What happened at this week’s Board of Ed Meeting?
Didn’t want to sit through the meeting? Don’t feel like an outsider, just read the Insider.
Proposed 2025-26 budget examined again
Parents vent about the Reveal Math program
Adults and students speak up in favor of rowing and other sports
Plus more
BY DEBORAH SKOLNIK
The 4+ hour Budget Forum and Board of Education meeting on Monday night covered a wide range of topics. Going far beyond examining the district’s proposed spending plan for 2025-26, the evening encompassed a discussion of a possible cell phone ban during school hours, a conversation about the appointment of a student ex-officio Board of Education member, and more. It also entailed drama, as a large number of parents decried the shortfalls of the Reveal Math program.
Budget revisited
The evening kicked off with administration officials going over the basics of next year’s proposed budget. Acknowledging that the plan was “influenced by challenging headwinds requiring difficult decisions,” Superintendent Drew Patrick then went over some facts and figures. The budget, he shared, will be a total of over $191,504,833, representing a $6,570,708 increase over 2024-25. This would translate to a 1.77% tax rate increase for the town of Scarsdale and a negative 0.23% tax decrease for the town of Mamaroneck.
As discussed in previous meetings, the major budget drivers are employee benefits as well also employee salary and wages, transportation capital projects, and various other expenditures. Importantly, the budget will provide for improvements such as the installation of a new synthetic field at the high school and a multi-year initiative to replace the elementary school playgrounds. Additionally, to fulfill a New York State mandate, the district will fund the procurement of several EV buses.
Andrew Lennon, Assistant Superintendent for Business, spoke next. The district’s transfer of money from the reserve to help fund the budget—a source of much consternation among Board members as well as Scarsdale residents—will be flat year-to-year. For Scarsdale homeowners whose property is valued at 1.3 million, the new budget would see their taxes rise by about $415. Mamaroneck residents, whose median property value is a little less than $2 million, would have the benefit of a roughly $62 decrease. The Board will consider adopting the budget on April 7th.
Public feedback
Members of the public were invited to opine on the budget draft and other matters. First to speak was a representative of the Scarsdale League of Women Voters. “The League…appreciates the district’s efforts to prioritize those expenditures that have the greatest impact on students in the current budget,” she said. However, the rep shared concern that the dwindling healthcare reserve fund could negatively impact the district’s credit rating, leading to cash flow challenges. Among her other remarks, she said the League would like the district to be more transparent about decisions such as class sizes and curricula.
A slide depicting that fund balance’s decrease from $22,127,894 in 6/30/24 to $20,830,421 in 6/30/2025.
Next up was the president of Scarsdale Travel softball, who voiced support of the new synthetic turf practice field. “Our existing grass fields and facilities alone cannot withstand the high demand that we have…it’s not just a softball issue, it’s a soccer issue, a lacrose issue, a baseball issue,” he said. The president of Scarsdale Youth Lacrosse followed, and also supported synthetic turf and strategic field enhancements. A rep from Scarsdale Youth Soccer echoed these sentiments, as did a Maroon and White spokesperson. Moreover, the last of them added, the organization is “thrilled by the decision to keep non-sanctioned sports, because they will enhance the student athlete experience and diversify our offerings.” (Still TBD is how the district can come up with $50K to finance these sports.)
A rep of the Scarsdale PTC shared gratitude for the thoughtfulness of the budgeting process, but also shared nervousness over the use of the fund balance to cover shortfalls. “Persisting with this approach will ultimately compel the district to either exhaust the fund balance or propose budgets that exceed the tax cap,” she warned.
The chart’s final line shows the steady erosion of the school’s fund balance since fiscal year end 2021.
The costliest items in the district’s budget.
The administration shared its draft of the 2025-26 budget.
Failure of the budget to pass could lead to severely curtailed spending limits.
Parents and students share sports concerns
A resident residing at 305 Heathcote Road who is the mother of a JV hockey player shared dismay that there are plans to cut the sport. A second woman, whose son plays ice hockey, spoke of the importance of its sustainability.
Jeremy Gans, a Village trustee and the father of a hockey player, also thinks the elimination of the JV hockey would be a blow to students.”It is to Scarsdale’s great credit that athletics brings benefits to a huge number of students who may never represent the school on the varsity level,” he said. A resident of 16 Oak Lane seconded Gans’s remarks. A resident of 267 Griffin Avenue attributed low numbers of hockey players to “a Covid bubble” and said, “We’re seeing those numbers come back, better than ever.” He also spoke of ways to make renting ice time less costly.
Students, too, had plenty to say. (For privacy and safety reasons, the Insider does not list children’s addresses.) Flanked by classmates in ice hockey shirts, one young man who plays varsity hockey said he would never have reached that level without JV practice. Another student, a former captain of the JV ice hockey team, spoke of the way the sport allows young people to grow both on and off the ice. A young woman who plays at the JV level reiterated this opinion. Another young man who played JV hockey this winter, commented, “It’s sad that JV hockey might be cut, especially since we have the numbers for a team.” Board members then shared their thoughts on the matter, with Board President Suzie Hahn expressing her hope that the sport can be saved. For now, funding for JV hockey remains part of the budget. With that, the budget forum portion of the meeting concluded.
Business meeting portion commences
After a brief legislative update on the state budgeting process by Hahn, Superintendent Patrick extended kudos to six students who won honors at the Regeneron Westchester-Putnam Science and Engineering Fair. Patrick then touched on a website migration underway. Lennon shared that the SHS auditorium renovation is in its final stages. A public comment session followed, but no comments were offered, and the Board then moved to its consent agenda, which took only a few minutes to complete.
Reveal Math controversy
The focus of the evening then turned to the night’s hot-button issue: parents’ widespread dissatisfaction with Reveal Math, the mathematics educational system employed in the elementary school. Edgar McIntosh, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and assessment, took the reins on the discussion. Pointing out that Reveal Math does not represent the entirety of math education offered to elementary school students, he then walked attendees through a “myth-busting” presentation.
The first myth, McIntosh said, is surrounds the use of algorithms and formulas in Reveal Math. The program, he explained, engages students in conceptual understanding before presenting an algorithm or formula. It ensures that students understand the structure of the mathematics that underlies the algorithms, he opined.
Another misconception, he continued, is that there isn’t focused attention on learning math facts. “Automaticity is developed through fluency,” he said. He then turned over the presentation to two math coordinators, both of whom sang Reveal Math’s praises. The Board members then posed some questions about the system before moving on to a quick discussion about matters regarding BOCES.
Student ex officio BOE member
A new New York state law requires that each public school district appoint a non-voting student to its Board of Education. The Board is getting close to the point where they can invite students to apply for the role. The Board discussed possible problem situations, such as if a student resigns or is removed from the position, and how to work around them. In addition, it examined how the student board member would be selected. Another item was whether student candidates must be residents of Scarsdale (yes), and whether faculty or staff members’ children ought to be disqualified.
Electronic device ban in the offing?
New York State legislature is currently discussing a device ban for all public schools. Governor Kathy Hochul is in favor of a bell-to-bell ban. The alternative may be to give schools more authority to decide how to implement the rule (for instance, to allow exceptions such as diabetes-monitoring devices). The Board went on to draft a proposal closely aligned with Hochul’s, and hopes to solicit community response through a survey. Next came a short discussion on gift proposals to Scarsdale schools and some finances around relatively inexpensive school projects.
More public comments
A resident of 239 Mamaroneck Road who is also VP of Public Policy for Crisis Text Hotline, a free mental health and crisis intervention service, spoke in favor of a bell-to-bell electronic device ban, as it fosters the human connections that helps support children’s mental health.
By and large, however, complaints about Reveal Math dominated the discussion. A resident of 4 Overhill Road spoke first. “I think we need to give parents a better opportunity to discuss these issues,” he said, complaining that the hour had grown late and many residents were likely putting their children to bed. He pointed out that commercial enterprises such as the Russian School of Math are prospering, with 80% of students of the local branch coming from Scarsdale. The implication, quite obviously, was that Scarsdale parents send their kids to the RSM to remediate deficiencies in the Reveal Math program. “One issue is inaccurate and wordy word problems,” the resident said.
After a resident of 313 Heathcote Road spoke in favor of a strict no-cellphones policy, focus then returned to Reveal Math. A resident from 16 Beechwood Lane, sharing that he has been a math teacher himself for 20 years, said that implementation of Reveal Math has not been consistent, even within same-grade classes. He also bemoaned the lack of replay videos to which parents formerly had access, which he said were valuable teaching tools. In addition, the program de-emphasizes physical and virtual manipulatives.
A resident of 17 Tunstall Road was blunt in her complaints, first among them that parents had waited hours to express their opinions and no other presentation on the program had been given since Reveal Math was first implemented. Noting that a handout had been giving regarding misinformation about the program, she said, “Can I ask where is the real information?”
The resident cited questionable curriculum changes, Reveal Math being among them, as the reasons why her youngest son’s educational experience “has been a disappointment in stark contrast to his siblings’.” In addition, she warned, in 2024, for the first time, Scarsdale’s sixth-grade state math scores were lower than that of neighboring districts. “The school administration knows something is terribly off,” she contended. “I really feel like crying when I’m reading all of this,” she added.
A resident of 107 Porter Road shared that she is not against Reveal Math, but asked for a swift and comprehensive review of the program. A resident of 3 Oak Lane shared that Reveal Math has left her daughter with a lack of confidence about mathematics. “Math is just not fun for her,” she said.
A resident of 24 Haverford Avenue said she was disappointed with a handout on Reveal Math, stating “misinformation” about it. “Misinformation” is not only wrong, but condescending,” she complained. “There is so much mumbo jumbo and poorly worded word problems [with Reveal Math],” she said. “My first grader was crying…because she was unable to understand a very confusing word problem….Let’s have more humility when it comes to parents’ feedback and cut our losses while we can,” she urged.
A resident of 34 Brookby Road again advocated for a ban on cell phones, noting that students socialize less because of them, and often sneak out of classrooms to check TikTok. “I’m imploring you all, as a group and a leadership, to adopt some tough decisions for the wellbeing of the students that are coming up [to high school],” she said.
A resident of 62 Woods Lane expressed deep reservations about Reveal Math, saying its shortfalls necessitated outside tutoring. She suggested the school conduct a survey to assess how prevalent this practice is.
Another resident of 17 Tunstall said his child has suffered due to Reveal Math. “Something is terribly wrong and he feels it,” the resident said. “We moved to Scarsdale from Eastchester for Singapore Math,” he added, citing a previous program used by Scarsdale schools.
The resident of 24 Haverford Road asked to speak again, this time on behalf of her husband, who had left the meeting for childcare issues. “You had an opportunity to speak,” replied Board President Hahn. “Yeah, but my husband didn’t, and he waited for hours here,” the resident responded. “You were not respectul to the elementary school parents.” The conflict continued until Hahn called for a 5-minute recess.
When the meeting resumed, a resident of 50 Fox Meadow Lane, herself an experienced educator, said it sounded as though the administration had no parental involvement in selecting Reveal Math. “I’m having a great deal of difficulty understanding how the district believed that Reveal Math was really the best and most appropriate curriculum for early learners,” she said. “The way it’s written is far from what I feel is developmentally appropriate for most early learners.”
A resident of 39 Church Lane. “I believe the benchmark for adopting new curriculum should be whether it’s significantly superior to Singapore Math,” the resident said. “It’s wiser to go for another well-established curriculum rather than something that came up two or three years back.”
A resident of 44 Carman Road said “I am just another parent raising my hand and saying I also do not feel that Reveal Math is great curriculum. “It teaches multiple strategies towards the same goal, and those strategies are all very language-heavy and are taught rapidly.”
A resident of 26 Rugby Lane called the information on Reveal Math that the administration handed out “great propaganda,” adding, “In my son’s third-grade class, I am probably the only boy parent that’s not at the Russian School of Mathematics, and that’s because we have our own tutor for math.”
After running through several upcoming event dates, the Board concluded the meeting.