New Administrators Get Up to Speed in Scarsdale, District to Launch e-Newsletter

The study session of the November 4 Board of Education meeting was devoted to entry plan updates from new district employees Bernard Josefsberg, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Stuart Mattey, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Facilities, and Ray Pappalardi, Director of Physical Education, Health & Athletics. Each described his approach for getting up to speed in his new position and in the case of Dr. Josefsberg, the search for a replacement as his appointment is for one year only.

Dr. Josefsberg began the study session with the topic of finding his successor. The search process is still in the early stages and is now concentrated on developing a position profile. He referred to the community surveys conducted in connection with the Superintendent search two years ago as a starting point to determine what type of experience, professional style and values would be most desired for this leadership position. He has also been conducting meetings with district employees to gather information about what employees feel are important for the human resources role. Responses were many and varied on what type of person would be ideal. The descriptors used by the Superintendent survey respondents ran the gamut with requests for visionaries, bold leaders, humble leaders, consensus builders, experienced administrators, no bureaucrats, backgrounds in education, quantitative experts, a record of consistency in implementing policy, flexibility, etc. Dr. Josefsberg talked about some of the issues that will need to be balanced in finding the right candidate such as the desire for previous experience versus raw talent that could be developed. He is sifting through the survey results and combining these with information gathered from his recent meetings to identify needs and common themes and will return to the Board of Education for fine-tuning of the position description before posting. The current timetable is to have the position posted by December and interviewing to begin in February/March.

Attention was then turned to Stuart Mattey who described the role of Assistant Superintendent for Business and Facilities as encompassing four areas (finance, facilities, transportation and food service) that are very broad and in some cases disparate. Each focus area of Mr. Mattey's job has a unique variety of systems, culture, people and intricacies in which he is becoming fully immersed. He described getting to know all aspects of his job by "taking the long way" which he feels will make him a more effective leader in the long term. He provided an example of this style by telling of a recent experience with Jim Lancaster, Assistant Director of Buildings and Grounds, who informed him of an issue with the middle school adventure course. Rather than have a brief discussion and ask Mr. Lancaster to address the concern, he decided to take the opportunity to visit the site with him. In exerting that time and effort he derived many benefits such as getting to spend time with one of his managers, conducting a site visit, seeing the adventure course in use by students, meeting the teachers who were there supervising students and ultimately providing guidance on the matter with a true familiarity of the whole picture.

In addition to managing the day-to-day responsibilities of his office, Mr. Mattey has regular bi-weekly meetings with his department heads as well as regular business office meetings. He has been involved in committee work with teachers, PTA members and community members deepening his understanding of the constituencies he serves and providing important context for the breadth of responsibilities within his purview.

Mr. Mattey shared that he has been surprised that although his previous position was in a comparable role in a Westchester school district only a short distance away, he still has had to face a steep learning curve getting to know the people, systems and culture of Scarsdale. He complemented what he described as an "level of extra care" district employees in all areas invest in their jobs and stated that the District should be proud of its culture.

In the final portion of the study session, Ray Pappalardi addressed his transition efforts in the newly created role of Director of Physical Education, Health & Athletics. Mr. Pappalardi used the term "wellness" to describe the common thread of his three areas of responsibility. He noted that wellness is concerned with physical health, social health and emotional health. He had just conducted a day of professional development with his staff on November 3 during which they all worked to build a common understanding of their departmental mission. He also discussed some operational improvements to come such as automating the process for team registration and athletic exemptions as well as applying consistency in methods of communication used across athletic teams. He is due to provide a more detailed update to the Board on December 14.

An item of interest for community members from the portfolio group review portion of the meeting is an announcement from Dr. Hagerman on behalf of the communications team of a new eNews letter called the 'Dale Dispatch which will cover a variety of district news and articles authored by Board of Education members. The first issue is scheduled to be released before Thanksgiving. Community members without children in the schools can get on the email list for the newsletter and other district news by signing up at the Scarsdale School's website (http://www.scarsdaleschools.org/EmailList).

This meeting can be viewed in its entirety on the Board of Education Video on Demand site. The next scheduled Board of Education meeting will be on November 16 beginning at 6pm when the Board will meet with the Scarsdale Principals Association, followed by an update on World Languages from Lynne Shain at 7:00pm. The regular business meeting will begin at 8:00pm.

Maroon and White Dinner

Maroon and White will honor fall athletes and the Fall Sports Award Dinner on Monday November 9 at 6:30 pm at the Crowne Plaza in White Plains.

Athletes attend on a complimentary basis but must RSVP. Tickets for parents who belong to Maroon and White are $35 per person, with non-members at $50 per person. There is prepaid parking available for $4 and valet parking for $10.

For more information, visit www.maroonandwhite.org or email [email protected].

The Crowne Plaza is located at 66 Hale Avenue in White Plains.

Yes Fundraiser

Help Support the Youth Employment Services (Y.E.S) Office by Shopping! The Y.E.S office is selling tickets for the annual Lord and Taylor Shop Smart Do-Good Fundraising Event on Friday November 13th.

The tickets are $5 each and include two 25% bonus coupons and one 15% savings pass to be used through the day on almost everything, including cosmetics and fragrances. If you have a Lord and Taylor card you will receive your additional discount off your purchases. Limited exclusions apply.

You can purchase a ticket at the Y.E.S office located at Scarsdale High School everyday from 11:30 - 1:30. You can also purchase tickets directly from Lian Wang at [email protected]. Buy one for yourself and one for a friend or family member. Happy Shopping!

The Scarsdale Youth Employment Services, Inc (YES), located at Scarsdale High School, is a stand-alone non-profit organization staffed entirely by community volunteers. YES serves as a clearinghouse for teenagers and young adults, ages 14-25, who want jobs.

More information about YES can be found here.