Parents Concerned About the Absence of a Full-Time Special Education Director in Scarsdale

The Scarsdale school board faced pressure from parents concerned about the vacancy created by what Dr. Weber called Michael Mendelson's "untimely retirement." This was the focus of three key personnel replacements discussed at their meeting on September 24th. Also addressed were the ongoing searches for a new superintendent of schools and director of athletic services. However, the status of the search for a new director of special education came under scrutiny after Dr. Weber explained that the board elected to hire a temporary and part-time replacement for the upcoming school year. She noted that though many candidates had interviewed for the position, the screening committee—consisting of teachers and administrators, including Dr. McGill and Dr. Weber—chose not to move forward with any candidates.

Weber then contacted Dr. Jan Yablow of the State Education Department of New York for advice on how best to address the vacancy in a timely fashion. Yablow noted that this position is particularly difficult to fill because of "legal landmines and...is overregulated by New York State," but he nonetheless recommended Mamaroneck's former Director of Special Ed, Roni Kramer, until a permanent director is selected. Although she is only working three days a week, Dr. Mendelson has generously offered his assistance to facilitate the transition, demonstrating "integrity and commitment to Scarsdale schools," said Weber.

Parents and members of C.H.I.L.D. voiced their worries vigorously, questioning the board's commitment and accountability to children with special needs. Gregory Loten, Chair at C.H.I.L.D., implored the board to foster and increase communication between the community and the Department of Special Education. Wanting to see that the board took the issue seriously, he asked Weber bluntly: "when were you informed that people were leaving?" Though the board assured parents that the search was top priority and that they were notified rather late about Mendelson's departure, other parents voiced similar concerns. Marian Green, parent representative for the high school at C.H.I.L.D., noted that it is "important to have stability in this area of education" and that the current aura of uncertainty is particularly detrimental to children of special needs.

The search for the new superintendent of schools received considerably less attention, though the board reiterated the importance of the upcoming focus groups designed to create the criteria by which the candidates will be evaluated. The board encourages community members to attend focus groups, the first of which meets at the end of this month, to help determine the qualities and experience required for the new district leader. In addition, a survey designed to identify important characteristics in a potential superintendent is available to community members until October 7 at midnight. Participation is strongly encouraged and the survey can be found here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/scarsdalesearch.

The last of the key personnel replacements is the director of athletics. Currently the search is limited to internal candidates with involvement from Maroon & White and many students. Dr. Weber mentioned that the board is considering redefining the position as a director of both physical education and health and athletics, though that is "a conversation yet to be held." Maroon & White represented by Presidents Kathy Coleman and John McCann announced that they would donate $40k to supply new equipment to the fitness room at the high school. According to McCann, though students refer to this space as a "weight room," it was never intended to be thus. The room houses old cross-training and free weight equipment—some of which is broken, most out of date, and by McCann's evaluation "does not take into account current advances in fitness training or safety." With an upgrade in equipment, he hopes issues such as room size and inadequate electrical supply will be addressed. He implored board members to question whether the "weight room" would have been neglected if it had been a "biolab, performance space, or cafeteria." The equipment is scheduled for delivery at the beginning of 2014 and if a new fitness center is included in the upcoming bond issue, Maroon & White will follow up with a second donation of somewhere between $20k and $40k.

Otherwise rather quiet, Superintendent of Schools McGill addressed and spoke extensively on the decline in state test scores. State scores have four levels (1-4) but the state has raised the bar for proficiency. As McGill noted, more difficult exams tend to yield lower scores. However, because Scarsdale students received more 1s and 2s than in years past, parents are concerned about how these new results reflect upon their children and the quality of education received. McGill was confident in his assessment that new tests and changes in grading systematically yield lower scores, and as the schools and instructors familiarize themselves with the new format, scores generally rise in the following years. Additionally, he urged parents to evaluate how this piece of information—one assessment among many—fits into the context of a child's performance otherwise. Scarsdale's scores remain comparable with those of Chappaqua, Rye City, Byram Hills, and Bronxville, and while no data is available concerning which questions were more problematic for students, he encouraged parents to meet with school principals if they have further concerns.

Also discussed at the meeting were the strategic and facilities plans. The board will continue with its financial projections for the next five years. Vice President Subbakrishna noted that this is not intended to serve as a detailed blueprint, as plans are always subject to uncertainty and change. He said, "a $140 million dollar organization needs to plan, even if multiyear plans can be inaccurate." President Seiden added that it is important to draft the five-year plan before the new superintendent arrives, so that he or she can better understand Scarsdale and "manage residents' expectations."
Board members also spoke broadly on the facilities master plan, acknowledging a need to plan for infrastructure change on a long term basis. Architectural firms met with the board to discuss ways in which somewhat limited physical space can be optimized in order to encourage intellectual development. The theme of creating flexible spaces was recurrent. A few firms have been contacted for further meetings, and the board is still in the preliminary stages of determining the timeframe for all the architectural and technological updates to be made, in addition to the deciding which projects will be included in the bond.

The meeting concluded on a note that reinforced the necessity for the implementation of the facilities master plan. A Greenacres parent expressed frustration about the size of her child's 4th grade class, explaining that the student body size is simply too large for the available classrooms. While she indicated that she was somewhat satisfied with the temporary means of accommodating the larger class sizes, she was "shocked" to see that improvements to Greenacres were not included on the facilities master plan, saying "We're getting a new field—guess we'll have more soccer games!" President Seiden admitted that Greenacres likely needs to be torn down and rebuilt—an enormously tall order for the current financial situation. She did, however, mention that future demographics need to be studied and that a long-term plan for the school would have to be developed.