed by the
050superintendent and district clerk. Open meetings law requires all board deliberations which may lead to action or policy changes to occur in public. Therefore, your written communications and emails will be reported at an upcoming public board meeting. A board member will respond at their earliest convenience. formal response requires that you include your full name address and if you are writing on behalf of an organization in the communication more detailed information regarding written communications received by the board of education may be found in today's meeting agenda located in board docs on the scarsdale school districts website and with respect to the communications received since the last business meeting there have been 22 written communications regarding district matters and six regarding board matters that have been received since that time and responded to. Thank you, Jim. And with
051that, we'll move to item seven, the consent agenda. And given that this is our last meeting of the year, it is a doozy. I'd like to read the preamble to the consent agenda. The board may conduct some of its business using a consent agenda in an effort to achieve greater efficiency at board meetings. A consent agenda condenses some of the routine business of the Board of Education into a single motion. The consent agenda is prepared by the superintendent of schools in consultation with the president and or the vice president of the board. Items are selected for the consent agenda where the officers of the board and the superintendent believe there is no controversy regarding them. The items on the consent agenda will have the same background material as ordinary items on the school agenda. If
052any member of the board feels that any item on the consent agenda requires discussion prior to action, that board member may remove that item from the consent agenda merely by requesting same at the meeting. The exempted item then moves to the regular agenda. However, all non-exempted items would be moved, seconded, and voted upon without discussion in order to provide greater efficiency to conducting the routine items of business of the school district. And with that, I'd like to ask if any school board members would like to remove any items from the consent agenda. No? Okay. Well, then with that, I'll turn it over to Amber. Thank you, Susie. Tonight, we have 29 items on the consent agenda. Item 8.01, minutes, business meeting, May 12, 2025. Item 8.02, minutes and results of the budget vote and board
053election, May 20, 2025. Item 8.03, minutes, special meeting, executive session, June 2, 2025. 8.04 Personnel Certified. 8.05 Personnel Non-Certified. 8.06 Kids Base. 8.07 Claims Audit Report May 2025. 8.08 Authorization of Attendance by Certain Non-Resident Pupils. 8.09 Abolition of Position. 8.10, annual agreements with non-union administrators. 8.11, annual agreements with non-union confidential managerial employees. 8.12, establishment of pay rates 2025-2026. 8.13 contract over $20,000 curriculum center for responsive schools 8.14 contract over 20,000 business GEI consultants Inc 8.15 contracts over 20,000 technology gaggle 8.16 contracts over 20,000 technology gray bar 8.17 contracts over 20,000 technology JAMF 8.18 contracts over 20,000 technology scenario. 8.19 contracts over 20,000 technology PKA. 8.20 contracts over 20,000 technology time clock plus. 8.21 contracts over 20,000 special education. 8.22 stipulation of settlement. 8.23 extension of maintenance contracts various. 8.24 maintenance bid arborist. 8.25 cafeteria food
054and supplies bid 8.26 maintenance bid general contracting services 8.27 maintenance bid district-wide hvac refrigeration atc services bid 8.28 high school auditorium project change orders 8.29 accept the consent agenda i move that the board accept the consent consent agenda as presented thank you so much amber Is there a second? Thank you, Leah. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Ayes have it, and the motion carries. Thank you. Next would be Item 9.01, Capital Project Steering Committee Update. Okay thank you I'll just point out Andrew Lennon and Lisa Zareski are not here tonight they're both at the annual meeting of the school board officials organization otherwise they would be here so it's my pleasure tonight to welcome and introduce Kevin Walsh who will come to the mic and give us an update there's a
055advance or slight advance or there if it works otherwise I can do that let's see yes it works oh yeah okay Good evening, everybody. So let me come back. So here we are, June 9th. We are halfway through the Capital Project Steering Committee scheduled meetings. We'll be back here Thursday and next Monday, so we'll see. Again, the purpose of the committee, just to say, is to review, discuss, become familiar, and prioritize potential. capital projects some that have been previously known and others we are finding as we go and people are suggesting and we've gone through to understand how the buildings work as schools and to talk about infrastructure air conditioning and fields so that the whole all of this becomes part of the conversation keeping in mind some practical very practical projects that just need
056to happen for the facilities as well as some opportunities for learning environments and that the purpose for the committee is to prioritize these projects and generate consensus for that and then communicate that to the Board of Education. Our scheduled meeting started in March, double header in April. We were just here on the 28th and we'll be back for another double header this weekend into Monday of next week. and then we'll meet again over the summer. So what we've done is we've just set the stage of an overview, a lens for design of how to look at capital projects in schools, and then we did a series of activities and discussion to familiarize committee members with all of the buildings in the district so that everyone on the committee has some understanding of the different buildings
057and how they are different. We'll be working through prioritization, next two meetings, and then working towards consensus. Again, focusing on both individual building needs and folks most familiar with their own buildings as well as looking at the greater context of the whole school district in terms of infrastructure, space, and energy, all part of these discussions. We've looked at project costs for these potential projects and the ideas of potential phasing, all with reference to a tax-neutral work scope and then understanding what might be beyond tax-neutral work scope. for shorter term and longer term planning. As a full committee, a pretty good sized committee, we have lots of different opinions and we're having discussions back and forth of how folks see different things. And as a committee, the committee will develop the priorities and generate the consensus.
058So the components of a bond scope, BCS, BCS means Building Condition Survey, that's mostly focused on infrastructure projects, building systems, air conditioning, things like that. The field study, which was done recently about all the fields between the school district and the town and then also spatial and learning environment projects all of that obviously together creates the scope of a bond referendum we've been talking with reference to these classifications of priorities per capital project or idea whether folks or groups feel it must be included all the way to don't include it and all of the in-betweens. So this has really been a good reference point for discussion. So as we move forward, we've been working through a lot of detail. We're just getting into the BCS study coming into this week that has been finished up.
059So some big broad strokes here. Elementary program elements, looking at all five schools together, looking at the elementary kitchen, serving, dining, multipurpose, and storage as a theme, looking at spatially, again, middle school dining, learning exchange. Learning exchange just means how the built environment can help promote communication between folks and learning. And spatial, again, spatial ideas at the high school. There are many longstanding projects that have been discussed for a while, as well as student study space. That actually came out of some student interviews beginning of April. And then finally for spatial, we have classroom upgrades, all various classrooms within the district. And then we have infrastructure. the building condition survey again which is a facility study air conditioning as its own kind of specified discussion and then site improvement so just to give a broader
060view of the work so we started in january planning meetings with the design team in the school district the committee is scheduled march through august that brings us into jumping over the summer right back into september where we get a little bit more board of education involvement into that after hearing from the committee. And then timing shown here is just in support if there's a February-March 2026 vote that has not been established, but just in case these would be timelines to think about. So basically by the end of the calendar year, we would want to know what the scope is so that the Board of Education can go through its seeker and bond resolutions that would lead to a potential... bond vote in February March so just to say that's the broader scope and that's
061the update a lot of detail in between but that's the book the high view I'm sure Kevin would welcome questions as would I or thank you Kevin so just a clarification about the scope timing so out of the committee will the committee itself have options for scope for the board or does the board decide the number and then you decide what's in it? I think the committee, we're going to try to figure out how the committee feels about what might be the highest priority, and then we'll look at what the costs of those, and we can understand where the highest priorities fit towards tax neutral. But it'll help give the board a kind of a step ahead of consideration that's gone before. So there'll be kind of a general thought number that comes to the
062board, and then we discuss it and see what... Yes. Okay. Yes. Thank you. Thank You Kevin thank you next would be the treasurer's report yes so in Lisa's absence I agreed to introduce this item in the agenda you'll see the treasurer's report and then the revenue and expenditure reports from April of 2025 we thought it was important to keep this going even though she wasn't going to be present at this particular meeting and open to questions thank you next one would be budget transfers me again so You will recall you've been seeing these budget transfers more frequently this year I believe almost in every business meeting But this is the time of year where you'll see a number among other things a number of salary code transfers It's a normal course of business. It's very
063typical The exact dollars don't necessarily line up exactly where what budget line we have them You know sometimes 18 months before the school you know that this particular time in the school year so this keeps us on track toward closing out the books as we head towards summer in August Any questions? No but I did ask a few questions ahead of time so I appreciate those answers I don't know if they were your answers or Lisa's or Andrew's but I appreciate Andrew's yeah thank you you're welcome Any other questions? The next item would be 9.04 on the agenda, the synergistic update. Okay. Our friends from synergistic are here to give us a look backward at the year that was and a look ahead to what might happen in year three. Thank you all for inviting
064us here tonight and also sharing the celebration of educational talent that we saw as well and also for supporting this partnership which is just a small contribution to the aspirational goals that you have for your students and your community and we're we're delighted to be a part of that as well. We're gonna talk about a little bit of the successes of the partnership, some opportunities and also answer any questions that you have here tonight. Thank you. So to date the cumulative savings is about five hundred and sixty nine thousand dollars When we met with you last year, it was around two hundred and thirteen thousand dollars this year It was about three hundred and fifty six thousand dollars. So our cost avoidance to date is twelve percent The number of audits, energy program audits that
065we have conducted, numbers 1,072. And just to kind of give you context what the cumulative savings means, it's about 483 metric tons of CO2 emissions avoided. And just to kind of give context, that would be about 23,000 trees over the next 10 years, 3,468,000. thousand miles driven by the average car and it would save it could power about 172 homes per year so just this year your energy cost profile 62 percent of the 2 million 189 000 um millions apologize was on electric 31% was on natural gas and 7% was on water and sewer. Just kind of comparison in the base year, that was about 60% was spent on electricity. And your rate increases with your utilities have more or less trended upwards. Electricity, it's gone up about 9.45%. Natural gas, it did decrease by
0667.38%. And water and sewer increased by around 42.33%. I would say that natural gas tends to be a little volatile. That one you'll kind of see go up and down from year over year. Electricity and water, I would say, will steadily increase throughout the program. And in terms of the water sewer side of things we've been working with Andrew I think there's some potential here for potential water allowances And deduct meters so that's something that we're investigating But it's it's a way to control or mitigate some of your cost or rate increases by by having those deduct meters So you're not paying sewer charges on closed-loop systems or irrigation things like that so we have to work through the water allowance kind of process and paperwork on that side of things but we see it
067as an opportunity because the the rates for next year are increasing as well from where you get your water so just trying to look ahead to mitigate things with Andrew's office to help you all plan And electric use today, it's about 10% reduction. So you can see that over the base year, we've trended below the base year use line by taking advantage of mild weather in the fall and the spring in particular, where we were able to kind of set back and adjust program times throughout the buildings in the district. Natural gas, over last year, we definitely saved more. even with the colder temperatures we had this winter we still were able to kind of offset the use of that by making system improvements which included replacing a lot of the steam traps in the
068high school last summer And water reduction, that one is quite important. Just by kind of making improvements over the systems and also identifying some of leaks and program improvements, we're able to also offset some of the water usage. And you can you can see too why this is so important with you So when you saw how much increase your water rates are so the each unit that we can save or conserve is just valued that much more Year over year going forward and also we look at when when you think about water Most people think about sinks and faucets and irrigation, you know, really there's a lot of water costs associated with your heating systems you have steam systems and make up water that that drives those systems. So as much as we can optimize
069those systems and do whatever we can to make them more efficient, then you'll save on water as well as natural gas on that side. So this year, your EUI, your energy use intensity, which is a standard measure that we all kind of measure against with our peers. has gone down it's 73 this year in your base year before the program started it was 73 last year we were at 78 so there's definitely been an improvement over the last year but just to give you some context the regional average is 47 so there's still a lot of room for growth in this category Yeah, and we see this too is I mean you all have a lot of aspirational goals as a district you lead in many categories across the state and this is something that
070we all want you to be proud of and and support and in terms of your Recognition in your peer district. So this is definitely the goal for you all and with with Andrew's help with John's help who's here We really think we can achieve that going forward And again, some of the progress has been made, has been throughout the 1,072 audits that we have conducted. These have also, we've conducted steam trap surveys at the high school, the middle school, and Fox Meadow as part of that. And we also made a lot of HVAC zone improvements through the building management system at the high school in particular over the last year. In addition, some of our other accomplishments, we brought in some of our senior technical consultants to meet with the building custodians regarding boiler best
071practices, how to run the building management systems, and moisture controls. Again, we did replace the steam traps last summer with an 18,000 upfront savings. We also conducted steam traps at the middle school in Fox Meadow to get a clearer picture of how the heating systems were running in those buildings in particular. And we also replaced steam traps in Fox Meadow this month as part of a project that was opened by Andrew. And then with regards to a potential BMS upgrade, as your BMS is sunsetting, the program that you're currently using, we did provide some advice and best practices and what we see with our other clients with that system in particular. If you look, too, at the steam trap project, we really wanted to make something that was as palatable as possible for the district.
072So we were actually able to work with incentive programs, and that's where that $18,000 is upfront cost savings. It's the project costs that we were able to get the materials and labor at a muchly reduced rate so that we and the district, you all could see a quicker return on investment for that type of a project. and moving forward the plans for over the next year again just streamline the building run times over the summer break with our energy specialist and the custodians throughout the district dan smith he's the energy specialist for the district he is going to unveil synergistic community which is about just teaching everyone in the community about sustainable Things that we can all do Work with them on doing even building audits in the high school in the middle school in
073particular I know he's interested in doing that he has a lot of experience With another district in that area we're going to continue on-site training with some of our senior consultants on different topics as we kind of find them and also maybe we also kind of bring them in and they ask a lot, there's a lot of question and answers during those sessions as well. And then just continuing to optimize building performance across all the seasons. Thanks. Are there any questions from the group? Yes. Thank you. I just want to get a little more educated on your energy use and intensity, those numbers. My first question is, in terms of the regional average, who are we benchmarking ourselves against? I mean, is it? So these are your peer group of organizations, K-12 organizations that are
074similar to your size that are in our partnership. So this is not comparing to others that are not partnered with us. This is our goal for us to reach clients that are partnered with, client organizations that are partnered with us. And the EUI is the Energy Use Index. It's KB to you per square foot. So it's how much energy you're using per square foot. So it's a very good metric to apply across comparisons of different buildings and school districts. So to help us kind of get a strategic view of what that means, because that seems like a very helpful number to think about, that's a significantly higher number, obviously. And I guess I'm just sitting here thinking, you know, why? you know, what is causing it to be so high so that we have, if
075possible, a strategy to reduce it. So, you know, what makes it so much higher than... the other... I would say that, you know, going into this, we all knew, and your buildings are older, you have a lot of steam systems, you did a lot of work towards getting off of, trying to get off of heating oil as much as you can, and using natural gas, so all of those efforts take, you know, take an approach to lowering your EUI, but really it's just a day-in and day-out approach. I mean, there's still opportunity, and Andrew... you know and john who works with us closely back here um we we work towards that goal every day so really it's it's a lot about focusing on everyone controlling what they can control so within their workspace is every
076if everyone has the same mission and believes in everything that we're doing and and kind of contributes to that daily it just really adds up so we've seen a ton of progress in in the first two years two years so far and i think there's no reason why we don't you know and can't get to that goal It's just really, I think, us all committing to doing this every day and staying on top of minimizing every unit of energy that we don't need every day. So, I mean, we're not at a point, I mean, to take a deep dive tonight, but I think it's an interesting moment in time because as we sit and make decisions about the bond, okay, probably one of the more... I don't even want to say controversial, but one of
077the more important decisions we're going to make will be air conditioning. We have seven different environments in Scarsdale. We have a sense of equity that we try to deliver to the student experience. It's not... just by the nature of some buildings being newer and older, it kind of varies, although there's a lot of similarity. So I'm just wondering whether it's possible to understand as we make those decisions, again not tonight, the impact to the EUI because it's more likely than not that we will increase air conditioning rather than decrease and how that will impact. you know, our goal would be important to kind of keep on top of. And we have spoken to Andrew about that. And as the bond kind of takes shape and form or there are considerations, we can also provide that
078kind of impact ongoing with any sort of this versus that. We can provide that information. We've already discussed that with Andrew. Yeah, that will be really helpful. Thank you for your presentation. I actually have sort of a follow-up question to Bob's. You said this was a target number for us that you think we can get to the 47 EUI. Is that correct before I ask the rest of my question? That is our goal, correct? Yes, I think that's possible. So how long do we think that's going to take given current usage, assuming we don't add anything else? How long will it take us? Because looking at the first two years, it seems like we're kind of far away. So are we expecting... great increases or decreases over the next few years or what is your
079best guess? I think that over the next year for sure we can do that. I think unveiling synergistic community will really help just the Scarsdale. community kind of key in to sustainability and sustainability practices and how before I leave my classroom I should turn off my lights the increase in AC whatever form that may take you know air conditioning units it's just one step that has a great impact so I do think as community kind of moves across the district with Dan Smith I do think that we can get there a little closer we can move further and further along I believe Yeah, I think also we learned a lot this heating season. If anyone remembers the last... two or three years prior to this, we've had mild winters. So going into this past winter,
080I think us and the team here learned a lot about where we can push and how we can push because what's really important to us in this partnership, and I know it's important to you all, is making sure that we don't impact the comfort of the learning and teaching and office space environment. You know, how we approach that is very deliberate, and we want to make sure that the recommendations that we provide are well thought out and kind of case studied and beta tested. So, you know, as we go through that, I think it won't be a linear type of savings increase. I think we'll see more of a jump with the lessons that we've learned because we've taken kind of small samples so that we can ensure that. that the superintendent's office is not
081getting a lot of calls for what we do. So it sounds like it's a lot of behavior that you think needs to change. I don't think it needs to. I think it's just we've learned a lot of lessons together, and I think we can accelerate, you know, kind of how aggressive that savings potential can be going forward. Okay. And then I have another question about... the water and we just did a budget transfer before this for the increase in our I guess our sewer rate so obviously and looking at your numbers it's clearly That's a concern given the increase. And you talked about steps moving forward. Were any of these steps moving forward related to reducing that water usage or cost? I think you mentioned steam traps were sort of a dual savings. Is there
082anything else? So I can talk about the water side of it a little bit. I believe so last year you had, I think, like a 15% increase in your water rates, 15% for sewer. Your all-in rate was over 42% for that increase. So whatever we can do to mitigate that. So that's kind of where. Where that cost associated with came from I think looking forward From New York City. It's like eight eight point seven. They're predicting this year I'm not quite sure if that's for water and sewer combined or just water and sewer So looking ahead you may see another jump like that going forward So that's where we're we're trying to give Andrew as much information that we can provide so he can make healthy decisions I would also say that one of the
083planned trainings is to bring in our irrigation expert to meet with facility staff just on best practices for winterization, just to make sure that, you know, everything is being addressed and nothing, you know, there might be a little slight change that could have a big impact for sure. And I know that Dan, you know, is concerned about that as well. And whenever he goes into a building, he actually does check the water meter just to see what's going on when it's unoccupied because you can easily find an issue just by going in during unoccupied hours and checking the water meter. Thank you. I actually had a quick question. Could you elaborate a little bit on what that synergistic community will look like? Sure. Dan? I know that Dan is going to reach out to... Drew
084and Andrew to set up a meeting over the summer usually what he does is he works with the high school in the middle school in particular on how to do energy building audits and works with them in teams and Will even have them present to the board on their findings as we kind of move along on that. And it's also about, we have different pieces of collateral that we might distribute amongst the community on just small behaviors and the impact of those behaviors, potentially. Just give people more context. You know, if you turn off the light, if you're going to leave the office or your classroom for more than 15 minutes, like, what the savings impact of that would be. So pieces of material like that. Anything that we would present, we would work through
085your coordinators or your curriculum folks to make sure that it's at least aligned with whatever you're teaching in the classrooms. We also have toolkits with certain tools to show data loggers to align with the scientific method and process that we can show how we collect data, how we use that data to make. decisions and then how we follow up on results on kind of the audit process that Holly mentioned as well so thank you I just said one more I guess suggestion when you kind of mentioned this notion of behavior which I think we can all relate to about turning lights off or even in our own houses and our own kids or whatever that you know perhaps the district which is so committed to professional development could have an STI course or something that
086rolls out good behavior from an environmental point of view because I think sometimes you just don't think about it, right? And I could see it being part of the rigor of one's, you know, like you have every year a course on how to treat people from an harassment point of view. You could have a course that just keeps reiterating good behavior environmentally, like, you know, here are the ten things that you should always do in your classroom. Because I think to change behavior takes repetition. you know and if you don't kind of keep hearing it it's easy to forget so it's just a suggestion 100 it's much easier to lose a habit than to build a habit it was 62 percent of our usage is electricity of our correct can you yes can you paint
087and i'm sure i know some of that is it's not this it's the stuff operating our equipment you know the electricity required to operate our equipment can you like paint a picture for the board and for us that Like if you were to drop EUI by 10, what kinds of things would have happened? to achieve that. So to go from 73 to 63. Yeah, so I think looking at it in terms of it's not all, right, people think of light switches and lights as electricity. Really, it's anything that's moving air, moving water, pumps and fans take a considerable amount of energy to operate. So, you know, how we look at the sequence of operations for your equipment to make sure that we can make any recommendations. that aren't going to adversely affect their learning environment
088is really where kind of that achievement is going to happen. So we talk about also off is off. So when the building is unoccupied, when there's no one in the space, one of our true missions is to find anything and everything that's running when no one is using it. You know, that aligns with both of our visions in that we won't. adversely affect the learning environment and we can impact as and maximize whatever savings during that time period so i think those are the two pieces of learning how to not learning implementing how we can affect changes with the sequence of operations during occupied hours to still provide that same learning environment and then making sure that when we walk the buildings at night as we do that we don't see or hear anything running
089so if we can achieve both of those then then we'll hit those metrics thank you Thank you so much for coming and for presenting to us tonight. Thank you all. And I want to thank John Antonicelli for being here too. Appreciate that, John. Next item on the agenda would be item 9.05, the MOA. Recently we reached an agreement with the Scarsdale Association of Educational Secretaries known as SASE. We agreed to a one year extension of the contract with a few adjustments. The unit will receive a 1.75 increase on salaries and increase their healthcare premium contribution 1.5% to 7.5%. And this percentage is in line with other recent negotiations with other bargaining units. In addition, new hires will be able to access their vacation time slightly earlier in their first year of employment, which we believe
090will help in the recruitment of more experienced secretaries. And then next year we would enter a more – a full negotiation with the SASE unit. Thank you, Megan. Any questions? Thank you so much for your work with that. Item 9.06, a fourth reading of a new policy. the ex officio student member of the board I think I think we've there wouldn't know the third reading was on the 12th which was our last board meeting and there were no changes recommended at that time so this would be the final reading followed up shortly by action unless there's a question suggestion does anybody have anything to add to this policy draft it will come for later this evening next would be item 9.07 the third reading of the student personal electronic devices so unlike the previous policy
091we just talked about there has been a change to this one since the last time we met really with feedback from the high school it might look like a minor change but in the first paragraph there's a strikethrough where it's listing like a whole bunch of different devices we felt like that list could get ever longer potentially that policy is best suited to keep it just more narrow there in terms of that because it does say include but not limited to instead of having a long long list and then just as a reminder the implementation side of this is really being handled in the student handbook at each of the levels and in particular in this case since the biggest change this policy will have is on the high school the practice in the high
092school they've been working working on that and we'll be engaging with teachers on that student handbook description of how it will be implemented thank you any comments or questions from the board members yes Leah Thank you. So my question is, so we still list things. You know, we have, it says, such devices include but are not limited to phones, both smartphones and call text-only phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, and wireless headphones and earbuds. To me, I still think it would be better to even just end it with, you know, we have the first sentence, we end with different functions, and then we go on to these devices can create significant distraction, et cetera. Was there like a compelling rationale to keep those listed? Is there a reason that we would do that that I should know?
093Well, compelling? I mean, I think it made sense to list those because those are the ones that are practically used, right? Like those are the most frequent. The smartphone, tablet, smartwatch are specifically named in the law. earbuds are not specifically named in the law but the high school felt that was an important piece to include because why would you need earbuds if you if your phone's off this is what the high school preferred okay yeah I actually was curious oh I'm sorry I thought you were done yeah no you can go I was actually curious about that as well you can imagine having a you know an earbud connected to something that is not Wi-Fi enabled. You know, like if you have downloaded music, some students like to listen to music while they study or
094something like that. You know, the law seems to target Wi-Fi enabled devices. So I had a question about the earbuds and also that we say specifically. that we include call or text-only phones, there's actually kind of a carve-out for that in the law, right? Like, those are actually allowed by law, so is that coming from the high school? Yeah, they're not prohibited by law. They're not prohibited, yes. But that was requested to be in there. You know, I think the idea behind saying, I'm imagining this situation. You can text on your text-only phone, but because yours is a smartphone, it has to be away. like that seemed incongruous. So to allow a text-only phone in the educational setting during class or whatever, but because you don't have a text-only phone, you have a smartphone, that
095has to be, it just seemed incongruous to us. You know what I mean? I do, and you might not even be able to tell, so there might be some, you know, enforcement confusion or issue, but, you know, I think the... I don't want to get into Governor Hochul's head, but the idea about this was actually targeting social media, and that's something that access by Wi-Fi. I don't know if that's true. But the idea was that students should be able to have access potentially to devices if they need in an emergency or something like that. We've reviewed this policy so many times. So I apologize that I don't remember. I was trying to look up what we had in the last meeting. And so this is not new. I guess it's not new, I guess is
096what I'm saying. So we have a statement in here, district-issued individual ways to implement were not limited to may include locked pouches, classroom cubbies, or other technology or equipment, or keeping in their own bags. So that was in there before, and we're just keeping that like that. And we're going to leave it up to the high school to decide. They'll come up with a policy. That's right. Okay. think we're all struggling a little bit with the policy in general the good thing about policy is we can amend it yes I absolutely I guess well I mean it might be nice to get a report on how it's going in the fall you know just to hear because I think it is going to be a challenge again I've sort of said especially for older students
097to go from having had devices and using them somewhat freely to this and I think that'll probably be a key topic for the board's meeting with students in the fall I imagine our new board members will have a lot to say about it too so that's true I do appreciate the new language about managing for health care needs I just wanted to say one more thing which I know I've said before but just to reiterate that at the high school there will be students who do not have an exemption you know for this who who use their phones as an educational tool they use their phones for executive functioning they use it for their daily organization and it's something they're used to because that's just their life and their reality as a teenager in the
098U.S. in 2025 so I just want to call attention to that too is the exemption you know there was going to be a lot of anxiety about this. I've already heard some anxiety about this from students wondering who's making these decisions kind of a thing. And just for me, again, you know, just to say that this is the kind of thing that I know we don't really have a choice but to do. And I know ideally we want to be leaders in, you know, the mental health of our students and protect the learning space as much as we possibly can. But in an ideal world, this would be local control, you know, due to the culture and the needs of our students and not handed down by the governor. I just wanted to say that
099again. One thing that I noticed in the law that I just wanted to make sure that we were doing was, and I'm sure we are, that the law requires that we consult local stakeholders, including but not limited to the employee organization representing each bargaining unit within the school building, parents. I know we've done a lot of that to make sure that we're complying with the law. Thank you so much. I'm sorry. I have one more question just occurred to me. When kids leave school, when they're on a bus going home, are they allowed to use devices then? This policy doesn't prohibit that right now. Okay. What? Nor does the law, yeah. Okay. Thank you. Anybody else? Wait, I'm sorry. I have the follow-up question then. So on the way to school. they can use it
100on the bus yeah the quote-unquote bell to bell is is when they're on school property so it's not the school bus even though that is sort of school property okay thank you next would be the proposed new textbooks hi it's my pleasure to tell you a little bit about the musicians guide to theory and analysis by Elizabeth Marvin and Jane Piper Clenening and this is for AT Music Theory A well-regarded accessible text, comprehensive, designed for undergraduate music theory courses. It offers a clear and engaging approach to tonal harmony, form and analysis, combining traditional pedagogy with innovative examples. The text integrates musical excerpts from a wide range of styles, including classical, jazz and popular music. to connect theoretical concepts with real world practice. And having sat in an AT music theory, it is amazing how deep
101and complicated it gets very fast. And also scanning the crowd there, there were many composers who were students. And I think we saw some of them performing the other night. They're incredible. They are incredible. Any questions or comments? Next item, 9.09, give proposal to the Scarsdale High School. Okay, so the Regeneron Science Talent Search awards any named scholar $2,000 to the school to support the program. And Kelly Dang was named a scholar this year and helped this gift come our way. So with gratitude to Kelly for her work and to Regeneron. This is to the Board for Information. It would come back in July as action. Thank you. And congratulations to our students. okay next would be the annual gift reports 24-25 so it's linked in the agenda the supporting documentation that's in the agenda
102regarding gifting shows the total amounts gifted to each of our seven schools over about a ten year period includes the gifts that appear later on this agenda just to be clear about that that come back for for action so it's inclusive of those this year the board accepted 41 gifts different gifts totaling three hundred and forty two thousand three hundred and sixteen dollars and this includes gifts from each of our PTAs and maroon and white along with several individual donors and it's just extraordinary generosity from this community and just express my gratitude our collective gratitude I think toward these gifts and this is the chance for the board to ask any questions any questions from the board echoed dr. Patrick's thanks to our community partners for these generous gifts Moving along item 9.11 the board
103self-evaluation. This would be Jim Thank You Susie so every year Lasts a couple of years at least the board has articulated Basically goals and objectives for the coming year and 2024-25 certainly was no different earlier in the year The board officers with the input from the board did determine a number of Board of Education goals and objectives for the coming year. And now that we're in the evaluation period, we've spent some time sort of reviewing our work for this year and assessing those goals and objectives and how we have performed. And consistent with our practices and our policy, we have performed a self-evaluation, which is still in process. In fact, after this meeting, there will be an executive session where there will be a report out internally of... some details around that self evaluation but
104what I can say and will say for the purposes of this of this meeting now is that we use a Board of Education self-assessment tool which is essentially a spreadsheet with a number of different qualifications and areas where we rate our performance as well as you know venues for us to provide written commentary on how we've done and with respect to how we have done with regard to the different areas we use to evaluate ourselves, we have number ratings of between one and five with respect to how effective we have been on the objectives that we articulated as well as overall board functioning. So with respect to the objectives we've articulated, they included advocacy, our work on the bond, budgeting, our work on collective bargaining for the year, communication and community engagement, our work on
105evaluating the superintendent, governance matters, our work in connection with furtherance of the strategic plan. ongoing district work and teaching and learning with respect to how the board evaluated itself collectively on those different categories I'd say in every one of those the board rated itself between four and five most of them sort of midway between those so effectively the board believes it was functioning more or less effectively on those different categories in addition to those categories which are specific board objectives there's a you know a number of evaluators for overall board functioning and with respect to those overall board functioning evaluators again we rated ourselves as mostly between four and five so effective but there were three areas where we rated ourselves less than four which while not in the area of ineffective is less than
106effect agreed that all agreed that was that we were effective and those three areas are the board displays flexibility and creativity and problem solving and is nimble in response to changing needs the board follows a consistent process when making decisions and once a decision is made all board members work together to support and carry it out in those three categories i think we as a board collectively feel we could do better But overall, I believe as a board, we think we're performing effectively and meeting for the most part the goals and objectives we set for ourselves. Thank you so much, Jim. Thank you for putting all of that together. And I look forward to our discussion after this meeting in executive session. Okay. Next item, item 9.12, board leadership succession planning. As we look to
107the new school year starting in July, it is time to plan for next year's board leadership. At the May board meeting, I asked board members to indicate to me if they would be interested in a board leadership position for next year. I am pleased to announce that Jim has indicated his interest in serving as board president and that Colleen has indicated interest in serving as board vice president. Formal nomination will be made at the board's organizational meeting on July 1st and the board will vote at that time on next year's board officers. Thank you Jim and Colleen for your willingness to take on these board officer positions and I'm looking forward to your leadership next year. Item 9.13, end of year tributes. So, if actually, start. As we begin the tributes part of tonight's agenda,
108I wanted to convey Ron's regrets at not being able to attend tonight's meeting due to a personal matter. He asked me to share that he had planned to express his appreciation for working with all of his fellow board members, Drew and the administrative cabinet. As Ron's tenure on the board comes to a close, I know we as a board would like to thank him for his dedication and leadership these past six years, though we will be saving them for a future date when Ron can be here to hear them. And with that, I'd like to ask the board if they have any tributes that they'd like to give. I'm always happy to start things off. I will save my remarks for Ron when he is present to join us. I'm sorry he can't be here
109tonight. But Susie and Jim, I would like to thank both of you for your leadership this year. Jim, I imagine when you took the role of vice president, you thought the role would involve supporting the president, attending two-by-one meetings, and responding to emails, among a myriad of other tasks, as it most certainly is. But you probably didn't expect that your technology skills were going to blossom the way they did, mastering promoting people on Zoom and learning all about Google Docs. Thank you for modeling lifelong learning for all of our students. Susie, I have truly enjoyed working with you in so many different roles over the years. This year, it was a special privilege to serve as a board member under your leadership and your best qualities shown through. Your warm and approachable demeanor, your sharp
110critical thinking, and your steady, thoughtful leadership made a lasting impact on both our work and the team as a whole. Thank you for guiding us with such grace and clarity. Susie and Jim only by being on the board do I see the high level of work and preparation that is part of the officer position staying abreast of so many pivotal and ongoing issues Jim thank you for facilitating the zoom so that our community members may participate virtually in public comment thank you as well for responding to the many emails that the board receives during the year which is an incredible amount of work and supports essential community engagement I know that you've been a huge partner and support for Suzy at the multiple additional officer meetings you attend. Suzy, I have worked with you for
111many years in various volunteer positions, and I know that everything you do, you put all of your energy and effort into. The board president role has been no different. You've attended countless meetings, community events, county and state level school board events, and continuing education. It is a huge job. and you have done it all with kindness and great thought for all involved. Thank you both for your work. Thank you. Susie and Jim, thank you so much for all your hard work this year. It has not gone unnoticed and is very much appreciated. Jim, thank you for everything you do each week, responding to the many, many emails we get, both thoughtfully and in a timely manner. I know it's not easy. and for managing the zoom boe calls honestly that's what i'm most nervous about
112for next year i appreciate your leadership and your thoughtful feedback when we discuss the marriott of issues you always have a way of helping me see things from a different perspective and i look forward to partnering with you next year Susie, there are no words to thank you for all your hard work as the board president. BOE leadership is not a small feat. There is so much invisible work that goes into this position. Thank you of all you have done to make sure each board member is up to date on all the matters and guiding us in thoughtful discussions around the many decisions we needed to make this year. We're so fortunate to have you leading us, and I'm so grateful that you'll be staying on the board for three more years. Congratulations on your
113reelection, which you failed to mention. On a personal note, we have volunteered together for many years. We started when our boys, who are now in ninth grade, were in kindergarten. We had the PTC community calendar. Yeah, right. I even forgot that one. You were PTA president when I was PTA president-elect at Quaker Ridge, so we served on that EC together, and now here we are at the Board of Ed. I have been honored to have you leading me from the minute I stepped foot into this town, and I look forward to the next three years. Thank you for everything. So, unfortunately, I think I'm probably the only one who dropped the ball and didn't write anything down, because I knew Ron wasn't going to be here, so I apologize. But I think, you know, what
114I do want to add is that I am personally very, very grateful for the role models that you play for the community, because I think it's really important that people see good behavior and empathy. and intelligence as a leadership within the board. And I think both of you have really excelled at that. So I feel very fortunate that you offered to do that. And I know that we're in good hands next year. And I think the community is better off for having had you as our leader. So thank you both, really, sincerely. I'll just say just a few things. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to serve with Suzy as the vice president this year. Suzy is amazing. She has been an inspiration to see perform in the president's role. She is razor-sharp
115smart, very hardworking, really dedicated to making the district the best it can be. And she is also fair-minded and compassionate, but resolute in her leadership. among other some of the achievements under her leadership this year have been the commencement in earnest of our bond work and the future facilities plan the completion of a joint field study with the village in the beginning of our work to implement the recommendations in there our work on policies surrounding the student board members we've just been talking about the cell phone ban as well and successful passage of the 2025-26 school budget no small achievement although soft-spoken Susie stands tall when it comes to a commitment and unwavering support of the district art students Scarsdell has been very lucky to have Susie serve in this important role and I am
116certain that she will continue to work tirelessly during her next term which begins in less than a month Susie I just want to say thank you for all you have done and will continue to do for our district you have left some very big shoes to fill thank you so much I'm truly touched by all your kind words it was my honor and pleasure to serve as board president this year I'm inspired to work with such an incredible team of board members, our superintendent, cabinet members, and principals. It was so wonderful to also work with so many fantastic students, faculty and staff members, and parents and community members on so many projects and initiatives throughout the year. I would also like to say a special thank you to Jim for his service as vice president
117this year. Jim has been a wonderful partner this year, making time out of his extremely busy schedule to advance the work of the board. He is a good listener, and his words are as smart and insightful as they are judicious. He takes a balanced view to everything he does and has the ability to see different perspectives. Most of all, he is student-centered in everything he does. His legal expertise is top-notch, and his sharp sense of humor always makes this work easier. Thank you, Jim, for your leadership this year, and I look forward to your leadership next year. Thank you so much, Susie. We have a few. small recognitions for each of you for serving as board officers I just want to add a couple of quick thoughts before sharing those with you serving as an
118officer is an incredible commitment it's a difficult task And it's a pleasure for me to have the chance to work with you both this year in your roles of Vice President and President of the Board of Education. Jim, your thoughtful questions, your insightful suggestions, your perspective on this place that you care so much about is always student-centered. You listen. You listen to our community while applying what you know and what you value to reach reasoned positions and make prudent decisions. As vice president, this has been alluded to, but I counted, you're just shy of 250 email responses. That's more than one a day. And as vice president, you do have the Zoom task. That is always a challenge. But you handled it all extremely well, and I'm really grateful to have had you as a
119partner and to repeat that in a slightly different role next year. Susie, your patience, your care, your deep concern come through in every single thing you do, every communication that you are a part of. You've spent countless hours engaging with these board members, with community members, parents, your board buddy partners, our legislators that most people don't see that. district leaders board of education members from other districts in the region and beyond your service to Scarsdale you've served both as a representative and now as a more recently as a member of the board of directors of the Westchester Putnam School Boards Association representing us but also broadening your perspective to help us find out what other people are doing Above all, to me, you value public education as a cornerstone of a thriving community, and you've
120carefully attended to the work here in Scarsdale with empathy and compassion, and we're grateful as a school district. Thank you both. I just want to say thank you to everybody who spoke. Really, thank you so much. Next would be the action items on our agenda. First being item 10.01, budget transfers, and I believe that is Leah. Thank you, Susie. I move that the board adopt the following resolution. Resolved that the Board of Education approves the attached budget transfers in excess of $25,000 as presented. Thank you, Leah. Is there a second? Thank you, Amber. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say aye. have it and the motion carries okay next item would be the superintendent contract and I believe that would be me oh is it Jim do you want to take this one all
121right so resolved the Board of Education approved the attached employment agreement with Dr. Drew Patrick superintendent of schools as presented thank you Jim is there a second Thank you, Amber. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. The ayes have it and the motion carries. I just wanted to make a quick note on that, that this process of evaluating the superintendent is one of the most important processes that we do as a board, and I appreciate everybody's hard work on that. And next would be item 10.03, the MOA for the Scarborough Association of Education Secretaries. and that item would be um amber thank you susie i'm i move that the board accept the following resolve that the board of education approved the attached memorandum of agreement with the saess presented thank you amber is there
122a second thank you leah any discussion all those in favor please say aye the eyes have it in the motion carries next item 10.04 is our ex officio student member of the board item and this item i believe is Bob I move the board accept the following resolve that the Board of Education adopt policy 2245 ex officio student member of the board and exhibit as presented thank you Bob is there a second thank you Colleen all those any discussion all those in favor please say aye ayes have it and the motion carries Next would be the gifts the first one being item 11.04 gift to Edgewood and I believe this is Amber Thanks, Susie. I move that the board accept the following resolve that the Board of Education accepts with things a gift of $60,000
123to build an outdoor learning space as presented in the attached letters Thank You Amber. Is there a second? Thank You Leah any discussion all those in favor please say aye The ayes have it and the motion carries with thanks. The next item is a Fox Metal gift and this is Colleen. Be it resolved that the Board accept with thanks, I'm talking for you, sorry. Be it resolved that the Board of Education with thanks the donation of $2,000 to support a dance program from Fox Metal third graders. The dance lessons will occur during PE and music class in collaboration with the special teachers and the Metropolitan Dance Center as described in the attached letters and documents. Thank you, Colleen. Is there a second? Thank you, Leah. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye's have
124it and the motion carries with thanks. Next item would be another Fox Meadow gift and this is Leah. Thank you. I move that the board adopt the following resolution resolved that the Board of Education accepts with thanks the donation of $1,080 to support a trip to the Saxon Woods mini golf and white plains as a culmination of a science unit as described in the attached letters Thank You Leah is there a second Thank You Amber any discussion all those in favor please say aye aye aye's have it in motion carries with thanks the next item is Green Acres gift and this is Amber I'm sure I'm on the right gift, 11.04. Okay. I move that the board adopt the following. Resolved that the Board of Education accepts with thanks a gift of $1,650 for funding
125of a new sensory path in the hallway outside the Green Acres Gym as presented in the attached letters. Thank you, Amber. Is there a second? Thank you, Bob. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Ayes have it, and the motion carries with thanks. Next would be a gift. or the high school and this is bob i move that the board accept the following resolve that the board of education accepts with thanks gift of five thousand dollars for a teleprompter and enhancements for lighting and cameras to upgrade the equipment the maroon uses in their multimedia studio to support the weekly production of the school-wide homeroom video as presented thank you bob is there a second thank you colleen any discussion All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye's have it and motion carries
126with thanks. The next item would be high school athletics. I believe this is Amber again. Thank you, Susie. I move that the board adopt the following. Resolve that the Board of Education accepts with thanks the donation of the Freelab Pro Coach BLE 824 Starter Kit valued at $2,719 as presented in the attached letters. Thank you, Amber. Is there a second? Thank you, Leah. All those in favor, please say aye. Ayes have it, and the motion carries with thanks. And our last gift of the evening, item 11.07, Quaker Ridge, and I believe this is Colleen. I move that the board accept the following. Be it resolved that the Board of Education accept with thanks the gift of $18,146.64 for the purpose and installation of a projector and moving the current auditorium screen to the front of
127the stage in Quaker Ridge Elementary School Auditorium as presented in the attached letter. Thank you, Colleen. Is there a second? Thank you, Leah. All those in favor, please say aye. Ayes have it and the motion carries with thanks. Next item on the agenda would be our second public comment period of the meeting. So I read the preamble earlier in the meeting and at this time I would like to invite anybody in the audience who would like to make a public comment. Thank you for listening. It is my first time at one of these meetings. My name is Zoya Traster-Coppel. I am a mom of a three-year-old and a six-year-old, so I'm new to the school system. I'm also a pediatric allergist. So I wanted to talk about... Could we have your home address? Oh, I'm
128sorry. Yep, I live at 196 Madison Road. Thank you. We've been in Scarsdale for about five years. I came here to discuss Reveal Math. It's been really in the background of a lot of the minds of elementary school parents, many of whom can't be here because of the hours of this meeting, so I made it a priority to come. We really do, and I speak broadly as a we, have many, many concerns about Reveal Math. So you haven't met me yet, but I've been seeing everything that's been put out by the Board of Education with regard to Reveal Math. It's honestly a very problematic curriculum. I haven't seen... really enough to explain. thoroughly why our district decided to switch to a curriculum from a very well-known curriculum. I have many concerns about it. I believe
129it's going to put a lot of our kids behind. It already has been doing so. So I spoke with one of our neighbors recently whose child was one of the pilots, and she said that he did well in math despite Reveal Math. I do know that many members of our community put their kids in tutoring. to make up for the gaps and so far what i've seen coming out of the district in these i know their coffees they're always during school hours during work hours which make it really tough for working parents to attend but the summary of what's come out of it is just a lot of information aimed at parents to help their kids which is just really, one, it's a challenge because we're dealing with many working parents, but two, from the
130pediatric standpoint, I do really want to point out how developmentally inappropriate it is to be sending work for elementary school kids home to make up for gaps of education that should be happening in the classroom. So if so far what I've seen come out of the board has been just... a lot of information for parents to take home and to help their kids thrive it it really seems like it's a problematic area to be in why are kids just not learning math properly in the classroom aside from that there's opportunity costs these are young kids who really need to be moving their bodies around exercising they shouldn't be spending their weekend hours grinding away at learning something that they're not really learning effectively at school. I'm an immigrant to the U.S. I learned English when
131I was five or six years old. The Reveal curriculum that I've seen really requires a tremendous amount of fluency in our language. We're a community largely made up of immigrants. It's going to be really difficult for those kids to thrive when they can't necessarily have the upper hand in language fluency. I'm a mom of boys. This is also a problem, a well-known issue, just a developmental gap for boys and girls as they move forward. So I have a lot of concerns about this. I would really urge the Board of Ed in general to really set aside a time when parents can access you all to not during working hours, please, but to really get together and discuss our concerns more accurately. I brought this up in my kindergarten group. And parents don't even know that
132this is happening. So aside from a few of us who are really, you know, kind of more involved in this, and I've gotten more involved in this, thankfully, when I first heard about it, as parents are finding out, I think you're going to hear more and more protests. I brought my phone up because I just wanted to bring quick attention to the petition. I don't know. This is public information, so I don't know if anyone has seen this, but it currently has 288 signatures. And I'm getting phone calls from parents saying, what's Reveal Math? We have a neighbor who just moved to the U.S. from Singapore. They're really confused. We, like many parents, chose this district for its education. That's essentially why we moved here. Many of us work really hard to keep our kids
133in this education system. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Sorry. All right. Thank you. Hi, John Rothenberg, 39 Meadow Road. First, I want to say thank you to the board, actually. I know how hard it is to even get to one board meeting as a parent. So I know you all not only make all the board meetings, but you do a lot of work out of sight, out of view. So thank you for your time and dedication to our schools. I wanted to do the gratitude first because now comes the complaining. I've already written to the board asking why we would spend time and money on the Lucy Calkins reading curriculum when she's been a disaster for literally millions of American kids when we have time-tested methods for teaching reading. I've also written to you with
134concerns about Reveal Math, which also replaces rigorous and proven math curriculum with yet another program that requires more time and money to implement. Anyway, I just wanted to also call your attention to the petition on change.org that has almost 300 people signing, calling for re-evaluation of Reveal Math. You should be aware of the widespread dissatisfaction in the district with math here. When we spend what we do on property taxes, it's mind-blowing to me how much... families are using supplemental math tutors outside of school. It's widespread and if you conducted a poll on this you would probably be taken aback by what you find out. It seems like we have a weakness for adopting the latest new thing, the latest fads, change for the sake of change. This just doesn't cost time and money, but it
135also jeopardizes educational outcomes. And combined with some of the other agendas being pursued, I know of too many parents opting out of Scarsdale and going to private schools. This trend anecdotally seems to be accelerating and more prevalent than I've seen in the past. I've been here 10 years, and it worries me. It worries me that people... who pay so much to live in Scarsdale would pay even more to not have their kids go to our schools. So I urge you to maintain the rigor and the excellence of Scarsdale schools and the reputation that we're known for. Thank you. At the last BOE meeting, I think like some parent feedback was shared, and I saw that Dr. Patrick mentioned the survey is forthcoming. Although multiple parents asked for a survey for months now, none was done.
136I know that there will be a coffee in two days time and I would actually like to point out that it was scheduled very late in the school year and it is actually scheduled after all the BOE meetings and also in the middle of the week which makes it very hard for working parents to attend. But nevertheless, I know that there was also a feedback form included and I want to point out that the feedback form is not a real survey. Ever since I first raised concerns about Reveal Mass, I had the impression that the problem is being minimized. First by administration and then by the board. I knew from various parents that they raised their concerns for the past three years to school principals, teachers, administrators, but it looks like those concerns were not
137locked properly as nothing really changed. And yes, unfortunately here we are. Another year has passed. There was, it doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency when it comes to elementary education issues and time unfortunately is not a luxury that we have. I am not here to say anything more about the quality of RevealMath. I am here to ask you to keep your promise and do a parent, student, and teacher survey covering satisfaction with Reveal, usage of tutoring, reasons for tutoring, like extract challenge or covering gaps from school, amounts spent on tutoring. You do need to get a clear picture on how big or small the problem at hand is. You now have 300 parents asking this and actually more in the petition that you can see. And one of the board members mentioned last
138time that he agrees with the Reveal Mass Pedagogy, and clearly the administration agrees as well. People may like what they hear at all these curriculum pitches or may even like the curriculum itself. That is fine. It is everyone's right to have an opinion, but don't you want... Or don't you need to get detailed feedback and assessment on how the pedagogy works from the consumers themselves in order to decide what are the appropriate next steps? And unrelated? i guess i'm done with reveal mass i will not come again to talk about it but unrelated as the year comes to an end so first of all thank you for your service and i would really like to thank miss han for being a very kind president and thank you for all the board members for their service
139but as the year comes to an end i do also have to express my big disappointment that you have allowed scarlet school district to put its reputation and cash into Lucy Corkins and Mossflower. That's a very personal thing to me because I spend so much time writing to you emails and sending you a lot of useful information. most flower services are not for free this to me will remain inexcusable and words cannot describe how discouraging this is for me personally i came to you in good faith and i saw this is an obvious place where the board can really get the administration to do the right thing on the ala curriculum i would also like to keep on emphasizing the big gaps in communication that still exist nothing has improved in that front Do we
140even have an ELA curriculum coordinator? If yes, why can't he or she communicate to us what our children are learning? The webpage has no tangible material listed, just the same old story with how Scarce uses a lot of variety of methods while all the information is currently password protected. Thank you. Thank you. Would anyone else like to make a public comment? I'm Peng, I live in Greenacre School and my daughter is currently in kindergarten. I also came here to support the review mass petition. I personally signed the petition. So the problem about this curriculum is. I'm sorry, what is your address, did you say? 23 Dunderland Road, Scarcell. So the content of this textbook is too simple. And I look through the textbook. It's basically what my daughter learned in daycare. So it lacks of
141the fact of fluency and it lacks of rigor. And comparing to the old textbook, the Singapore Mass, so I think this... this textbook has a gap in terms of fact fluency and rigorous. I think the math, the elementary school math is very important. It lays out the foundation for the future STEM learning. We are talking about the STEM education for our next generation. I think a country with strong STEM education will make this country very competitive in the international market. Okay, now. People talk about the US is falling behind. That's because in the public school system, I think the math and science and technology education is kind of falling behind and a lack of rigorous. So I think, so I don't know what's the incentive to switch from the older Singapore math textbook to this
142textbook, but... But I think I request a strong reason like why we did this at the first place and also hope the Board of Education can review, open the review and the completion of the old textbook and the new textbook. I'm also an immigrant from China to U.S. so I know how the math was taught outside of U.S. So if the school, school board of education can pay attention to our elementary school math learning, I think this will be a great improvement to our community. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else would like to make a public comment? Good evening. I can talk about math. Good evening members of the Scarsdale Board of Education. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight and thank you for your time and service to the community. It's been very
143helpful and it's everything you do for the school. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Scott Rompalla. I live at 17 Horse Guard Lane since 2007. I'm a parent of four children. The youngest to whom is currently a sophomore at Scarsdale High School and a proud volleyball player. Tonight I'm here to speak to you about an issue that has persisted for too long. There is no air conditioning. in high school gyms. And there never has been. We now have rising global temperatures and frequent extreme heat events. This has led to practices, PE classes, games, and even regional tournaments being delayed, disrupted, or outright canceled simply because it's too hot to safely use our gyms. Let me be clear, this isn't an inconvenience, it's a barrier to education, athletics, to equity, and
144to student well-being. So what we're asking for... We're requesting that you reprioritize existing operating funds to implement a short-term air conditioning solution for Scarsdale High School gyms, and you reprioritize bond funds to modernize the facilities with permanent central AC as per the must-included list that you had earlier tonight. So who's the we that's asking besides the people beside me? We're not just a few frustrated parents. We represent a broad and growing community, nearly 250. student athletes play volleyball, 250 under the Scarsdale banner. Hundreds more participate in indoor athletics. And nearly every high school student must take physical education, much of it indoors. This is about the health and safety of every Scarsdale student and now in the years ahead as most students will end up in the high school. So why does AC matter? Well,
145according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, overheating during exercise can lead to heat exhaustion, dehydration, and in rare cases, heat stroke. gym environments without proper airflow or cooling are hazardous during peak heat. And just this year, Governor Hochul signed legislation that beginning September of 2025, no space in a public school may be used by students if the temperature exceeds 88 degrees Fahrenheit. Installing AC aligns with this legal responsibility. So we're investing in turf fields, scoreboards, and infrastructure for sports with lower prioritization than indoor sports like volleyball and basketball. Shouldn't we prioritize the upgrades that benefit the greatest number of students? Other districts, including Mayapak and Harrison, already have AC in their gyms. They can hold practices year-round, host tournaments, and give their athletes the facilities they need to succeed. It's no surprise their volleyball teams
146are increasingly competitive and we're falling behind. Finally, families moved to Scarsdale for the quality of life and opportunity. The Strong Athletic Program is part of that appeal. Our student athletes are working to earn college admissions, scholarships, and lifelong skills through sports. We need to give them those tools to thrive. So let me review and respond to three objections we have heard on this topic. Number one, we need to prioritize AC in the classrooms versus in the gyms. With respect, the physical strain on a student sitting in a classroom at rest is different from one exerting themselves at 120 plus beats per minute heart rate in a hot gym. In a classroom, We can fall back to dim the lights, crack the window. In the gym, you can't turn down exertion, and most of the windows
147don't open. The second thing we've heard is that we already have fans authorized for purchase for use near the doors facing the turf field and security guards. That's helpful. We appreciate that. But floor fans may push the hot air, but they don't create cross ventilation in an 8,400-square-foot gym. They help the players within a few feet and nobody else. The third and last thing we heard is it takes years to implement HVAC. So that's why we're proposing a 60-ton portable AC unit or evaporative cooler as a short-term solution piped through a door window, vented out safely, and used only during active times. And this is per Jim's comment earlier about creative solutions for the board. You can take this up. Thank you. She's ceding her time to me. I'm almost done. I promise. So this
148is not theoretical. We've had conversations with Andrew Lennon. He's already investigating the feasibility and cost. What's missing is your support to prioritize it. And Susie, in closing, I could have brought hundreds of parents and players here tonight, and I will if I must once finals end. But I hope you'll act based upon the facts and the principle that every Scarsdale student deserves a safe, functional learning and athletic environment. This is about student health, equal access. Scarsdale's competitive future in compliance with state law. So we're asking to please reprioritize funds for the short-term AC solution immediately and begin the process of implementing a long-term permanent HVAC solution in the high school gyms. Let's not wait for more cancellations. Let's not fall further behind. Let's move into the 21st century. Thank you. Would anyone else like to
149make a public comment? I'm Jacob Pishanian at 36 Springdale Road, and I'm a junior rising senior, and I've been in the volleyball program for three years now, varsity volleyball all three years, and I was a captain this year, so I've had a lot of experience with the gyms and how the environment changes with the weather and without air conditioning. I'm Noah Kent, I live in 77. I'm Noah Kent. I live on 77 Captain Road. I've also been part of the volleyball team for three years, and I'm a captain coming in next year as a junior, and I'm also part of the varsity baseball team, and when the weather gets bad and we're not allowed to play on the fields, we also have to spend time in the gyms and suffer these same effects of the
150heat as the volleyball team does. I'm Yolanda. I'm a rising senior, and I live at 15 Oak Lane. I've been playing volleyball since sixth grade, and I've been in the... I've played at the middle school and the high school. And yeah, just to go off of them, I've also felt all the physical and mental things that the heat does to you when you're playing sports. I just want to talk a little more about that and personal experiences. My name is Amber Coffey. I live at 23 Richelieu Road. And I've been playing volleyball for two years at the high school. And I've seen also firsthand how the heat affects our team. and our competition and what we can perform. My name is Lily Huang, and I'm a freshman this year. I live at Eighth Week Road,
151and I know that the heat has affected our team a lot this year. OK, so we just wanted to say thank you for obviously putting this all together. I'm here, well, we're all here on behalf of our teams, and we just want to talk about obviously like air conditioning in the gyms we feel like it's really important because obviously like we need to protect the health of our students but also like we want to perform the best and like mr. Rumpala said we're kind of falling behind especially like with our potential and I think a huge factor of that is having to cancel practices due to the heat like team bonding isn't as possible if we're canceling all these practices. So yeah, and a lot of players have experienced dizziness and nausea because of even
152if practices are still on, that doesn't mean that every player is going to be OK. So it's really hard to make sure that the whole team is able to play together with these extreme heat, with extreme heat especially in the summer, which is during volleyball season. And also just to add, the gym doors have to stay closed without supervision. And we don't have a lot of adults to keep the doors open, even if the fans are on and everything. It's not really like there's no airflow if the doors are closed. But we don't have anybody to keep the doors open because coaches are coaching. So it's like we need something here. So we fully acknowledge that installing air conditioning requires energy and financial resources. However, this investment is not about comfort. It's about the safety,
153fairness, and convenience of the students and athletes. And the temperatures are expected to rise this year, and this problem is not going to go away with time. And air conditioning will soon become essential and not optional for us to play at our best abilities and also just be bearable even if it's in school or out of school. be athletes and even if it's in phys ed or with our sports. It's important to note that Scar's already made substantial investments in athletics such as upgrading the turf fields and installing new scoreboards and while these enhancements are appreciated it raises the question why can't we fund athletic or performance based improvements. but not a basic necessity like air conditioning for the actual players themselves because the scoreboard and the turf, for example, are very nice facilities to
154have. But when it comes to the overall health of the students and athletes who are playing, the air conditioning especially is a very big part of that. health and not feeling nauseous or not getting overheated or anything like that. It affects performance. It affects performance in games, in practices, the ability to practice. We know that this is not just a concern for a couple players. Like, again, Mr. Rimpala mentioned, there's been a petition made with 101 signatures. And this number is still growing. As students experience this heat, they decide to sign the petition. And I mean, we're here on behalf of, again, like 250 volleyball players. And it will be rising. There's always. more cuts to be made, especially with girls volleyball. We have four teams. And it's just growing, and the demand is going
155to keep growing. And Scarsdale is not only a school for academics, but athletics too. And providing a safe, regulated environment for athletes to train and compete is fundamental to the growth of students, and this is limiting that. And also just to add, other schools around Scarsdale, like Harrison and East Chester, have air-conditioned gyms, and they don't have to cancel their games. They can host events. While that puts us at a disadvantage, we understand, but it's time to start taking steps, even if it's temporary, to... provide some equity and equality throughout like all the volleyball programs in Westchester I think I just want to make sure we're good on time we're not like running over anything I mean it's kind of confusing because you're each allowed three minutes but now some people have repeated it's okay
156honorary I don't know what we're doing here okay um Then I'd like to like expand on my personal experiences in the volleyball gyms over the past few years because in the summer heat especially, so during preseason we go before the school year and that's during the summer and as it's been mentioned there's a lack of ventilations. There are large fans throughout the gyms but there are only four. And gyms three and four are very large gyms. They're occupied by several volleyball teams at once and it's really not enough ventilation. There's a need for excessive water breaks and it's also been mentioned that the doors can't be open so it's hard for players to be able to get a breather in like the intense heat and Preseason is a moment where you're supposed to show your
157best and you're supposed to perform and set the tone and build relations with your teammates. That's how Like starting lineups usually get like concrete is in the preseason where you're able to see everyone's abilities and so the fact that some people like myself I get nauseous very easily I get dehydrated so the fact that in these conditions it's so difficult to be able to perform at your highest standard whilst not worrying about being dehydrated or getting nauseous. I think that's an issue that affects the team as a whole and not just when it's hot in the gyms and when it's claustrophobic with the heat and humidity, but throughout the season because of the lasting effects from the heat at the beginning and how it changes the relationship of the team. Thank you. Thank you so
158much. Thank you. Would anyone else in the audience like to make a public comment? Good evening. My name is Ming Ji. So I live at 231 Fox Meadow Road at Fox Meadow. And I have a six years old who is right now in first grade and also two years old. Today I'm here also to further express my serious concerns regarding to the review math curriculum used by our elementary school. So firstly... So I talked to my first grader a lot by comparing, you know, the textbook, the review math textbook versus the Singapore math. I saw there's a big gap between the content there. And for example, I saw a lot of the problems, like the problems are formulated in such a wordy way, so which is very hard for the kids to understand. And a
159lot of times they easily get confused. So I'll give you a very simple example. I think when they are learning how to calculate 5 plus 7 in review math, I think the teaching method will try to let them to figure out how to calculate the answer in five different ways in order for them to master the problem. I don't think it's a right way of doing that because And secondly, I also talked to a lot of parents living in the neighborhood. I think a lot of them have expressed a similar concern because... By reading the textbook, you can easily see that it doesn't provide enough practice for most of the concepts. So it's very hard for the parents to help with the kids. So in the end, a lot of families, they need to obtain
160some supplemental mathematical education. So for example, they need to find a tutor. They go to Kumho, they go to Russian Math School. You know, it's one of the most popular tutoring centers in our neighborhood. I think because of the drawbacks I have listed above, I think people, including me, started to lose confidence in the mass education my kids received from school. I think it shouldn't have happened in one of the top school districts like Scarsdale. What else? Another thing I wanted to talk about is I talked to a lot of other neighbors who have other kids. I think it's very common that for a lot of kids when they move from elementary school to the middle school, I think some of... Some of the yeah, you may already hear similar thing There's already like some
161gaps between the for example the the mass already in the receive at elementary school comparing to the middle school So once they have the gaps the kids have very hard time or needs a long time to transit smoothly from the elementary school to middle school, but right now because we have switched from the old synchronized to review mass, I think it will further, it will make the depth gaps. bigger so that the kids couldn't properly adjusted to their middle school life in the future. So yeah, to summarize what I said, I strongly urge our board of education to set up some follow meeting with, yeah, for the parents in our neighborhood. As you know, yeah, the previous speakers also said we have a petition which is up by about 300. neighbors you know neighborhood so
162we wanted to further discuss this topic and uh to me personally i think it might be a better choice for us to revert back to the well-known singapore mess instead of the review mess yeah thank you thank you would anyone else like to make a public comment from the audience okay um we'll be going to the zoom Susie, could we take a five minute break? We've been going for about two and a half hours and I could use just a quick break. A wellness break would be welcome. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Okay, let's take a wellness break. Hello, welcome back. Thank you to those who are still here for the meeting. I believe we were finished with public comment here from audience members and we were about to move to Zoom. Jim. Yes, there
163are attendees on Zoom with hands raised. To panelists, we would ask that you turn on your video and unmute yourselves. Hello? Have they been promoted? Yes, I see them. Can you unmute yourself? Hi. Can you guys hear me? Yes, we can. Okay. I'm Alyssa Gutman at 25 Haverford Avenue. The elementary school students have now tried Reveal Math for four years. The outcome is clear and the community's response could not be stronger. We need to reevaluate it. There is a petition going around to repeal Reveal Math signed by nearly 300 families across Scarsdale. Many more would have signed as well, but feared retribution. The fact that we are now throwing even more money at this failed program is absurd. Board of Ed, the elementary students and parents are counting on you to make a change. Please
164don't let us down. And then regarding the Swastika and the Scarsdale schools, we would like to know if there has been an investigation done, the outcome of the investigation, and more importantly, if consequences have been made clear to the student population at large so that this doesn't happen again. Moreover, what is the plan to prevent this from happening in the future? And what organizations have you consulted to determine that course of action? Thank you. Thank you. Hi, it's, can you hear me? OK, great. Yeah, hi, it's Art Rublin, 22 Dunne Allen Road. And I want to come back to the section of the meeting you had on tributes. And I want to say I don't at all mean to ignore the community comments you've heard over the last 15, 20 minutes. I think it's very
165important for community members to engage with the school board. I've done it myself as a resident. In some ways, maybe talking about tributes is actually apt to touch on after hearing the comments and watching you listen. So just in terms of tributes, I just want to say, first of all, I think it's great that you had that section of the meeting. It hasn't been the case in all the years of the school board, and I think it is important for... to have that kind of dialogue and also hear from the administration appreciated those comments. So just starting with Jim, just in terms of wrapping up the year, Jim, as has been alluded to, I will first just wanna say, I wanna echo all the comments that were made. You're a partner at a large law
166firm, you've got a very demanding job and you're doing this on top of that. And I think it demonstrates the commitment to Scarsdale schools and its children that I've seen. over many years and I've also seen plenty of thoughtful engagement from you and appreciate all the work you've done this year. Actually, I'm going to go back for a second to Ron because I don't know if there's going to be another opportunity. I just want to say I want to thank Ron for his six years of service to terms, including years as an officer with, among other things, an attention to detail, commitment to community engagement. asking tough questions, you know, making, you know, speaking, speaking transparently, which I think is also a good quality for a board member. So I want to thank Ron for
167his service. Susie, coming back to the officers, I just want to really, again, echo all the comments that were made. Really appreciate your leadership this year after having been an officer last year as well. Clearly, you have a commitment to the quality of Scarsdale schools. And that extends, and I think this applies to Jim as well, commitment to local control of Scarsdale schools as opposed to us being beholden to a political and arbitrary tax cap. And then I just wanted to add, and I want to thank all the other members for your service. And over time, you'll probably hear from me again. And I just want to say, Dr. Patrick, well, it's congratulations to you and congratulations to our community on the extension of your contract. I have a whole lot of confidence in this
168board, and I've also seen firsthand all the great work that you're doing for our kids. So I just wanted to say congratulations to you and thanks for all your service. And that's it. Thanks very much. nobody's hand is raised okay then thank you so much um we will close this public comment session um and move on to follow up to public comment just a couple of thoughts first thank you for all the engagement um you know we listen take take in what we hear um just a couple of clarifications and just in no particular order one is that the community should view information that comes out about curriculum as information the district is sending not information the board is sending that's our responsibility as district leaders it's not the board's responsibility to communicate about curriculum
169certainly to listen like tonight but just wanted to make that that clarification I do hope folks come to the coffee tomorrow I'll give you a second to say something about that in a minute Edgar also clarification you know I know Andrew did meet with Scott regarding the gym air conditioning Thursday's committee meeting of the capital projects committee will include our full discussion of air conditioning including of the gyms that's not an overnight process it just isn't but it is on absolutely on the list with cost estimates and so forth I know Andrew is also reviewing the just so the board knows reviewing the other options in terms of what would be required from the State Education Department as the organization that permits us or doesn't permit us to include things like temporary air conditioning in
170the space. So we are doing that research. Just clarification on the scoreboards, there have been two scoreboards, one the the NevCo board that's in gyms three and four and then the softball. Those were not purchased by the district, those were gifts from Maroon and White. The turf field that's in the budget for next year, yes that is district money. Just to clarify that. If you're anything you want to add? Yeah, I look forward to meeting with the people who come for the coffee as an opportunity to actually discuss some of the big questions that have come again and again about Reveal Math, but also about Singapore math and the math standards and the evolutions that have happened. And primary math, which is what Singapore math evolved into. It's also a program that was reviewed and
171has also gone through some significant changes to reflect elements of the new math standards. So there are some things that I'm really looking forward to discussing that are recurring questions about the program and the changes that we're making, adaptations that we're making based on what we find. but in a way in which there can be a conversation so that it can be a back and forth. So we're gonna have opportunities for feedback, but also an opportunity for those who come to actually do some of the math lessons with 16 of our teachers who are gonna be here. So it's another plug to come and... I am there to listen and learn, and I hope that people come with an open mind and really dig into some really exciting work that's going. Yeah, we've had public
172comment already. Thank you so much. Okay, item 14. Thank you, Edgar. Wrap-up items? Meeting dates for the coming month. Jim this is your last time doing yeah, okay. Thanks very much Susie. So meeting dates for the coming month We have Tuesday July 1st 2025 the organizational and business meeting which will take place at 9 a.m Here in this room and on Monday, August 25th 2025 There'll be a business meeting starting at 6 p.m. Here in this room Thank You Jim And with that what someone like to make a motion to adjourn this business meeting Thank You Amber. Is there a second? Thank you Colleen. We're going to be adjourning into executive session, yes. But we're adjourning this business meeting. All those in favor please say aye. Ayes have it, motion carries. Congratulations to our graduates.
173Thank you to our school administrators, faculty and staff. And have a wonderful summer everyone. Thank you. Now we'll be moving into executive session. Should we let them go first?