Parents Ask for More Synchronous Learning at First In-Person School Board Meeting
- Details
- Category: Schools
- Published: 16 September 2020
- Written by Ezra Lerner
Seating for the Board, cabinet and audience was at a distance at first in person BOE meeting of the school year.Throughout the first, in-person, Scarsdale Board of Education meeting since COVID-19 forced discussions online, the local response to a national pandemic was omnipresent.
Scarsdale School District Superintendent Thomas Hagerman spoke early in the meeting—which took place in the socially-distanced Scarsdale High School auditorium, as opposed to the traditional Board of Education room—by remarking on the deliberate approach taken to the beginning of the school year. While last week was marked by “introductions and orientations,” explained Hagerman, this week was defined by “gradually returning to in-person school with the onboarding of our cohorts.”
Personnel
Assistant Superintendent Drew Patrick then briefed the room about staff requests, noting that 98 total staff members had filed for allowances related to “ADA and COVID-19 in particular,” and that 17 remote-work accommodations had been granted, “due to allowable reasons under the law.” Patrick also noted that there will be six people working remotely as a result of the virtual-only, elementary model, “even though they didn’t specifically qualify for remote accommodation.”
Another challenge highlighted by the Assistant Superintendent was teacher efforts to find childcare. “We will have some need for coverage and some substitute work here and there as we continue to transition,” explained Patrick, attributing this to school districts in surrounding areas operating on their own schedules. Nevertheless, he noted, “by and large, our folks have been able to find accommodations for their own children and their own family situation.”
Public Comments
Public comments, despite being consistently interlaced with appreciation for the efforts of the school board and faculty, revolved almost entirely around consternation with percieved deficiencies in the current hybrid model of instruction. Perhaps the most frequent point of contention was the amount of asynchronous instruction offered to students on Wednesday, with multiple speakers claiming that students have begun referring to those days as “Netflix Wednesdays,” given the lack of structured activity offered. Multiple calls were made for added synchronous learning to the school schedule.
Other public concerns included the district’s decision to not allow for live classroom sessions to be simulcast to students at home.
Parent Diane Greenwald said, "I hope you will keep Wednesday morning in mind for moving to virtual or in person classes for all students — has a schedule been developed for this possibility? Couldn't a-synchonized work be accomplished in the 22-odd hours of time the kids are not in any instructional time, that does not include Wednesday?... Obvioulsy teacher training and collaboration is critical. but I also hope the teachers can figure out how to both collaborate and to teach at least part of Wednesday, into the future?" She also expressed concern that the decision not to simulcast meant deep cuts in the curruiculum.
Other parents, such as Beth Gelles, echoed this concern, noting that “only 54% of children’s traditional curriculum would be covered this year.” As an education consultant who helps high school students around the country get into college, she expressed frustration that her clients in other districts were currently receiving more instruction than Scarsdale students and concern that Scarsdale High School’s reputation would suffer as a result.
Mimi Rocah also expressed apprehension about the lack of livestreamed classes. She said, “I have been talking with parents at elementary and middle school level. Our main concern is the asynchronous portion of school – both the number of hours and the quality of the content. We can’t put our heads in the sand. In other districts the cohort who is at home is having live streaming. Why can’t we do this? What is the explanation? No one seemed to know. Explain it to us.”
Patty Lubin and Liz Hoexter spoke, with Lubin calling for reopening determinations to be driven by a “metric-based decision point.” She said, “Our numbers are pretty good now…. If kids adhere to the rules, there is a thought that they can return to school I person in a fuller way. How do we move forward to the next phase?”
Liz Hoexter proposed that math and science be prioritized as in-person classes.
Judith Berger Eforo, called out a board member on stage for looking at his computer during her comments, and asked the school to add more instructional time for her two children in their senior year. She said, “Our kids want to learn – they are desperate for it. They want to learn. They don’t need Netflix Wednesdays.”
Allison Connor and Eileen Donovan both voiced fears about information retention, with Donovan speaking to backward slides in students’ curricular knowledge, and Connor advocating for Zoom lectures to be recorded and archived, so that they can be returned to at a later date.
Bob Harrison, the only public commenter who no longer had children in the Scarsdale school system, spoke at length about his love for the tennis programs in Scarsdale and his desire to facilitate an end-of-summer tennis tournament. He had to be told by Board president Pam Fuehrer to stick to relevant topics.
Superintendent Hagerman responded to some of the most pressing public concerns hours later, after President Fuehrer noted that the public audience had already left, by stressing that “we [school faculty] are really focusing on the core aspects of our curriculum.” He made clear that teachers are intent on preparing students for taking standardized testing. He also noted that it was the first time he heard the term “Netflix Wednesdays,” but that he trusted Scarsdale High School Principal Kenneth Bonamo’s explanation of how the district steering committee had decided to divide up the school week. The Superintendent rejected the interest in livestreaming in-person classes. “We’re unclear of what the purpose is,” explained Hagerman. “We don’t believe that kids should be in front of a screen eight hours a day as part of our philosophy around this work.”
The superintendent also postponed considerations of increased in-person instruction, citing a desire to determine that current measures were effective before making any modifications. “We [want to] have a high level of confidence” in the efficacy of what we are doing now, he explained. Hagerman did, however, express that there is a desire and a plan to hopefully resume 100% in-person instruction before the end of the school year. Assistant Superintendent Eric Rauschenbach echoed the existence of this plan, while also noting that doing so would require a relaxation of the social distancing guidelines currently required by New York State. The first formal reassessment of the instruction breakdown will be October 15th.
Safety and Security
Assistant Superintendent Rauschenbach also gave a school safety report, where he explained that drill requirements have not been relaxed this year, and each school building has their own plans for carrying these out. He also explained that a genuine crisis would allow for the relaxation of social distancing guidelines. “If there needs to be an evacuation of the building because of a true emergency, social distancing is not maintained in that situation. The emergency takes precedence over that.”
Greenacres School
One aspect of the Board of Education meeting that was not entirely centered around COVID-19 was a presentation of the renovations to Greenacres Elementary School.
Greenacres Principal Sharon Hill explained that the five-year project had concluded on August 27th, with the exception of the library and the computer lab, which were still under construction. Hill expressed excitement about a range of new additions to the school, including a learning commons, “beautiful lockers,” storage capacity in music classrooms, and rockers “to support students who need to wiggle a little.” Even this news, however, was not entirely unaffected by the pandemic. Principal Hill noted that students will not be able to take advantage of the full range of school features for some time.
Athletics
Ray Pappalardi, Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics, announced a number of starting dates for high school sports seasons. Cross country, field hockey, girls tennis, and boys and girls soccer will begin on September 29th. “Those sports are classified as low and moderate risk by the New York State Department of Health,” explained Pappalardi. The winter sports season will begin on November 30th, with high-risk fall sports (cheerleading, football, and volleyball) scheduled to begin on March 1st, 2021. The spring sports season is currently set to begin on April 16th, 2021. Given the lack of public facilities currently available, girl’s swimming is also expected to be moved back to the March 1st, 2021 date.
Pappalardi also explained that as sports practices will occur on students’ cohort days, he is currently “working on a plan to integrate Wednesdays and Saturdays” as practice days, “so we can get students to their minimum practice as soon as possible. Even with October 17th currently set as the earliest possible date for Scarsdale High School sports teams to compete in games, inter-school competition schedules have not yet been finalized. Pappalardi also explained that there may be “limited competitive opportunities” for Scarsdale High School’s “B-teams,” and that they do not expect inter-school competition at the middle school level. Intra-squad programs and games are, however, are being looked at in both cases.
Budget
Assistant Superintendent Stuart Mattey led the budget transfers portion of the meeting, estimating that the district’s total COVID-related costs, thus far, have come to around $2.56 million for the 2020-2021 school year. Among other things, that money has gone to hand sanitizer, thermometers, masks for faculty, cleaning, signage, window fans, air purifiers, “additional instructional staff,” internet improvements, and “instructional supplies” to improve the quality of virtual learning. While some of these figures, like staff costs, have been priced out for the entire year, the current stock of purchased supplies are not expected to last that long.
Although Mattey did note that some of these additional costs will be offset as a result of decreases in items like field trips, he explained that the additional money required for coronavirus-related purchases will come from “unassigned fund balance.” He asked for that transfer of funds to be discussed at the next board meeting, while also mentioning that the reallocation would not actually happen until later in the school year. In response to questioning from board members, Mattey did say that this expenditure could affect the district’s rating and future budget conversations. He felt it difficult, however, to talk about this as it relates to the tax cap, due to decreasing state, coronavirus-related assistance. Superintendent Hagerman promised to keep board members updated on the lobbying and advocacy efforts of the school district surrounding that.
The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 5th, 2020.
Candidate for Trustee Forces Scarsdale Village to Release 4,318 Resident Email Addresses
- Details
- Category: Around Town
- Published: 12 September 2020
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
Robert Selvaggio obtained 4,318 resident email addresses after a FOIL request.After exploring all legal avenues not to comply with a FOIL request for 4,318 resident’s private email addresses, the Village of Scarsdale turned over the list to resident Robert Selvaggio of Rochambeau Road on September 11, 2020.
Selvaggio, who is running for Village Trustee as a candidate for the Voter’s Choice Party, filed a FOIL request in April, 2020 to receive the email addresses of all residents who were signed up on the Village’s “Notify Me” communications system. The system is used to disseminate information about emergencies, storms, road closures, sanitation schedules, recreation opportunities and more. The Village built the system as a way to improve communications with residents who opted in to receive Village emails and alerts.
On April 24, Selvaggio sent the following FOIL request to Scarsdale Village Clerk Donna Conkling:
“Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law, I am requesting the list of email addresses of subscribers to Scarsdale’s “Notify Me” system and the list of email addresses to which the “Mayoral Community Update: April 23, 2020” was addressed.”
Scarsdale10583 filed a FOIL request to see Selvaggio's request.
Village managers were highly reluctant to turn over the list for many reasons. They feared that it would betray the public trust in the Village, as many residents assumed their private email addresses could not be shared. Managers feared that if residents started to receive unsolicited communications, they would opt out of the Village’s Notify Me list. In addition, if Scarsdale yielded to this request, what would prevent more requests for the list from others seeking to reach Scarsdale homeowners?
According to Village Manager Steve Pappalardo, “The Village was not concerned about the requestor, but rather, on a more comprehensive basis, relative to the potential invasion of privacy and any perceived violation by the Village of the public trust. In our view, Notify Me subscribers should have a reasonable expectation of privacy when providing this contact information to the local government.”
Furthermore, Pappalardo said, “We also had concerns about cyber security to the extent that making the public records available to anyone may elevate the risk of a cyber attack. And a third concern was that releasing the emails might stymie our ability to maintain or increase enrollment in Notify Me.”
In order to determine if they were legally bound to release the list, the Village reached out to their attorney as well as the NYS Committee on Governance.
Pappalardo said, “Access to public records in New York State is governed by the Freedom of Information Law as adjudicated by the NYS Committee on Open Government (COG). We asked the Village Attorney to review the FOIL request and determine our ability to withhold/deny the request based on the above concerns. Based on his review of the law and pertinent case law on this point, the Attorney determined that the email addresses should be released. Subsequently we wrote to the NYS COG for a formal opinion/response. After reviewing, the COG responded that the emails should be released, citing several previous COG opinions and case law.”
There was one caveat. According to Pappalardo, “The New York Public Officers Law (FOIL) Section 89.3(a) specifically provides that an agency may require a person requesting lists of names and addresses to provide a written certification that such person will not use such lists of names and addresses for solicitation or fund-raising purposes and will not sell, give or otherwise make available such lists of names and addresses to any other person for the purpose of allowing that person to use such lists of names and addresses for solicitation or fund-raising purposes. Mr. Selvaggio was asked and complied by executing, having notarized, and submitting a Certification to this effect, as written by the Village Attorney.”
Will Selvaggio use the newly released list to send emails asking for votes for the Voters Choice Party candidates on Tuesday September 15? It is not clear whether the provision that bars the use of the list for “solicitations” includes campaign emails. The Oxford Dictionary defines solicitation as “the act of asking for or trying to obtain something from someone,” which would seem to prohibit campaign-related emails but we won’t know until the election is over on Tuesday night.
There is precedent for the decision. In a similar case about the release of the email addresses of residents in Greenburgh in 2016, an appellate court ruled that “the Town, Town Clerk and Town Board all violated the New York State Freedom of Information Law when they refused (two years ago) to disclose in electronic form, the names and email addresses of subscribers of the Town’s email list so that a resident could respond to political arguments made on the Town’s “gblist” by Town Supervisor Paul Feiner.”
Commenting on the issue, Scarsdale Village Trustee Jane Veron said, “Yes, I am aware that the FOIL request was fulfilled today, and I think it is a regrettable result. While I am a strong proponent of open government, I believe the release of personal email addresses for private use is beyond the bounds of what is necessary to achieve transparency. I have always been determined to make government more accessible to our residents. When I joined the board, I sponsored the communications committee, and together with a diverse team, we built a user-friendly website, launched e-newsletters and implemented the Notify Me system. Every decision we made was guided by a commitment to public trust. I hope that trust endures.”
Even if Selvaggio refrains from using the list to garner support in the election, it’s hard to understand how forcing the release of private email addresses benefits residents in anyway, or as the Voters Choice Party political signs say makes for a “better Village.”
What do you think? Share your comments below.
Mayor Seeks to Amend FOIL Law to Exempt Email Lists
- Details
- Category: Neighborhood News
- Published: 15 September 2020
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
After Scarsdale Village was forced to comply with a FOIL request to release a list of 4,318 resident email addresses to a candidate running for office, Scarsdale Mayor Marc Samwick is appealing to state legislators to amend the FOIL law. Below find a letter dated September 14, 2020 that Samwick sent to Scarsdale's Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and Scardale's State Senator, Andrea Stewart-Cousin that urges the legislators to introduce legislation to "exempt from release under FOIL any personally identifiable information, such as an email address, contained in a governmental listserve used to inform, educate, and engage the public in governmental actions and decision-making."
Dear Assemblywoman Paulin:
This letter is being written to request your support in advancing an amendment to the NYS Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) such that email addresses contained in official governmental subscription-based listserves are no longer required to be released upon public request.
Public education and engagement are keystones of democratic governance, helping to shape laws, inform public policy, and plan for the future. Within the structure of democracy, effective communications between governmental entities and those governed constitute the mortar, holding the building blocks of democracy in-place. Most importantly, public trust constitutes the foundation, without which the otherwise strong and resilient structure is subject to decline.
To facilitate public education and engagement in an increasingly digital world, governmental entities often develop subscription-based listserves to disseminate official news and information. Such communication tools serve a vital public purpose in educating, informing, and engaging the public, helping to cultivate public trust and maintain faith in government as a partner in supporting public safety, maintaining quality of life, and planning for our shared future.
In subscribing to such official governmental electronic communication lists, community members have a reasonable expectation of privacy; unlike subscribers to commercial email lists, government listserve subscribers expect and trust that their contact information will only be used for the specific official purpose authorized. To make the personal contact information contained in a governmental subscription list available to third parties through FOIL violates public trust and significantly jeopardizes the ability of government to disseminate important information to the public, as potential subscribers may object to their personal contact information being shared with third parties and therefore choose not to subscribe, or to unsubscribe once it becomes known that their personally identifiable information is not appropriately held in confidence.
The decline in public trust arising from breach of one’s expectation of privacy in connection with granting public access to a subscriber’s private contact information through FOIL has very real implications for government; arguably, for democracy itself.
The NYS Committee on Open Government and associated case law, as guided by the existing FOIL regulatory framework, direct and require governmental entities to release subscriber email addresses contained on a subscription-based governmental listserve to a requestor, but for an exception where solicitation is the intended use of the list. The Village of Scarsdale asserts that this mandate cultivates an unintended outcome, one that effectively forces an egregious error in weighing the public interest in gaining access to private contact information against the governmental interests embedded in the ability to cultivate an engaged and informed populace.
To be clear, the Village of Scarsdale firmly supports open and transparent government. That is precisely why we chose to implement a subscription-based listserve – to provide the public with opportunity to learn about and understand governmental affairs, all the while enabling and encouraging public participation in both formal and informal decision-making. We agree with and fully support the legislative intent undergirding FOIL.
The FOIL legislative declaration is concise and on-point.
The declaration opens powerfully, “The legislature hereby finds that a free society is maintained when government is responsive and responsible to the public, and when the public is aware of governmental actions.” Yes, government is most accountable when the public is aware of governmental actions and, in our view, has the opportunity to learn about issues and influence decisions before they are made, as well as to examine all government records in accordance with the intent of FOIL.
When an interpretation of FOIL leads to the perverse outcome of chilling governmental efforts to inform, educate, and engage the public in decision-making, the underlying cause for the unintended outcome must be remedied.
Importantly, a simple list of subscriber email addresses, as such, has absolutely no influence on governmental actions or decisions of any kind. Furthermore, providing public access to the email addresses of governmental listserve subscribers has no discernible linkage to FOIL’s stated purpose. However, when combined with content, subscription-based listserves enable governments to inform, educate, and engage the public, i.e., to advance the critical legislative intent of FOIL. It should also be noted that all content thus distributed is publicly accessible, by design.
Any perceived governmental transparency and accountability benefit associated with mandatory public release of an email address subscription list, and it should be noted that we struggle to identify any such benefit, is clearly – and significantly – outweighed by the government’s need to use every tool available to inform, educate, and engage the public in governmental actions and decision-making.
By forcing disclosure of a subscription-based contact list, FOIL is undermining the fabric of free society. If community members refuse to subscribe, or withdraw their subscriptions to such lists out of concern for their privacy, cybersecurity exposure, unsolicited messaging, or any other personal data concern, the laudable public purposes fully embraced by the Village and mandated through FOIL are severely undermined.
Regulations such as the California Consumer Privacy Act and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which strictly prohibits the release of one’s email address, demonstrate that individuals, organizations, and governments are deeply concerned about protection of personally identifiable information, particularly electronic information. At this time, the State of New York lags behind other entities in forward-thinking personal data privacy protections. Mandating release of governmental subscription-based email address lists, which have no public transparency value in the context of FOIL, exhibits a sharp departure from best practices in the data privacy arena.
The State of New York is a global leader. Our data privacy protections should be at the forefront of information technology and security. Not only are we compromising public trust in government, the foundation of democracy, but we are also potentially placing residents and businesses at elevated risk of harm in connection with potential cybercrimes by disclosing their private email addresses and providing an otherwise trusted electronic relationship that may be exploited.
Please develop and introduce legislation to exempt from release under FOIL any personally identifiable information, such as an email address, contained in a governmental listserve used to inform, educate, and engage the public in governmental actions and decision-making. It may also be a worthwhile endeavor to examine New York’s overall approach to data privacy protections for purposes of their appropriate and necessary modernization.
With High Regard,
Mayor Marc Samwick
Non-Partisan Party Slate Triumphs in Village Election
- Details
- Category: On Our Minds
- Published: 16 September 2020
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
Justin Arest, Lena Crandall and Randy Whitestone were elected on Tuesday September 15After a bitter and divisive election for three seats on the Scarsdale Village Board, Scarsdale’s Non-Partisan Party came out on top, defeating the Voter’s Choice Party slate 2:1. Current Village Trustees Justin Arest and Lena Crandall, and first time candidate Randall Whitestone were elected to serve. They defeated Robert Berg, Sean Cohen and Robert Selvaggio, who staged an aggressive and lively campaign. Also elected was Village Justice Joaquin Alemany.
The election, originally scheduled for March 15, was delayed due to the pandemic. This delay stretched the political fight from weeks to months. Campaign signs, emails, ads, social media and letters were all employed with expenses underwritten by contributions to the two parties. The Scarsdale Non-Partisan Party campaign was led by co-chairs Dara Gruenberg and former Scarsdale Mayor Jon Mark. Mayra Kirkendall-Rodriguez, who was a founder of the Voter’s Choice Party and ran for school board in May, served as the party spokeswoman for this campaign.
Zoe and Robert Berg awaiting the results.Commenting on the outcome, Jon Mark said, “Our team is delighted that our residents have once again shown support for our non partisan system. It’s what makes Scarsdale great. Dara Gruenberg added, “We are thrilled that this community has come together to elect a slate of thoughtful, collaborative, committed candidates who understand the importance of civil dialogue and putting the community before personal interests. Thank you to everyone who helped with the campaign in big ways and in small. It all matters, and it certainly takes a Village! We are grateful for the time, commitment and support you showed. Thank you to all of the voters and to our Village Clerk and her staff, as well as the dedicated people who worked at the polls. It was a long day and a long campaign made even more challenging by COVID. We are so appreciative of everyone who helped."
The charged campaign was highly visible. The Voters Choice Party papered Scarsdale with political signs on Village property. In 2018, candidate Robert Berg sued the Village for the right to place signs in the Village right of way. The judge issued a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order, preventing police from removing political signs posted in the right of way in front of people’s homes. The party fully exploited this ruling and placed signs on public property throughout the Village.
The Voters Choice Party distributed door knockers on residents homes and even issued a FOIL request to secure the Village’s file of resident email addresses, so that that could blitz resident’s inboxes. Scarsdale Mayor Marc Samwick subsequently wrote letters to state legislators asking them to propose legislation that would exempt the release of personal information from FOIL requests.
Using techniques borrowed from the current national campaign for president, the VCP employed fear tactics to scare people into voting for them. They claimed that tree laws, written to protect Scarsdale’s tree canopy, were putting residents at risk of getting hit by falling trees. They took credit for squashing work on a potential development project at the Freightway Garage site by spreading fear that the project would crowd schools, despite the fact that Scarsdale’s school population is declining. As a result, the rusting garage remains in need of a major overhaul or replacement and taxpayers will have to foot the bill. They repeatedly claimed that the Non-Partisan party was racist and lacked diversity, though their own slate featured three white men.
It was a highly partisan campaign for a Village that prides itself on its non-partisan system of governance.
For the March 2020 election, residents had the choice of voting via absentee ballot and the Village collected hundred of ballots before the election was postponed. Residents could also vote by absentee ballot in the weeks leading up to the September 15 election, so before polls opened on September 15, the Village Clerk already had hundreds of absentee ballots.
On September 15, voting took place at the Scarsdale Congregational Church and was steady throughout the day. At around 1 pm Berg himself turned up at the polling place and stayed too long. After about 25 minutes a poll worker asked him leave the room but Berg would not cooperate. When another poll watcher approached him he moved to the entryway and ultimately outside, but stayed within 100 feet of the poll, which is prohibited by law.
Poll worker asking Berg to leave the polling place.
When the polls closed at 9 pm, the hand counting of over 800 absentee ballots began. It wasn’t until 11:30 that the results were announced by Village Clerk Donna Conkling who had been on site since 6 am.
The votes were as follows:
Total machine votes: 1,167
Total absentee ballots: 754
Total votes: 1,921
Voters Choice Party
Robert Berg 635
Sean Cohen 598
Robert Selvaggio 614
Scarsdale Non Partisan Party
Justin Arest 1,294
Lena Crandall 1,310
Randy Whitestone 1,271
Village Justice Alemany 1,468
Village Clerk Donna Conkling announced that they received 807 absentee ballots however 51 were duplicates, from non-registered voters or void and were not counted. She announced that the newly elected trustees could be sworn in as early as Friday September 18, 2020.
After the announcement was made, a quick reception was held in the dining tent in Scarsdale Village, ending past midnight.
At least for this year, Scarsdale’s non-partisan system of governance withstood another challenge, primarily due to the efforts of a dedicated team of defenders.
Counting the votes. Photo by Lisa VanGundy.
Voting took place at the Scarsdale Congregational Church. Photo by Lisa VanGundy.
