Not So Fast

As we close out 2015 and complete Scarsdale10583's seventh year in business, I am struck by the fact that things are often not what they appear to be. This year several issues we covered on the site appeared simple at the start, yet the more we delved into them, the more complex they became. Questions that looked to have black and white answers turned out to have many shades of gray. With some we found ourselves agreeing with one group at the beginning only to have a 180-degree change of heart in the process of further examination. Or even more perplexing, after listening, writing and reading comments, on some questions, no one right answer emerged at all.

Let's first take the question of adding Mandarin instruction to the middle school curriculum. An enthusiastic group of parents raised the issue and was successful in getting the school administration to do a series of surveys to parents with kids at several grade levels. When the survey results came in, though 17.8% of parents favored Mandarin instruction, the Board decided that it was not a high enough level of support to upset the apple cart and make changes in staffing and the house structure to accommodate the change. Furthermore, the numbers showed that Mandarin instruction in grades 9-12 generated only tepid interest from students and enrollment in these classes was falling rather than rising. Debates ensued and raised more questions than answers. What was the optimal grade to introduce the language, (if at all), and was it simply too difficult to learn? Since many in the Chinese community already send their children for instruction outside school, did they want to add it to the curriculum for their own children or for others? And if adding Mandarin, why not consider other world languages too? Or in the words of Max Ventilla, a former Google executive who founded AltSchool said, "The thousands of hours that children invest in learning foreign languages is almost surely a waste of time, given that translation technology will soon be good enough that we will all be multilingual." Would it be better if we taught all students to code rather than speak Mandarin?

I also had a change of heart about a new development of cluster homes on Weaver Street. Though the proposal to build nine homes at Heathcote Manor, opposite Dunkin Donuts, was approved more than a decade ago, the project stalled and therefore it did not need to conform to some of today's regulations. When the developers finally decided to move forward they clear cut several acres of trees incurring the ire of some residents. Others feared that the new development would bring more traffic to Weaver Street and the Five Corners and still others found a high stone retaining wall to be imposing. Like the new building in front of Balduccis, residents sought to vilify the complex. But after the model was complete I decided to go take a look and inspect for myself. I found a contemporary, spacious home with all the comforts of a single-family house – without the price tag or outdoor maintenance. All in all, the homes seemed to be a nice addition to Scarsdale's residential options.

And then there's the Greenacres School. It's aging, damp, moldy, lacking modern technology and too small. But a very vocal group of residents is very eager to save it at any cost. In their zeal to "Save the School" they convinced hundreds of residents and their kids to sign petitions to keep the school where it is, before all the options could be explored. The conversation between residents, the Greenacres Association and the school board reached a fevered pitch even before the architects were given the opportunity to present all the options and associated costs. When the Board announced that a committee of residents, educators, parents, teachers, administrators and architects would meet to review the information and make recommendations, the same group objected to criteria for selecting committee members. These critics went as far as to suggest that a man who had served as both Mayor and School Board President could not adequately represent Greenacres.

The Greenacres Building Committee met in the fall and their conclusions have not yet been released. Though I live in Greenacres and have fond memories of my three children's experience at the school, I am eager to hear what the committee recommends and to listen to their reasons why. Like many other questions that come before the community, this one requires long-term thinking about what's best for the majority of residents.

And finally, there's Monte Nido, the second revaluation and the library.

So what did I learn in 2015? I learned that I don't have the all the answers and you may not either. In fact, the only way we are going to get to the best solutions is to investigate, listen, discuss and learn from each other. Thankfully, there are so many passionate, educated and eloquent residents here that it's interesting to hear your views. Let's continue the dialogue 2016.