PTO Back to School Canrival, Friday September 30 3-6pm!

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Final Board of Education Election Results (posted 5/19/22)

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Board of Education Meeting May 18, 2022

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Preliminary Results - 2022 TUFSD Budget Vote and Board of Education Election (posted 5/17/22)

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Agenda for BOE Meeting May 18, 2022

Click here to view the agenda 

LiveStream Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E6xKXTXId4

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2022 TUFSD Budget Vote and Board of Educaltion Election (Updated 5/15/22)

The 2022 School Board election and budget vote will take place on Tuesday, May 17.  This year, five candidates are vying for three open spots on the Board of Education: incumbents Dan Castricone and Lucy Scully as well as Kimberly Breiland, Salvatore Saetta and Heather Kidde.
The make-up of the school board is extremely important as it has a direct impact on the future of the School District as well as every one’s taxes. In addition to the annual budget, the Board of education is responisble for developing and adopting the policies and curriculum that drive the District as well as providing oversight of any facility-based issues.  Therefore, understanding these candidates, their areas of expertise and their levels of experience is crucial in making an informed decision. 
In an effort to inform the community, TPFYI presented each candidate with a basic questionnaire, designed to focus on their biographical information as well as their levels of experience and reasons for running.  What follows are the resposes received, unedited and in the order that we received them.

Kimberly Breiland
Name: Kimberly Breiland
Education/Degrees: Pratt Institute/BFA
Vocation/Employer: Creative Director/22 Graphics
Years of residency in Tuxedo: 6 years
Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
• St. Mary’s Church: Sit on the Vestry, created logo, help with Sunday School
• Tuxedo Garden Club: Have volunteered for events
• Tuxedo UFSD: Created logo for school district, designed billboard art, designed ads and flyers for the school, and led an acting “after-school” class for the high school students
• Tuxedo Community Activity Council: Volunteered to help with events
• Tuxedo Trail Committee: Created trail map
• Tuxedo Chamber of Commerce: Created business map for train station kiosk
• Tuxedo Recreation Department: Created graphics for Tshirts provided at events
Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
I ran for this seat last year. I have just reviewed my response from one year ago and I stated:
“?The District is turning the corner with the introduction of a COVID Response Summer Program, Facility Improvements, Curriculum + Library + Textbook + Software Upgrades, a Transportation Program that reduces costs, and most importantly a more Transparent Accounting System. I have been a part of all this. And I would like to continue to work hard to ensure our District remains on a forward path.”
It is obvious that the path that was set was not taken this year.
• Monroe Woodbury is having a Summer Bridge program to help their students, our district is not.
• Our facilities are finally getting work done because of emergency situations.
• Curriculum is lacking and an overabundance of study halls is unacceptable.
• Budget is not looking to be in good health.
If I am elected my focus will be on Academics, Arithmetic, and Accountability.
What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
• Academics need to be enhanced in the lower school and upper school
• Eyes on the budget must be a monthly task
I have been keeping track of Board meetings and actions this past year. If you want to learn more on what has been happening within our district visit KBfortheBOE.com

Salvatore L Saetta
Name: Salvatore L Saetta
Education/Degrees: Advanced BA
Vocation/Employer: Portfolio Manager / Wells Fargo Financial Network
Years of residency in Tuxedo: 2.5
Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo: N/A
Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
Our town has a unique opportunity to attract new families while preserving and growing our property values. Neither of these goals can happen without a strong school system. I’ve seen internal conflicts appear between BOE members, lack of accountability and no measurable goals or improvements for our kids and our property owners. We’re looking at tax increases for this year and have nothing to show for it. Buildings need repairs and enhancements, so where and how were our tax dollars spent? We as residents should be tired of the lack of leadership and having no way of holding the leaders accountable for the headwinds our school faces. Our children are not getting the school social life that is so cherished for high school aged children and they are not being shown how to compete properly once out of school. Living in the NY metro area is one of the most competitive areas in the world and the competition is both relentless and on an international scale. It starts with our schools to get our youth ready. The years of revolving staff, absent leadership have led to a culture of getting nothing accomplished with no action on holding them accountable. This should matter to all of us, as Tuxedo has some of the oldest demographics in the state and cannot attract the young families we need. Our property values should be far more stable and higher to be in line with our immediate surrounding areas and they cannot get there due to the schools. The schools need to be addressed and they should have been addressed in a concise and organized manner years ago.
What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
- Have stated and measurable goals year over year with assessments on achieving them.
- Accountability for all involved on not meeting their goals (Staff, administration and BOE members).
- Consider all options with the best interest of property owners and students in mind first.
- Spending tax payer dollars efficiently.

Dan Castricone
Name: Dan Castricone
Education/Degrees: Bachelors University of Buffalo in Economics, Juris Doctor Pace University School of Law
Vocation/Employer: Solo Attorney and Risk Management Officer for Orange County NY
Years of residency in Tuxedo: 27 year resident with three children who graduated from GFB High School.
Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
President, Tuxedo UFSD Board of Education
President Tuxedo Sons of Italy, member Scholarship Committee
Ramapo Valley Rotary, member Scholarship Committee
Founding Board Member Tuxedo Little League
Eagle Scout Coordinator Tuxedo Boy Scouts
Tuxedo Zoning Board, Tuxedo Town Board, Orange County Legislature, Advisor for United Monroe.
Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
The survival of the school is the most important factor in the future of the Town of Tuxedo. We are on the cusp of Tuxedo Farms finally adding the children we need to add vibrancy to the school. My running mate, Lucy Cerezo Scully and I have accomplished so much as Board President and Vice President including adding an elementary school literacy teacher, adding a numeracy teacher (to be hired for 2022/23), and reinstating the elementary STEM teacher.
We’ve hired the new administrative team, settled the collective bargaining contracts and overhauled the high school schedule for 2022/23 that extends teacher contact time to 47 minutes and eliminates study halls. We’ve enhanced technology, cyber security, and disaster recovery and implemented effective professional development for our staff. We even added new colleges to our “College in the High School” program.
         Fiscally we’ve kept residents’ taxes low and stable. (Over our three years on the board, tax increases have been 0%, 0% and this year’s proposed less than 1%)
We’ve implemented a zero-based budget process for the first time, a huge improvement over prior years’ roll-over incremental budgets.
We are also taking care of our buildings. We instituted an energy performance agreement with Honeywell where the district will get 1.4 million dollars in building improvements, paid for in energy savings guaranteed by Honeywell. We moved 2 million dollars out of our bloated unassigned fund balance into a Capital Reserve fund so we can improve our buildings without adding debt to the backs of taxpayers. We even made the most of our recent flood to make improvements and upgrades wherever they could.
  We’re on a path to making our schools among the best small schools in the state with a goal of being in the top 100 nationwide. Working with a cooperative and intelligent board and administration that puts the children and district before everything else, this goal is achievable. Simply, we’re running because we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished but there is so much more to do. We need to expand our programs in the High School. We need to increase test scores. We need to see our kids being accepted to the best colleges. We need fix the lunch program and sports and extracurriculars.
 What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
We need to ensure that the School District is treated fairly by the Related Companies and the Town when it comes to the Tuxedo Farms project. I have been around and involved long enough to know what the school was promised, what is possible, and what deals can be made to protect the school and get us a good project. Continued, stable leadership at this time may be more important than ever before.
We need to add children to the district and stop the defection from the district into local private schools. The steps we’ve taken so far will help us here. The College in the High School program allows our children to graduate with an entire year of college credits under their belts. The literacy teacher in the elementary school is already affecting test scores. Next year the numeracy teacher will do the same. Our pre-school program gives families a taste of the quality education they can expect here. As the program continues to improve, so will our student retention and recruitment.  Look for improved marketing programs soon to make sure the world knows about our amazing schools. 
We must continue to improve the districts financial controls and ensure that we provide low, stable taxes to our community. We underspent last year’s budget by $220,000 because of careful controls instituted by our board and administration. Every payroll run was certified.  Waste was eliminated. Auditors were hired. Continuing to provide low, stable taxes improve our property values and protects our seniors ability to stay here and thrive.

Heather Kidde
Name: Heather Kidde
Education/Degrees: Colgate University, BA Economics & Psychology Chartered Financial Analyst designation
Vocation/Employer: Portfolio Manager, Northern Trust Wealth Management
Years of residency in Tuxedo:
12 years in Tuxedo/2 years in TUFSD
Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
Sloatsburg Food Pantry Board Member & volunteer: 2020 - present
GGM Fifth Grade co-class parent: 2021 - present Girl Scouts Leader (Tuxedo Park School): 2018-2020
Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education? Our family moved into the Tuxedo Union Free School District to send our kids to George Grant Mason Elementary School. We love the small class size and the wonderful community.
I am running for the Board of Education because I want to be part of the future of the school district. As we emerge from the pandemic, it is more important than ever to make sure our schools and teachers have all of the tools to keep our kids on track. My focus is on supporting our students, teachers, and administration toward a common goal of providing a top tier education.
What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
The most important issues currently facing the School District include enrollment, infrastructure, and programming. We cannot accomplish all that needs to be done without strong financial oversight to make sure we are spending our tax dollars appropriately and not wasting valuable time and money.
Declining enrollment is not an issue unique to TUFSD. We can attract students to tuition into our school with an excellent curriculum and class sizes that make our public school feel like a private school. In addition to making sure our students are well prepared in academics, it is important to provide extracurricular opportunities to attract and retain students and families.
We need to include building improvements in our budget to make sure these historic buildings are safe and have the amenities needed for the future of education.

Lucy Cerezo Scully
Name: Lucy Cerezo Scully
Education/Degrees: Alfred University School Counseling Program, MSed College of St. Rose/CITE School Building Leader Touro College MS Linguistics/TESOL
Fordham University: Cum Laude BA Theater, New York University: Educational Theater, Certifications: School Counseling, NYS School Building Leader (SBL) NYS Theater K-12
Vocation/Employer: The City of New York, Department of Education
Years of residency in Tuxedo: 5 years permanent residence
Purchased my home in 2010 resided part time until 2017 when I moved permanently
One child in the district attending GFB
Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
Vice President, Tuxedo UFSD Board of Education
Parent Volunteer for school musicals
Board of Education Policy Committee
Board of Education Advocacy and Community Outreach Committee
Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
I am the only candidate who is a professional educator. I have thirty years of experience in education and bring quite a bit of insight to the Board of Education. This was my First year as Vice President of the Board.
Those who have participated in the monthly board meetings or are otherwise aware of what is going on in the District know of all the progress we made this year and would be impressed with the gains the schools have made in 2021/22.
The first factor in student success in the classroom is an effective teacher. This year we hired approximately 1/3 of the teaching staff to fill the vacancies of retirees. These new hires are all highly experienced and competent teachers who complement our existing staff.
The second factor in student success in the classroom is a competent, effective, and stable administration. This year we hired a new superintendent and administration; all of whom are highly experienced and accomplished professionals.
Our new budget keeps low stable taxes for our community and supports education. We have charged our administration with making Tuxedo a Top 100 school district and we are on our way to achieving that goal.
After two years of interrupted education due to COVID-19 it is more vital than ever that we support our students with a literacy teacher (who has already been hired) and a new numeracy specialist to be hired for the 2022-2023 school year. These supports are invaluable for students to fill the gaps caused by the recent pandemic.
During my time on the Board we also created a new academic schedule that extended each period to 47 minutes, expanded college in the classroom, added pre-school to the school, and are addressing critical facility infrastructure issues. All union contracts have been settled fairly.
I am running for reelection to continue this progress and forward momentum. After a decade of turn-over we need stability.
What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
In addition to my desire to continue the great work we accomplished this year, we must also foster a partnership with the Town and Related Properties to ensure the building at Tuxedo Farms. These new homes will expand our enrollment and increase the assessment rolls both of which will have a great impact on the District. We must also make sure that Related Properties stands by their pledge of $2.5 million and 40 acres of land to the school district. We also need to develop a long-range plan to effectively incorporate all of this change into our schools.
I would also like to see better retention of our students. Marketing all of our programs and progress will help in that regard and we are developing plans to improve communication and our school brand. We need to ensure our program offerings and opportunities continue to expand in the high school. Ensuring that our educators continue getting effective professional development will also help us to continue to raise our student performance.
Finally, we must continue to provide an excellent education for our students in the district while maintaining financial controls to ensure that we provide low, stable taxes to our community. Please come out on May 17th to vote on the budget and Castricone for the Board of Education.

Important Voter Information:

**The public hearing for the 2022/2023 budget will take place on Wednesday, May 4 at 7pm.
Copies of the budget presentations can be found on the school website or by clicking here

**The budget vote and election will take place on Tuesday, May 17 from 2-9pm in the multipurpose room at GGM.

**Absentee Ballots 
If you are going to be out of town for work or studies, will be having a medical procedure, or are confined to your home due to illness or physical disability you can fill out an absentee ballot application to vote for the proposed 2022/23 school budget and Board of Education members. The application must be received by the District Clerk at George F. Baker High School, 1 Tornado Drive, Tuxedo Park, NY 10987 at least seven days before the election if the ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or the day before the election, if the ballot will be picked up personally by the voter. Absentee ballots can only be picked up by the voter named on the application. The absentee ballot must be received by the Office of the District Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the election.
Click here to download the application for an absentee ballot.

UPDATE 5/15/22:

On Saturday, May 14 the Tuxedo PTO posted the following candidate Q&A on YouTube

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TUFSD High School Drama Proudly Presents "Drink Water Respect Women” May 24, 2022

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Special BOE Meeting and Budget Hearing May 4, 2022

The Board of education met for a special meeting and budget hearing on May 4, 2022 at 7pm.

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BOE Meeting April 21, 2022

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Agenda for BOE Meeting April 21, 2022

Click here to view the agenda 

LiveStream Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODxsNG66sKw

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BOE Budget Work Session April 6, 2022

At last night’s BOE Budget Workshop meeting District Superintendent Jeff White presented the Board with 4 options for the 2022/2023 budget.  The option supported by the administration calls for a 2.06% increase in the budget ($281,000), which equates to a 1.22% increase in the tax rate.  This plan would allow for a small contingency as well as limited program enhancements and building improvements while leaving the District with a severely diminished fund balance.  BOE President Dan Castricone recommended reducing the District’s reserve funds (in particular workman’s comp) in order to build up the contingency, but the idea was not embraced by the Superintendent and other members of the Board.  President CastriconePresident Castricone also voiced his strong support for the employment of a numeracy teacher in the elementary school, but it is unclear as to whether or not any of the plans as proposed will support this.  

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BOE Budget Work Session March 31, 2022

The Board of Education held the first in a series of public budget workshops this past Thursday evening.  “At the direction of the Board President we have prepared an expenditure budget that has a 0% spending increase” Superintendent Jeff White announced.  He went on to explain that this budget would not allow for any new teachers or expanded elective offerings in the High School nor did it include any of the improvements they had been discussing over the past few months, which he believes will be necessary on the District’s road to the top 100.  He suggested these improvements would have to made in future years.  He further cautioned that the budget as presented did not have any contingencies built in to cover unforeseen emergencies or Special Education placements and that while it does encompass the raises as agreed to in the recently ratified Union Contracts for the upcoming year, it does not cover them for the following year.  

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TUFSD Finalizes Teacher Union Contract

On September 15, 2021 the Board of Education voted 5-2 in favor of signing a new agreement with the TTA.  For undisclosed reasons, the contract was not actually signed until March 8, 2022.  A copy of the signed contract can be viewed here.

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Agenda for BOE Budget Work Session March 31, 2022

Click here to view the agenda 

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Spirit Wear Sale in the TUFSD 

The Tuxedo PTO is selling Spirit Wear including certain items from premier brands such as Nike and Under Armour!  Please use the accompanying link to shop online. 

https://teamlocker.squadlocker.com/#/organizations/tuxedo

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TUFSD Budget Calendar 

Click here to view larger 

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Board of Education Meeting March 16, 2022

A portion of this meeting was dedicated to a Scheduling Presentation by consultant Steven Kussin.  That presentation can be viewed here.

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting March 16, 2022

Click here to view the agenda

Join the meeting virtually : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7LbWgKEYr8

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PreK and Kindergarten Registration in the TUFSD

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TUFSD Goes Fully Mask Optional Beginning March 7

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Board of Education Meeting February 16, 2022

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting February 16, 2022

Click here to view the agenda

Join the meeting virtually by following this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xOCrOMZpJQ

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Burst Pipes at George F. Baker Force Students into Remote Learning until February 28 (Posted 2/10/22)

Students at George F. Baker High school will be learning remotely through February 18 due to a pipe burst in the early morning hours on February 9.  The subsequent flooding has led to extensive damage and according to District Superintendent Jeffrey White, the insurance adjuster, property restoration company and  commercial plumbing contractor have all advised that the best and safest course of action is for the District  to keep the building closed to students, faculty, and staff until after February Break. "The building is solidly constructed; however, the plumbing is showing its age, “ White assured parents in an email on Wednesday afternoon.  "Much of the piping is encased in cement. We will address these issues in our capital plan."

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Undisclosed Threat Puts TUFSD in Lockdown (Posted 2/2/22)

An arrest has been made following an undisclosed email threat, which sent the TUFSD into a lockdown on Wednesday afternoon. 

Here are some other articles from local news outlets concerning the incident:

Juvenile Faces Felony Charges After Threatening HV School: NYSP

Juvenile Charged After Threat Causes Lockdown at School District in Area

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Board of Education Meeting January 19, 2022

The Board of education met on Wednesday, January 19, 2022 via google-meet.  All Board members were present.

Meeting Opening:
Board President Dan Castricone welcomed everyone and roll call was taken.  The agenda was unanimously approved.

Public Comment on Agenda Items:
There were none.

Administrator’ Reports:
GGM  Principal Dolores Terlecky reported that things were going well in GGM.  Earlier that day students participated in a program called Project Hope, which addresses mental health issues, particularly those brought on by Covid-19.  Additionally, there was a 90 minute after-school program designed for staff focusing on mental health for staff wellness as well as learning how to identify indicators of stress and anxiety in students. 
Scheduling Consultant Dr. Steve Kussin provided the Board with an update/progress report on the new master schedule, on which he has been working with the District since November.  The presentation focused primarily on the process and did contain much content relating to the schedule itself.  Likening the scheduling process to an I LOVE LUCY episode, he laid out a 10-step process for developing and implementing the new schedule as follows, detailing each step:          

• Plan it
• Package It
• Market It
• Count Em Up
• Spot Trouble
• Build It
• Test It
• Load It
• Adjust It
• Refine It

Dr. Kusin has met with the scheduling committee twice thus far and GFB Principal Roy Reese has begun meeting with staff to discuss course offerings, all part of the “plan it” step.  Following the November meeting, Dr. Kussin has heard directly from 3 members of the community, all of whom expressed a desire to see more course offerings and electives and concern over the abundance of study halls in the high school.  Members of the school community who have thoughts or concerns about course offerings and/or the schedule, are encouraged to  reach out to him directly via e-mail at sk3015@aol.com  As the group continues to progress with the process over the coming months, they will update the Board on a regular basis.
Superintendent Jeff White began his report by noting that although the District had been forced to start off the new year contending with Omicron, he was very pleased with the way his team had come together to respond to the situation.  Remote instruction was necessary initially due to a dearth of essential employees to open the schools. He expressed his gratitude to the health office as well as the District Physician and the Covid-19 Committee also highlighting the efforts of their partners at Pathline Laboratories for their work in diligently turning around test results for staff and students. 
GFB Principal Roy Reese has had “a little setback,” but Superintendent White reported that he was doing well and recovering nicely.  He is expected to return to work in the coming week.
The District is making good progress in their work with Orange County in their efforts to get staff appropriately aligned with Civil Service classifications. 
The Charter for the Strategic Planning Committee was placed on the agenda for approval.  “Now all the committees are formed and well positioned to move the District forward,” the Superintendent stated. 
The Board can expect a presentation from Mrs. Trelecky on RTI (Response to Intervention) at their February meeting.
Lastly, the Superintendents’ Goals have been placed on the agenda for approval.

Consent Agenda:
Items 4.3, 4.4, 4.7 and 4.8 were removed for discussion.
The Board voted unanimously to approve the remaining items on the consent agenda.
Item 4.3 – Personnel Non-Instructional Appointments – The Board voted in favor of approving item 4.3. with Board President Dan Castricone abstaining. 
Item 4.4 – Personnel Promotional Appointments - The Board voted in favor of approving item 4.4 with Board President Dan Castricone abstaining. 

plan will be submitted to the State and posted, along with the financial statements, on the district website.  All corrective action will be completed by June 30.  The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the plan. 
Item 4.7 – Business Office Report – Mr. Rickard noted that the appropriations reported showed that the District would have an excess of over $3,000,000 by June 30.  “Is this correct?  Is it possible?  If it’s true, what implications will it have for the District,” he inquired.
“I wish it were true and that we would have 3 million dollars in excess funds,” responded the Superintendent,” but it’s not.  As I mentioned in a previous meeting, there are a number of items in there which are unencumbered.  We are working on improving the process to make this a more helpful document.  We will be encumbering things much more effectively in the future.  So you will see that number going down as the year goes through.”
Mr. Rickard encouraged the Superintendent and his team to really “hone in” on the numbers, especially as they head into budget season.  The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving item 4.7. 

Items for Discussion:
Donation – the District is in receipt of a generous donation from SUNY Cordland of 21 projectors for classroom and/or theater use.  It amounts to roughly $40-50,000 worth of equipment. 
Budget Calendar – Superintendent White provided a brief overview of the budget calendar.  The budget vote will take place the 3rd Tuesday in May and the calendar includes dates for submission to State for final review as well as submittal to the BOE, committee meetings for detailed review, and presentation to the public. 
Superintendent Goals – Goals focused on developing a strategic plan, pupil & personnel services, operations and maintenance, curriculum instruction, human resources & staffing, technology and finance were presented to the Board only.  The goals map out strategic directions for each of the goals themselves, detailing the means, the benefits and the strategic outcomes.  They have also been formatted to fit the Superintendent Evaluation tool.  “I’m hoping that everybody is on board with these.  I think that they are pretty solid goals.  I think it’s going to get us where we need to be in the first year.  A number of them we are well on our way to achieving.  I think they are all very achievable,” commented Superintendent White.
Board Members Joe Rickard and Alyssa Horneff praised the goals.  “I think this is tight,” stated Mr. Rickard “if you can achieve these within the time frame, by June 30, we’ve got some really big things here!  Especially the scheduling…I love that.” 
“I agree,” commented Mrs. Horneff.  “I love that we have these goals and that are mapped out and outlined.  I think they will be huge for the District.”   She went on to inquire about the timeline, wondering whether there would be periodic progress to the BOE.
Superintendent White explained that one of the benefits to the Superintendent Evaluation tool was that it allowed them to upload deliverables into the system as they progressed. 
The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the goals.
Strategic Planning Committee – Superintendent White explained that the Strategic Planning process was very extensive.  “It may take us a little bit of time.  We may be inclined to get some outside assistance,” he noted, further commenting that he had been in contact with 4 POINTS SOLUTIONS, who provided an independent evaluation of the High School back in 2017/18.  He has also collected the names of some other firms that do this type of work.  “It’s going to take some time to develop this the right way.  Once we do have a strategic plan developed, it will be for five years, and then every year we’ll just keep updating it.  It will be a live document moving forward.”
Mr. Rickard wondered whether the committee members understood that this commitment would be a long term (more than one year) and labor intensive effort.  Mr. White concurred that this was true.  Mr. Rickard wondered whether Mr. White had any idea as to how long it would take to develop a comprehensive, draft plan.  Mr. White responded that this would depend on whether or not they chose to do the work themselves inhouse or to work with an external outfit.  “If we brought in an outside and got some assistance, we could probably have a decent plan by the end of the summer.  If we do it internally, with all the things we have going on with our limited resources and our limited staff, it could take a lot longer than that.”
President Castricone noted that a Strategic Planning Committee had been formed back in the spring of 2018 and that this group had put together and submitted a plan.  “I am not sure if that has been pulled out and looked out and updated.  I would sure like for us to start with that.  I don’t want to pay somebody thousands of dollars to come in and tell us that we are a small school district and we are unique.  I really want to get into the meat here.  We know where we are.  It’s where we want to be…and we want to be thriving and growing and we want to be responsible to the taxpayers.  I look forward to working with you on it, but I want to be real sharp on who we are paying as a consultant to make sure that they understand that I don’t somebody to tell us that we are a small, unique school district again.”
In terms of growth, Mr. White reported that the Developers of Tuxedo Farms had recently partnered with Lennar Homebuilders, who is the largest homebuilder in the United States.  “It looks like this thing is really going to be moving forward, so we are really excited about that…and I do think we will be growing,” further explaining that they would bring in a number of potential consultants to present to the Board before deciding whether or not to  move forward with one and at that time they could make it very clear what the expectations are. 

Public Comments:
Addressing Mr. Kussin and Mr. White, Meg Vaught inquired about the master schedule and more specifically the course offerings, wondering whether the newly developed list would include classes that the District actually offered to students on a consistent, reliable basis or whether it would be strongly fleshed out by classes that could be offered under certain circumstances or were only offered on a rotating basis based on enrollment numbers as has been the case in the past.  She further wondered what the timeline would be for amassing the list of courses and presenting it to the public, as outlined in the “packaging” phase of Mr. Kussins’ presentation. 
Mr. White responded that corrections had been made to the course guide, which had been inclusive of all the courses that had been approved by the Board, regardless of whether they were being offered.  The guide has been restructured so as to feature those courses that are currently being offered first and those that have Board approval but are not currently being offered towards the bottom of the document.
Dr. Kussin added that all schools will offer their courses up like a menu and decide which ones to offer based on what their community wants.  “Hopefully the schedule will be able to entertain more of them, but we are never going to be able to run all of them,” he added. 
Changing topics, Mrs. Vaught noted that back in November Superintendent White had recommended to the Board that the District hire a PR firm.  She wondered whether there were any plans to follow through with this recommendation.
Mr. White responded that he had identified five different organizations and the Community Outreach & Advocacy committee would be interviewing them.  This work will commence next week.    

Executive Session:
The Board moved into an executive session for the purpose of discussion a litigation matter as well as a personnel matter.
Following the session the Board announced that they would be interviewing firms and seeking proposals for the auditing of District payroll and benefits.

Click here to listen to a recording of this meeting

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting January 19, 2022

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Tuxedo UFSD To Open With Remote Instruction January 3&4 (posted 12/31/21)

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Board of Education Meeting December 21, 2021

Click here to listen to a recording of this meeting

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting December 21, 2021

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Special Board of Education Meeting December 15, 2021

Click here to listen to a recording of this meeting

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting December 15, 2021

Click here to view the notice

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Tuxedo George F. Baker Seniors Paint Parking Spots

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Special Board of Education Meeting November 22, 2021

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting November 22, 2021

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Board of Education Meeting November 17, 2021

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting November 17, 2021

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting November 4, 2021

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Tuxedo School Board Weighs Misconduct Complaint Against Member

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Board of Education Meeting October 20, 2021

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting October 20, 2021

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Special Board of Education Meeting October 15, 2021

The Board of Education held a special meeting on Friday, September 15 at 9am in the Community Room at the high school.  The three item agenda was as follows:

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting October 15, 2021

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TUFSD Back to School Carnival October 15, 2021

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting October 7, 2021

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Special Board of Education Meeting September 24, 2021

The Board of Education held a Special Meeting on Friday, September 24 at 7pm via Google Meet.  All members were present.

OT/Speech Approval: The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving occupational therapy/Speech services for one student. 

Executive Session – The Board then entered into a lengthy executive session for the purpose of considering potential proceeding regarding a school district officer.  When they returned, BOE President Dan Castricone read the following motion:

“Be it resolved that the Board hereby appoints Carol M Hoffman Esq. to conduct a hearing pursuant to District policy #1315 and education law 1709, section 18 regarding two charges of official misconduct against a School District Officer #092421 as presented to the Board at this meeting and be it further resolved that the hearing officer shall arrange for a transcript of said proceedings and be paid the hourly rate of $250 for her hours of service as a hearing officer.”

The Motion was passed 5-2, with Board members Joe Rickard and Dorothy Ziegelbauer voting against. 

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Board of Education Meeting September 15, 2021

The Board of Education met on Wednesday, September 15 at 7pm.  All members were present.

The consent agenda was unanimously approved by the Board.

Public Comment:
Christina Clarke noted that the District had recently hired two new administrators, one in the high school and one in the elementary school.  Further noting that these had both been interim hires, she inquired as to what their objectives would be and whether these would be long-term or short-term objectives.
Board president Dan Castricone responded that the hiring season for teachers usually begins in at the end of the school year and runs through the summer.  With the new Superintendent coming on board in July, the District has not had the time necessary to hire permanent people.  “Maybe the best people that we could find wouldn’t be looking right now.  They would be looking more in the regular hiring season,” he concluded.  With that said he further commented that they had been lucky to find two very experienced individuals who had been willing to come in and help the District out.
Board member Joe Rickard prodded President Castricone to answer the question Mrs. Clarke had actually asked, which pertained specifically to objectives for the new hires.  He suggested that Superintendent White might be able to provide the answer.
Superintendent White responded that the District was actively working to build “an outstanding team.”  Currently High School Principal Roy Reese’s contract runs through November 30 and this would be reviewed again prior to expiration.  “They are acting as though they are going to be here lengthy periods of time.  They are going to be reviewing our curriculum.  They are meeting with all of our teachers.  We are trying to move the District forward.  The Board of Ed and the community said to me when I was hired that they want to be a top 100 school District,” he stated further commenting that this was the goal they were working towards with everyone they hired.  “We are going to be developing a strategic road map.  We are working very closely with the teachers.  We are building relationships and their goal right now is to help us move the curriculum along, open the schools and get off to a great new year.”
Mrs. Clarke replied that while she appreciated the comments, she still did not feel her question had been answered satisfactorily.  “I’m looking for specific objectives,” she stated. “There must be some kind of short-range goals or objectives that are being discussed as opposed to long-term goals.”
Superintendent White suggested that the short-range goals had been to open the schools smoothly and that moving forward they would be developing committees and relationships with the teachers so that they could in turn develop the curriculum.  “Improving student scores and success is the long-term goal.”
Mrs. Clarke noted that she would be attending meetings and following up.  She then inquired about Student/Teacher connections and time, wondering whether the District was meeting the State Mandated student/teacher time requirements. 
Superintendent White responded that they were. 
Mrs. Clarke noted that she lived in the Woodlands and had contact with parents there.  One of the things she had heard from a parent was that in the year prior, a student had 24 study halls inside of one week. 
“We are going to move on,” stated President Castricone.  Before doing so however, he commented that one thing that was “exciting” about Tuxedo was that many of the District 8th graders were taking 9th grade classes because of the integration between the middle and high schools and that often times this lead to a pattern of advanced learning which resulted in seniors who had finished all of their requirements.  “When we are accelerating the kids in the beginning, sometimes at the end of the trail the kids have taken everything that they want to have taken.  They have fulfilled their requirements and they don’t need to take anything else.” He further explained that in the past, the District had offered these students the opportunity to take classes through RCC.  His daughter was able to take advantage of this and leave high school with 20 college credits.  This opportunity no longer exists however they are excited to announce that they plan to begin offering college courses again and this should help to alleviate the study hall situation. 

Administrators’ Reports:
Superintendent Report – Superintendent White reported that the school year had gotten off to a smooth start and that both the Superintendent conference days and opening days for students had gone well.  He added that the atmosphere in the buildings seemed to be very positive and that students had provided them with some good feedback for improvements which they are looking into.  They plan to do a survey related to the food service in the near future. 
Each fall the Advanced Placement program recognized students who demonstrated outstanding college level achievement for their performance on multiple AP exams.  Superintendent congratulated Seniors Marisa Leo and Theodore Heavner on their outstanding achievement. 
The District has recently hired a new, interim elementary school principal, Dolores Terlecky.  Mrs. Terlecky is a highly experienced, highly successful administrator from the Monroe Woodbury school District.  She retired from that District as the principal of Central Valley Elementary.  Prior to that she was the assistant principal at North Main Elementary as well as an adjunct professor at both Marist and Empire State Colleges and a teacher with multiple New York State certifications.  “I am quite sure that the students, staff and community will be very excited when they meet and have a chance to work with Mrs. Terlecky,” stated the Superintendent.  Mrs. Terlecky originally comes from the west coast Spain and is bilingual.  She is succeeding Paul Brown and Superintendent White thanked Mr. Brown for his service to Tuxedo, wishing him well in his decision to accept a new position in another District.
Next Mr. White reported that later in the agenda the Board would be voting on an MOA for the teachers’ contract.  The teachers have overwhelmingly approved the MOA and he is excited to put it before the Board.
Another item on agenda is MOAs for both St. Thomas Aquinas (STAC) and Lincoln Tech.  Superintendent White asked Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Instruction, Roy Reese, to provide more information about these items.  Mr. Reese noted that he had only been in district for 2 weeks and that therefore he had not had complete participation in putting together either MOA.  He went on to say that STAC and Lincoln Tech represented two very different kinds of college studies with one being more technical in nature than the other (Lincoln Tech). He is also working on SUPER, which is a program through Syracuse University that offers courses for students.  He is also working with SUNY Orange.  “I’ve heard since I have been here about study halls.  I have heard about too much time for seniors and things like that,” he commented noting that they were working hard to broaden the scope and that he believed that they would have more than 4 and as many as 6 college courses that they could offer by the start of the spring semester.  “This will help fill some of the students time.  It will also enable them to earn college credit and get a leg up.  We have the staff that can teach these courses.  We should use them and that will benefit our kids.” He further noted that he had extensive experience with musical theater as a scenic lighting designer.  He has worked stages from Broadway all through the Hudson Valley and into the Adirondacks.  He is looking to try and bring a theater program into the District that would not only benefit the kids but carry  accreditation for college.
Superintendent White has been working with Orange/Ulster Boces to schedule a Board of Ed retreat.  Several dates were provided and the BOE was asked to respond ASAP with their availability.
Lastly, the Superintendent thanked Christine Olivia and Marco Margotta for updating the Program of Studies to reflect the current course offerings for the 2021/22 school year.  

Consent Agenda:
Board member Joe Rickard requested that several items be removed from the consent agenda for discussion including Personnel Non-Instructional Appointments, the MOA Teachers Contract.  The rest of consent agenda was unanimously approved. 
Personnel Non-Instructional Appointments – Board member Dorothy Ziegelbauer noted that prior to hiring Superintendent White, the District had employed a Superintendent, HS Principal and Elementary School Principal.  After the previous Superintendent resigned, the HS Principal took over as Interim Superintendent.  Now, Mrs. Terlecky has been hired to replace Mr. Brown as elementary school principal, Mr. Reese has been hired as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Instruction/Secondary Principal, Ms. Scariano is Director of Student Services/Assistant Secondary Principal. Now there are two administrators in the high school although the Board has never discussed the need for both a Principal and an assistant principal in that building.    She wondered why this was so.  Superintendent White responded that he would look into it and they could discuss in executive session.
MOA Teachers’ Contract – Mr. Rickard noted that the Board had not had the opportunity to discuss this in executive session and he felt it was important that they do a separate vote.  President Castricone stated that he was very happy that the teachers had agreed to what they feel is a fair contract and he believes that what has been proposed is fair to the District and the taxpayers and he recommended that it be adopted.  The Board then voted 5-2 in favor of adopting the contract with Board members Joe Rickard and Dorothy Ziegelbauer voting against.
Business Report – Mr. Rickard inquired as to why the business manager was not present at the Board meetings.  Superintendent White replied that the Business manager had signed up for classes, scheduling them so she could attend BOE meetings on Thursday nights, which is the way they have been scheduled for years.  Unfortunately, moving the meetings to Wednesday created a conflict for her with the classes and she is unable to attend the BOE meetings as a result.
Mr. Rickard noted that in the past the District had experienced problems with getting grants and complying with State requirements.  There is more money available in the form of Covid relief and many schools are making applications for these Covid recovery funds. He wondered whether the District was up to date on all the available moneys and the federal government.
Superintendent White responded that they had put in submissions on time and that it was his intent to do a deeper dive into the federal covid relief monies. 
Next Mr. Rickard had a question pertaining to a particular payment, which Superintendent White assured him he would follow up on with the Business Administrator.
Lastly, Mr. Rickard commented that the District had created a budget only a couple of months prior but already they were showing some big adjustments on some of the line items.  For example operations/plant is showing an adjustment of $80,000.  He wondered why there were such big movements in dollars so soon after the budget had been finalized. 
Superintendent White responded that there were two types of things shown in the adjustment columns.  Some are budget transfers while others are carry over encumbrances from the prior year.  The Superintendent will get clarity and share the information with the BOE as soon as possible.
There followed a conversation about budget transfers and the idea of switching over to a zero-based budgeting process, which is much more precise than the incremental budgeting that the District has been using. It will likely take a few years to transfer the entire budget over to this method.  Superintendent White also announced that he would be bringing forward an energy performance contract as there was a lot of outdated equipment that need repair and/or replacement. 
CSE/CPSE Recommendations and Updated Sub-Committee Members for 2021/22 – Dorothy Ziegelbauer stated that the Board had named the committee members back at their reorg meeting in July and that she was unclear as to why this was being done again so soon.  The Superintendent responded that this report had come to them from student services and that there were several issues with it.  They will take a closer look at it and clean things up. 

The Board then voted unanimously in favor of approving the remaining three items.  

Before moving on. President Castricone acknowledged that as part of the consent agenda the District had accepted donations of STEM and Art  equipment from a couple of families and he thanked them directly for these kind gifts.

Items for Discussion:
Committees – President Castricone indicated that he and Superintendent White had put together the committees and their members.  Mrs. Ziegelbauer noted that in the past Board members had not been assigned to committees, but rather had volunteered for them.  Alyssa Horneff stated that she would love to see a Marketing and Growth committee and wondered whether this had been “bucketed” under strategic planning.  The answer was yes.  Superintendent White explained that there were two types of committees: standing and Ad-Hoc.  Standing committees are those that are required by law and as such the Superintendent has charters for them which he will be sharing with the Board.  The Ad-Hoc committees that have been proposed are: Advocacy and Community Outreach, Policy, and Strategic Planning.  These committees will have charges rather than charters.  President Castricone added that in the past when Board members had been asked to volunteer for committees, nobody had spoken up (himself included) which is why he felt it better to present Board assignments instead of asking for volunteers. 
Proposed Health Insurance Buy Back – President Castricone stated that he wanted to propose that the Superintendent have the authority to match buy backs that he is presented with from other employee health plans.  Currently married, employed couples with one spouse working for the District typically have the choice as to which spouse’s insurance plan they want to accept.   The school spends roughly $30,000 for each family plan “so anytime we can convince a family to use the other spouse’s health insurance, the school district would save the difference,” he commented.  Currently the District offers a $1,500 buy out.  Other employers throughout the County, such as President Castricone’s employer for example, offer a $4,000 buy out.  “So it behooves my family to take the buy out from my job and use my wife’s health insurance.  If that were reversed, the school district would be saving $25,000.  We would be in the same position.  We both have good health insurance.”  He continued that he had asked the attorney to opine on whether or not it was possible to give the Superintendent the authority to match other insurance buy outs, but he had not yet heard back, so he does not know if it would be possible or not.  He thinks that there might have to be a Memorandum of Understanding with the Union.  In theory, for every employee they could convince to take their spouses’ insurance, the District could save $25,000.   
Mr. Rickard suggested that there needed to be staff work done on what was being proposed.  There were potential positives and negatives in terms of both HR and contractual concerns. “The other problem that I have Dan,” he commented ‘is that you would be benefited if we did this.”
“Are you being deliberately obtuse?” demanded President Castricone.  “ I would not be benefitted at all!  I would be in exactly the same position if my wife and I elected to take this.”
“If your wife decided to take your health plan she would get $4,000 which she doesn’t get now,” replied Mr. Rickard.
“And I would get $4,000 less, which I do get now…so the Castricone family is in exactly the same position as it was before,” retorted President Castricone.
“We don’t know what the payout would be,” replied Mr. Rickard.
“You are being deliberate on this,” accused President Castricone.
“I am being deliberate,” confessed Mr. Rickard, “but I just want to make a point. People who have done this who are in leadership positions….there are HR and there contractual issues.  There’s potential insurance-related issues on both sides as well.  If you want to pursue this then I would say that we go to the Superintendent.  You are the only one who could potentially benefit from this, so you would be excluded.”
“I am the only person married to somebody who works in the school,” replied President Castricone.  “but every person who is married In the school could potentially benefit from this.”
“I’m talking about the Board,” asserted Mr. Rickard.  “The only person who would stand to gain”
“and again,” interrupted President Castricone “you are using the word gain.  The only person who gains is the School District who saves $25,000.  That’s who gains.”
‘Dan, I don’t even know if you have health insurance where you work,” stated Mr. Rickard.  “I don’t know the details.”
“So then you accuse me of doing this for gain and you don’t even know what I have.  You are just being deliberately abstruse and obstructive.  That is what you are.  You are grandstanding,” accused President Castricone. 
“We have a million problems in this school.  We have real enrollment issues.  You are bringing  up something which in the scheme of things is very minor.  So what we should do, if the Board thinks this is something we should pursue, we exclude you (because you are directly affected) and then Jeff and his team should take a look at it.  There may be some other opportunities to get some cost savings, and we should look at those as well. I am not accusing you of doing something for your own self benefit so that you would get,”
“Yes you did,” President Castricone interrupted again. 
“Well I guess I did.  I’m sorry.  You could get a better insurance plan.  Maybe we decide it’s not $4,000…maybe it’s $5,000.” 
“I accept your apology,” quipped President Castricone.
Mr. Rickard further asserted that they did not need to involve the lawyer in this.  Rather, if it was something they wanted to consider,  they should ask Superintendent White to look into it and make a presentation to the Board.
“Well, I decided to go the other way and ask the lawyer if it was possible,” responded President Castricone. 
“Of course it’s possible,” responded Mr. Rickard.  “We could do this if we wanted to do it.” 
Dorothy Ziegelbauer interjected and suggested that they were going nowhere fast.
Mr. Rickard agreed, but added “I think that this is silly and really it’s an issue that the Superintendent should be focused on.”
“I think that the vast majority of our employees are married and many of their spouses have health insurance other places and any one of them that we could incentivize  to take health insurance someplace else, especially ones with family plans, is a significant savings to the District.  I am trying to think out of the box here!  We’re doing exciting stuff!  We’ve opened with the college in the high school tonight….we’ve got the Union Contracts…”
“You are grandstanding.  Stick to the topic at hand,” responded Mr. Rickard.
Mrs. Ziegelbauer commented that on principal she didn’t think it was a bad idea but to Mr. Rickard’s point, they would need the administrators to do some work to determine what the impact might be on the budget.  “Technically speaking, I don’t think we can grant Superintendent White the right to match something for an unknown amount by resolution,” she noted, further suggesting they would have to do research to determine how many employees would be eligible, what the total payout might be and what the total budget impact might be before they could approve it.
There followed some squabbling as to whether the attorneys’ involvement was necessary.
Lucy Scully suggested that they should begin by taking a poll to determine how many individuals might be affected. 
Superintendent White indicated that he would put this on the “to-do” list, commenting that it likely would not be looked at prior to the next meeting but that it would be examined sometime in the future.  He confirmed that an MOA with the Unions would be necessary if they decided to move ahead with it. 
Bill Givens commented that if they were to revisit it, he felt it would be helpful to get stats on the uptake of the $1,500 offer.  “My only concern is that we have a bunch of people taking $1,500…and now we are offering them $4,000.  Other than that, health benefits are expensive and if we can save money here we should pursue it.”
“We are talking about potential savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars potentially,” stated Gary Heavner.  “I am for that.” 
Speed Zone – President Castricone brought up the idea of instituting a speed zone in front of the school.  This is not something that the Town can do.  It’s a request that must be made by the District.  President Castricone had the opportunity a couple of weeks back to discuss this possibility with State Senator Mike Martucci, who said that if the District was interested in pursuing it that he would bring it to the DOT and then to the legislature and felt certain that he could get it passed.  Safety wise, President Castricone feels that it would be a great thing for the school and further would also benefit the Town and the entire community.  He reminded the room that there had been a child hit crossing the road there in the early 2000s.  Mrs. Ziegelbauer  added that there had also been a number car accidents associated with people running the stop light on Route 17 as well. 
Mrs. Horneff inquired as to the process and the timeline.  Would a survey need to be completed?  Are there any associated costs involved?
President Castricone responded that there would be no cost to the District.  Rather it would come through as a request by the Senator, who would bring it to the DOT.  He did not know the timeline.
Mrs. Horneff suggested that they could petition it, but the bigger question was how the Town would choose to support it. Signage is one thing but would the police traffic it and ensure that drivers were in fact slowing down?  They should make sure that the Town is on board. 
Mrs. Ziegelbauer commented that she did not think anyone would be opposed, however she cautioned that it would be nice if President Castricone would discuss things like this with the Board before unilaterally reaching out to third parties. 

Possible Items for New Business:
Referencing a conversation the Board had at their previous meeting pertaining to the technology plan, Mrs. Ziegelbauer noted that they had been presented with recommendations from the IT department and wondered whether or not Superintendent White had had an opportunity to look at them yet.
The Superintendent responded that he had not.  The first thing the District is addressing is the equipment replacements that have been recommended.  A presentation is being assembled currently.  The Technology plan is another thing.  Superintendent White needs to spend more time with the Business Administrator in order to re-engineer the budget and so that he can better understand where all the dollars and cents are.
Mr. Rickard noted that the Board would also need an update/presentation on the condition of the buildings.
The Superintendent responded that moving the money out of the reserves so that it can be spent on the buildings is something that must be approved by the voters.  This will be a part of the 2022/23 budget vote.  He is also looking to put together an energy performance contract. 
Mr. Rickard noted that the Board had put $600,000 into a maintenance fund and work was supposed to be done over the summer. Identifying the work that had been done and as well as that which remains should be part of any future presentation to the Board. 
Superintendent White agreed, further commenting that following the audit he would be making a recommendation to the Board regarding a reserve plan. 

President Castricone suggested that they should consider taking a close look at cyber security in the coming month, specifically cyber security insurance and what steps if any the District has taken to protect itself.  It was agreed that a Technology Committee should be assembled. 
Public Comment:
Kelly Spranger inquired about the timing of the announcement surrounding Mr. Brown’s departure.  It upset her that she had to read the news on Facebook. She is hopeful that moving forward that If there are going to be any major administrative changes parents do not have to learn about them on social media.  In her view there should be a formal announcement from the school when somebody of Mr. Brown’s stature leaves.  It really upset her that there were a ton of questions out there and as the PTO president she did not know how to respond to them.  She didn’t even know if the information was accurate.  She implored both the Administration and the Board to find a way to announce these types of things publicly, officially and gracefully so that there were not questions and rumors floating around the community. 
Superintendent White responded that Mr. Brown had submitted his resignation and at that time, he had been asked to hold off on making a formal announcement until the Board could be informed.  Mr. Brown also expressed an interest in downplaying the departure.  The Superintendent also felt that had they made the announcement earlier, before his replacement had been hired, there would have been a sense of anxiety and uncertainty throughout the community. He felt it better to have a plan in place.   Moving forward, if folks would things like this announced in a more fastidious manor they could certainly do that but he fears the anxiety associated with not having a plan in place would be a detriment.
Mrs. Ziegelbauer pointed out that the manor in which the news had come out had created anxiety anyway,
“Which anxiety is going to be worse?” responded the Superintendent. 
Mrs.Ziegelbauer then read aloud a comment of concern submitted by Susan Mitchell, who suggested that when changes of this nature occur within the District,  parents should be notified immediately and in her view, a District-wide letter to parents should have been sent out the week prior.  She hopes that the District will be more timely moving forward.  She further noted that many parents would have liked the opportunity to say goodbye to Mr. Brown and thank him for his service but now they will not have that opportunity.
Mr. White responded that they had elected not to bring in public relations people to date, as this was slated to be committee work, however he was planning to recommend to the committee the hiring of a PR person to the committee.  “Things like this we need to discuss at the committee level” he stated.  “Do we announce someone leaving without having a replacement or a plan for moving forward?  Obviously we are going to replace the person, we have to….so that’s something I think we need to talk about going forward.”

Moving on,  Mrs. Ziegelbauer noted that historically the District had awarded golden apples to departing BOE members  as well as  individuals  who had provided long, tenured service.  Typically they were presented at Board meeting.  Noting that Covid had put the practice on pause, she wondered  if the recently retired Board members had received their apples via mail.
Superintendent White thanked Mrs. Ziegelbauer, commenting that he had been unaware of this practice but would ensure that it was taken care of.

The Board then adjourned into an executive session for the purpose of discussing a personnel matter.

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TUFSD Welcomes New Principal in George Grant Mason Elementary School

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting September 15, 2021

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TUFSD Hires New Assistant Superintendent/High School Prinlcipal

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Board of Education Meeting August 18, 2021

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Special Board of Education Meeting August 12, 2021

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*This video begins with an hour-long executive session. Meeting content starts at the 58 minute mark

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting August 18, 2021

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting August 12, 2021

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Board of Education Meeting July 28, 2021

The  Board of Education met on Wednesday, July 28 at 7pm.  All members were present.

Executive Session: The Board entered into an executive session for the purpose of discussing collective negotiations under the Taylor Law (TTA unit), potential litigation, to seek advice of counsel and to discuss the employment history of particular individuals.  The session lasted two hours and the Board did not take any action when they re-entered the public session.  Board president Dan Castricone apologized to the public for the lengthy session, noting that it had not been their intent to be out for so long.  “It’s a Board meeting that we try to conduct in public but sometimes there’s just stuff that we need to do in executive session, especially when we were talking about contract negotiations,” he stated.

Public Comment: There were two unidentified women from the public who were present at the beginning of the meeting.  While the Board was in executive session they indicated to the District Clerk that they wished to speak and that they had some questions for the Board, however when the executive session went longer that 90 minutes, they further indicated that they needed to leave, asking the clerk to please inform the Board that they had been present and further suggesting that the public be alerted when lengthy executive sessions such as this might occur so that they could plan accordingly. 
There were no other public comments.

Administrators’ Reports:
Superintendent’s Report – Superintendent White reported that the search for the 7 vacant teaching positions was underway. There have been a number of candidates and the Superintendent has been working together with the District HR coordinator as well as a committee of teachers and fellow Administrators Paul Brown and Nicole Scariano. 
The RFP for audit services is due on July 29 and Superintendent White expects to have auditors selected in time for approval at the next Board meeting.
The Superintendent has been looking at potential dates to schedule a Board retreat.  He asked the Board members to provide him with dates that they might be available between September 21 and 24.  This was briefly discussed and it was agreed that week days would not work for the Board.  Vice President Lucy Cerezo-Scully further indicated that she was only available on Sundays and the Superintendent subsequently agreed to explore the possibility of a Sunday retreat.
Superintendent White has submitted his 60-day entry plan to the Board for their review and asked that they please let him know if they had any changes they wanted to see made.
With regard to the live streaming of BOE meetings, Superintendent White stated that he did not feel that the technology the District was currently using was working well and so he has asked BOCES to explore cost effective solutions and once he has received these, he will share them with the Board.
The Superintendent will be issuing an RFP for Medicaid as he doesn’t believe the District has been billing for this.) Nicole Scariano indicated that they had not and that she would be happy to talk further with the Superintendent as to why this was so.  It was agreed the two would speak the following day.
Superintendent White will be attending a business conference in Saratoga Springs on August 3.
Lastly, the Superintendent reported that the summer program was going very well so far. 
In closing, he stated that as the District progresses through the hiring process, there may be need for a special meeting in the coming weeks in order to approve new staff.
President Castricone suggested that perhaps moving forward the auditorium could be used for broadcasting meetings and recommended that the Superintendent reach out to Clayton Chan to discuss what equipment was there and what capability they might have.
Superintendent White responded that he loved the auditorium but wondered if it might be possible to paint it a different color that the current shade of pink.  
President Castricone suggested that Superintendent White reach out to the Historical Society to determine what was originally there when it was built in 1932.  “I know the reputation of the people who built this school.  They were actually people running shows on Broadway.”
Superintendent White further noted that he did not believe there was air conditioning  in the auditorium and therefore, they might want to wait until the summer months had passed.

Consent Agenda:
Board member Joe Rickard asked that 4 items be removed from the consent agenda for discussion.
The Board then voted unanimously in favor of removing the item “New Course Approval” altogether before voting to approve the remaining items.  The following five items were discussed as per Mr. Rickards’ request.
Appointment Correction - Mr. Rickard required as to whether or not the appointment of the art teacher as listed had already been approved and now they were agreeing to the salary amount.  HR Coordinator Krissy Difrancesco explained that the teacher in question was advancing a salary step as of September 1 and so he needed to be reappointed with the new salary approved.  The Board then voted unanimously in favor of approving the appointment.
Team Coach/Club Advisor – Mr. Rickard inquired as to whether or not the listed advisors would get paid should any of the listed Sports or clubs not run as planned or come to an end mid-season.   Superintendent White responded that he would look at the contract and review with counsel to see whether it was prorated and that if it was not, this would need to be discussed.
Donation – Mr. Rickard asked the Superintendent to say something about the donation, noting that it was a good thing and that the District should take a moment to say thank you.
Superintendent White responded that he would send a thank you note to the donor once the donation had been formally accepted.
President Castricone then informed the public that the donation consisted of a metal arch garden arbor that had been donated by Kelly Spranger and Bob Ahart.  The arbor will be installed at Circle Field.  The Board voted unanimously in favor of accepting the donation.
Business Officer Report – Mr. Rickard noted that there were some things in the report that had come as a surprise to him.  “These reports are the single most important reports that we get.  It’s the only way we can do oversight on what goes on financially so that we don’t get surprised when it comes to budgets or whatever.”  He wondered whether the Business Administrator would typically be present at meetings.
Superintendent White responded that the Business Administrator had signed up for a work-related class that takes place on Wednesday evenings.  She enrolled in the course before the Board changed their monthly meetings from Thursdays to Wednesdays and now has an apparent conflict. .He suggested that although she could not be present at the meetings, Board members could submit any questions they might have with her report prior to the meetings and he would work to ensure that these questions were answered in a timely matter.  Mr. Rickard noted that there appeared to be a very large number of budget transfers, which was unusual for this time of year.  On the status report there are notable changes since the month May and he wondered why they had decided to do these things during the month of June.
The Superintendent noted that at the end of the year the District would be booking all kinds of journal entries and making all kinds of transfers.  “What happens is, we have a whole slew of accounts that are charge accounts, so you budget the best way that you can.  I don’t know about this budget…”
Mr. Rickard noted that the reason he was bringing it up was because he had asked the Business official back in June whether or not they could expect to see the usual kind of activity on the reports and she had indicated that they indeed they could.  Further stating that he would submit specific questions via email he stated “it’s not provocative.  It could be very good logic but it’s not good to see all these changes in the month of June.”  Next he inquired as to when the board could expect to receive a final report (either audited or unaudited) for the past fiscal year.
Superintendent White responded that they were doing an RFP in order to be in compliance with Ed Law and, as he had reported earlier, they expected to present a candidate at the next meeting.  They need to make sure that they meet the October 15 deadline and that that the Board can expect to see an audited report at their meeting in October.

Items for Discussion:
Board Member Education Classes – There was a discussion with regard to both the required trainings as well as those classes that might be available to Board members who simply wished to broaden their knowledge on certain topics.   One of the Board members recently indicated that they were interested in an accounting class, but the class is geared more towards business officials than School Board members and so it was suggested to him that while he was welcome to take the class, it might not be what he had in mind when he initially expressed interest.  Dorothy Zeigelbauer wanted to know whether or not there was money in the budget to cover elective classes and if so how much.  This question was not directly answered however Superintendent White indicated that if there were any classes that the Board members were interested in that they should let him know and he could set things up.  There was some discussion regarding an email the Board Members received about the potential for funding through the American Rescue Fund and whether or not the District might be able to obtain some of these monies and further apply them towards the redesign of building entryways, which is a project for which they already have architectural plans on file.
With regard to the required Trainings, of which there are 2 (New School Board Member and Fiscal)  there was a brief discussion about whether the new Board members should enroll for these classes in person or online.  President Castricone indicated that he had taken the New School Board member training in person up in Goshen, where he was able to meet and interact with new school board members from other Orange County districts, but  the food was terrible.  For that reason, he intimated that the online option might be a better choice. 

New Business:
Possible Items for New Business – There were none.

Public Comment:
There were none

The Board then entered into a second executive session to discuss a contractual matter.  No action was taken when they returned to the public session.

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Tuxedo Summer Bridge & EdCamp Program Celebrates a Successful First Week Complete with Trip to The New York Botanical Gardens (Posted 7/28/21)

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting July 28, 2021

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Special Board of Education Meeting July 14, 2021

The Board of Education held a special meeting on Wednesday, July 14 at 8pm.  Vice president Lucy Cerezo-Scully joined the meeting remotely.

Executive Session:
The Board entered into an executive session to discuss the employment history of a particular individual and to receive advice from council.  The session lasted 90 minutes.

Items for Discussion:
Overview and Information on the Summer Bridge Program – Nicole Scariano provided the Board with a brief update on the upcoming Summer Bridge program.  When the Board was last updated the program had 68 students enrolled.  Since that time the enrollment has grown to 105, 8 of whom do not currently attend either GGM or GFB.  This equates to roughly 45% of the projected District enrollment for the fall.   The first two summer trips have been planned to the New York Botanical Gardens and the Hudson River Museum.  Teachers will be in District Monday and Tuesday July 19 and 20 for staff development.  On Tuesday, the entire group will travel to the Botanical Gardens for onsite curriculum planning and instruction.  Each week of camp will culminate in a day trip for the students and the reading, writing, talking, listening and math is taught through content leading up to that experience. To this end, the second week of camp will focus on the  Hudson River.
Personnel Summer Bridge Program – The Board voted unanimously  in favor of approving the personnel as presented with the exception of the school nurse.  A second vote was taking approving that appointment, with President Castricone abstaining.
Appointment of School Physician – The Board voted in favor of appointing  Dr. Goldstein of Monroe Pediatrics at a cost of $500 to the District and $15 per visit.    
Motion Regarding Settlement & Release– President Castricone read the following motion into the record: “Be it resolved that the Board of Education does hereby approve the settlement and release agreement regarding student 355228 and be it further resolved that the Superintendent of Schools is hereby authorized to execute such settlement and release agreement on behalf of the District.”  The motion was unanimously approved. 
Consultant Agreement – a motion to approve a consultant agreement with Dr. Ron Valenti was made by Board member Gary Heavner.  Board member Joe Rickard asked the superintendent to further explain why the agreement was necessary.  Superintendent White explained that there are a number of outstanding items that Dr. Valenti had been working on, including some negotiations and strategic efforts, that still need to be completed and therefore he is looking to have the Dr. work with him to “hand off the baton” for a few days during the months of July and August so that things can progress smoothly.  “And the difference this time around,” stated Mr. Rickard, “is that he will be reporting to you directly and you’re going to be held accountable for his deliverables.”  Superintendent White confirmed this.  “And he is completely under your direction and not at will to go and speak with any Board member he may desire on any topic he may desire,” stated Board member Dorothy Ziegelbauer.  “His scope is very limited to what is in this agreement.”  “That’s right,” affirmed the Superintendent.  “I would just note for the record,” continued Mrs. Ziegelbauer, “that we have an attorney who has been involved in the negotiations and we have also had Nicole (Scariano – Former Interim Superintendent) involved in the negotiations and I personally don’t think this is prudent use of District funds, so I am going to vote against it.” The Board then voted 6-1 in favor of approving the contract with Mrs. Ziegelbauer voting against.
Motion to Rescind Charges of Official Misconduct – Mr. Heavner read the following motion into the record: “I make a motion to rescind allegations of official misconduct brought against a School Didtrict officer by resolution dated June 18, 2021 and authorizes it’s vice president to sign a general release related thereto.”   Noting she intended to vote against the motion, Mrs. Ziegelbauer stated “I think that it is going to just empower this person to continue essentially bad behavior and to act in bad faith.”  The Board then voted 6-1 in favor of approving the motion with Mrs. Ziegelbauer voting against.

Public Comments:
There were none.

The meeting was adjourned.

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting July 14, 2021

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Board of Education Reorganization Meeting July 8, 2021

The Board of Education held their annual Reorganization meeting in person on July 8, 2021 at 7pm.  Board member Bill Givens attended via Zoom.

Appointments:
Nomination and Election of Board of Education President:
Board member Lucy Cerezo-Scully nominated Dan Castricone.  Gary Heavner seconded the motion.
Board member Dorothy Ziegelbauer nominated Joe Rickard.  The motion was not seconded
Board member Joe Rickard nominated Dorothy Zeigelbauer.  Alyssa Horneff seconded the motion.
The Board then voted 5-2 in favor of appointing Dan Castricone President with Board members Dorothy Ziegelbauer and Joe Rickard voting against.
Mr. Castricone was subsequently sworn in.
Nomination and Election of Board of Education Vice President -  Dorothy Ziegelbauer nominated Joe Rickard.  The motion was not seconded.
Gary Heavner nominated Lucy Cerezo-Scully.  Dan Castricone seconded the nomination.
The Board then voted unanimously in favor of appointing Lucy as Vice President and she was subsequently sworn in.
Approval of the Agenda - Mr. Castricone called for a motion to approve the agenda.  Asking for discussion. Joe Rickard expressed concern over the agenda item entitled “Consultant Agreement,” noting that he had only  just received a copy of the proposed contract an hour before the meeting. “I have some pretty big concerns about what’s in the contract.  I don’t know if everybody has had a chance to read it.  We can go into executive session with it or we can talk about it publicly,”  he stated.  He further indicated that he would like to hear from Superintended Jeff White on the subject, noting that he had previously shared his concerns with him. 
Dorothy Ziegelbauer commented that she felt the discussion should take place in public. 
The agenda was then unanimously approved.
Designation of Legislative Liaison to NYSSBA – Nobody volunteered to fill this role so no designation was made. 
Designation of Legislative Liaison to OCSBA – Noting that the monthly meetings took place in Goshen at 7pm at BOCES, Dan Castricone volunteered for the position, further suggesting that since he works in Goshen, it would be fairly convenient for him to attend.  He was unanimously appointed. 
Approval of Officers and Personnel for the 2020-2021 School Year – There was discussion with regard to the appointment of the District’s attorney and specifically the proposed length of time proposed.  The District put out and RFP for legal services with responses due on July 25.  Dorothy Ziegelbauer suggested that they appoint the attorney as proposed through August 31 in order to allow the administration time to review the responses and make a recommendation to the Board.  It was agreed this would be done. 
Inquiring about the appointment of the District Physicians, Mrs. Ziegelbauer noted that she understood that they had agreed to give preference to a pediatrician (last year’s appointment was a local Dr. who serves children but does not specialize in pediatrics.) and wondered what the process of selection was for the new appointment.  President Castricone stated that  he would like to  authorize the Superintendent to enter into negotiations with Dr. Jeff, who had been the District pediatrician for many years, to see if he was still interested in the position.  His office is in Warwick.  
Mrs. Ziegelbauer suggested that they should also reach out to Dr. Gen Krebs who is also a well-known pediatrician from Suffern for a comparison as Suffern is closer to Tuxedo than Warwick.
Superintendent White noted that this was a professional service and that the comptroller typically recommended an RFP for filling these types of positions.  It was agreed however that as time would not allow for an RFP, Mr. White would contact both of the pediatricians in question. 
The Board then voted in favor of approving the appointment of Officers and Personnel as presented, with the exception of the pediatrician and conditional upon the changes to the agreement with the Attorney. 
Approval of Designations- Following a brief discussion about the choice of Bank, the Board voted in favor of approving the designations. 
Approval of Authorization -  Authorizations were listed and unanimously approved.
Authorization of Continuation of Existing Board of Education Policies and Bi-Laws – Gary Heavner noted that he had read through all of the policies earlier that day and that they needed to be updated as they were outdated and riddled with typos and grammatical errors.
Dorothy Ziegelbauer responded that she was not certain what Mr. Heavner had reviewed but that the District had paid Erie 1 BOCES to provide an entirely new set of updated policies and this service had been rendered in 2020.  A Policy Committee was formed and that group began what Erie 1 had suggested would likely be a 3-year process of review, tweeking and adoption, however Covid related issues became prevalent and the work was ultimately set aside.  Mr. Rickard suggested that perhaps Mr. Heavner would like to serve on the committee moving forward.
The continuation was then unanimously approved.
Invest Monies at Prevailing Rate – The Board unanimously approved a motion authorizing the District Treasurer to Invest monies at the best prevailing rate.
Bonding for the 2021-2022 School Year – A motion approving bonding for the District Clerk, Treasurer,  Tax Collector, Internal Claims Auditor and Treasurer of the Activities Fund was unanimously approved.
District Special Education Plan  - Dorothy Ziegellbauer noted that the Board had not seen the plan, further commenting  that while she was sure that it had been put together properly, in the future it would be good for the Board to have a look at the plans they were approving.  Director of Student Services  Nicole Scariano responded that here had been only three minor updates to the plan.  These include the listing of the Central Cabinet, the listing of programs attended by out-of-District students and the budget breakdown as it pertains to the way that line items are rolled up to the budget.   She further noted that historically Mr. Rickard had asked to see a comparison of how these figures add up year-over-year and she had prepared that comparison.  It is not a part of the report but is certainly available upon request.  The Board then voted in favor of approving District’s Special Education for the 2021-2022 school year.
BOE Calendar – Dorothy Ziegelbauer suggested that the Board of Education meetings be moved from the third Thursday of each month to another day of the week.  This was deliberated at some length after which it was agreed that beginning in August the meetings will take place on the third Wednesday of each month.  For the month of July, the regular meeting will take place on Wednesday the 28.  A Special Meeting will be convened on Wednesday the 14th so that the Board can approve the finalized list of staff for the Summer Program.
Workshop meetings will be called only as needed.
It was further determined that the District would work to virtually broadcast all of their meetings moving forward.  Gary Heavner noted that although the District would do their best, should the systems go down or issues with the technology arise, the in-person meetings would still take place. 
Consultant Agreement – The BOE discussed a proposed agreement with former District Consultant Ron Valenti for up to 12 days of consulting for a total cost not to exceed $12,000.  The expense was budgeted for.    Joe Rickard commented that he had a real problem with what had been proposed on  multiple levels. He “expressed concern with the fact that the document had not been added to the agenda until 6pm that evening and that he had not even been aware it was there until one of the other Board members alerted him.   Suggesting that this was not an appropriate way to run things, he wondered whose decision it had been add it to the agenda at the 11th hour.  He further expressed concern that the contract did not specify any scope of work for Mr. Valenti.  In the interest of clarifying and bringing everyone up to speed Mr. Rickard suggested that he did not have a problem with Dr. Valenti.  The District had utilized him over the past year and in Mr. Rickard’s view he did a beautiful job addressing many of the District’s issues.  The Board ended Dr. Valenti’s contract in the month of June.  He was instructed not to report to work in the District and, as an accommodation, for 9 days he was afforded $9,000 which Mr. Rickard noted is more than many people in Tuxedo make in a month.  “Let me just tell you what the problem with the contract is.  We’re paying him $1,000 per day and there is no recognition of the $9,000.  He is at will.  He’s not an  employee.  But somebody is deciding to pay him $1,000 when we know the going rate is $800.  Last year when we hired him, we had no Superintendent, no HR person…the thing was a mess!  We had a bus contract….we had so many things. We don’t have that anymore.  We have a Superintendent.  We have two principals.  We have two negotiators, one for each Union.  We have an HR person now and hopefully we will have a District Clerk at some point.  So, unless there is a scope of work in here outlining specifically what this gentleman is going to do, then we should not be supporting this or voting for it.  The other thing I would like to see,” he continued “is that I would like this contract cleaned up.  In the contract it says that if he gets confidential information that he is not supposed to have, he should be telling the Board.  He admitted getting information last year…and didn’t tell the Board…and he wouldn’t tell us where he got it from…..so he is in breach of his own contract! This has got to be cleaned up.  This is not a way to run a board.  It’s not a way to run a District. We are a $13.7 million dollar enterprise.  We have children. We have employees.  This is wrong and I am really resenting that this gets done at 6:00, no scope of work, slammed in, sloppy agreement and he was in breach of some of the things before.  By his contract he was supposed to give us a written report of everything he had done in June and our claims auditor was supposed to review it and ok it.  This didn’t happen.  Now you are going to go around and say we’re going to give him 12 more days at $12,000!!  I suggest that we tighten this thing up….fix the agreement…and if he breaches it, I want him gone.  There shouldn’t be any executive sessions.  Secondly, we want to know that whatever he was supposed to do, he did.  That’s all I’m asking. I don’t know who put this contract on the agenda.  I am not even going to ask you because it is going to embarrass whoever did it, but it should not have been put on the agenda without the Board President agreeing to it.  Our Board President did not agree to it.  The new Board President maybe, but  not the old one.  I say we reject this and go back and do whatever you have to do to fix it.  I would be very happy to help you, I am very familiar with consulting contracts.  Any other consultant that we bring in to this District, we need a rigorous process to make sure that we are getting our dollars’ worth and we are not going to have issues with it.  That is my two cents.”  
Alyssa Horneff briefly added that she had also just seen the contract for the first time and that Clause 6 was missing and there was nothing in the contract about IP/ intellectual property.  Further, as Mr. Rickard noted, there was no scope of work.  
“I have additional comments,” stated Dorothy Ziegelbauer.  “During the course of Dr. Valenti’s work he did a lot of fabulous things for us.  He really did.  He ran an outstanding search for Superintendent Jeff White.  It was by far superior to any search that we have conducted in the five years I have been on this Board.  He advised us when we had no Superintendent.  The wheels were coming off the bus.  We needed some help and we needed it fast.  He came in and he helped us with the budget.  He gave us a level of detail in the budget that I have never seen while on this Board.  He instituted it while helping to bring our business office up to speed.  Fantastic job!  Can’t say enough about that.  And then at some point, I couldn’t even fathom what his motivations might be, but he seemed to run off the rails.  We were negotiating Mr. White’s contract with our attorney’s and Ron was primarily interfacing with the attorneys/. There was a situation that occurred where Dr. Valenti called me  at a specific time in the afternoon, like 2:48,  and told me that Mr. White’s attorney would not accept the contract as presented to him.  I was subsequently contacted and then confirmed that  Dr. Valenti had lied
because our attorneys had never even provided the contract in its entirety to Mr. White’s attorney until 3:35 in the afternoon.  It was a blatant lie.  Because of that I suspended his access to the District and I asked that we have an executive session to discuss the situation with the Board.  It was unbelievable!  I still don’t understand what his motivation for that might have been.  He also asked a prior employee if they would be willing to come back to the District without any authorization from the Board.  Furthermore, he went to Greenwood Lake and asked them if they would be willing to consider coming back to Tuxedo…again, without any authorization of the Board.  I don’t know who he was acting on behalf of because none of the things that he was doing at that point in time were authorized by the Board.  If this Board chooses to bring him back…..I personally don’t trust him.  I don’t think that we should bring him back under any circumstance.  We suspended his contract in June.  We chose not to terminate it but rather to let it run out, not to say anything bad about him.  We paid the remaining $9,000 on his contract to physically have him do nothing…and not to show up at the building.  I’m sorry folks…that is just wrong!  The idea to bring him back for any purpose is untenable.  It truly is a miscarriage of justice and everything that is decent and everything that is right.  The most disturbing part of this whole thing is that I fully informed the Superintendent of all of these concerns and he still chose to recommend that we bring him back!  I understand that there is institutional knowledge that he has, but if we can’t trust the man to do the things that he has been tasked to do, and we literally barred him from coming back into the building because his actions were so egregious, I can’t imagine for the life of me why anyone would recommend that we reappoint this same person.  I said this to Mr. White in person.  I have said it multiple times.  If he needs help then he should determine what help he needs and then he could recommend any contractor that he has a relationship with that could help him get the job done and I would support it 100%.  I have supported this District for five years and I want it to succeed…but bringing him back is absolutely the wrong thing to do and if this Board chooses to do it, then so be it….but God help you.  I hope that you enjoy the bed that you have to sleep in when this man comes back in and goes rogue on you….and I will wish you all good luck.”
This was met by a round of applause from some audience members.
“I was at the meeting where you ran through the various times that the emails went back and forth,” replied President Castricone.  “I listened to Dr. Valenti’s explanations and to be quite honest, his explanations made a lot more sense to me than your accusations did. I know that right now the new Superintendent is in the process of moving from Long Island.  We don’t have a lot of time here to get the things rolling that need to be done.  We have two union contracts that are hanging.  We need those done.  We’ve got an infrastructure of leadership that I think needs to be built here and I know that Ron is an excellent recruiter and interviewer.  When we spoke at our meeting on July 1, Jeff did express some of the stuff to us that he wanted help with.  I don’t see that anything has changed here.  Your experience with Dr. Valenti is different than mine certainly was, although you had more access I suppose to confidential information than I did.  I was thrilled with the search that he did and the way that it was handled.  I understand more about the school budget than I ever did before.  The level of monitorship that he gave to the people that were working here was exceptional.  The career assistance that he gave to the people who were working here was exceptional.  I don’t know anything about any of the other things that you did.  I do know that the Superintendent has asked us for help for a few weeks till the end of the month from somebody with institutional knowledge who knows what’s going on.  I am certainly inclined to give our new Superintendent the support that he needs and the help that he needs to get off and running.  We have big goals for this District, but we have to give the help and the resources to the people that we bring in in order to execute.  I am prepared to vote to give the new Superintendent the help that he needs in order to get off and running.  I will be supporting this.  If there are issues with the contract, I will ask you to clean them up.”
“So, what do we need him for?” Mrs. Ziegelbauer inquired of Superintendent White, further noting that her understanding had been that the TEU contract was only on hold until the bus contract had been signed…which it was…and that at this point all that was needed was ratification from the TEU which was being handled by the District attorneys.  The TTA agreement was help up on finalizing the schedule for the new 9 period day.  Guidance Counselor Christine Oliva had indicated that she could put this together within three days or less by hand and work had already begun, although there had been some snags at the High School level and she was unsure as to whether or not they had been resolved.  “What specifically do you need a consultant to do?”
Superintendent White referenced a section of the Contract where he suggested a scope of work had been provided.  “It says ‘the Consultant agreed to provide services in the following nature: 1. Assist in negotiations for collective bargaining agreement with the Tuxedo Teachers Association, 2. Assist in development of scheduling options for a 9-period day or modified 9-period day, 3. Assist in the recruitment process for the position of High School Principal and/or Curriculum Instruction Administrator.’  So, there is a scope in there.”  He apologized for the last minute circulation of the contract adding that he had asked the attorneys to prepare it, which they had by updating  Dr. Valenti’s previous contract. “Dr. Valenti is well into these major initiatives,” he stated.  “What I really am concerned about is that after we have had this terrible debacle with the Covid which has upended everyone’s lives including the kids….I will do anything to have a smooth opening to school.  I think that the kids deserve that.  It would be impossible for me right now to seek out a consultant, bring them in, bring them up to speed and get the issues resolved…September is going to be here before you turn around.  These are the things that are on my mind.  If you disagree with it, I respect that.”
“Here’s the thing,” responded Mr. Rickard,  “We’re paying you X amount of dollars.  Now we’re adding $12,000 and we lost $9,000.  We have taxpayers here.  You have people on staff doing the first two items on your list now.   This is to me not a scope of work.  This needs to be really tightened up.  What exactly is he doing that justifies this and how can we get the $9,000 back that we already paid him when he didn’t work?    He wasn’t supposed to do anything…he was finished with the District.  If he says he was doing things, that’s another breech of contract.  Let’s get some of the $9,000 back.  Let’s get a very tight scope, particularly where people are already doing the work.  We don’t need him there.  I don’t know why you need him for recruiting…I don’t have the details, I don’t have a scope…I don’t even know what you are recruiting for!  Dan, this is a sloppy way of running a professional organization.  You don’t come in with a sloppy contract and we don’t have a real detailed scope of work for things that we already know we are getting.  That’s all.  I am not going to support this.”
Mr. Castricone responded that that Mr. Rickard’s concerns underlined  the reason why the District needed Dr. Valenti.  He suggested that Mr. White was trying to pull everything together while also getting the summer program off the ground and also move from Long Island at the same time.  “You’re criticizing the work.  The reason why we want him to get this consultant is to do this work.”
Mr. Rickard responded that Mr. Castricone had misunderstood and that the contract never should have been put forward that evening.  “We have two principals in the building who have been working on all of this stuff!  I am not criticizing the work.”  He further suggested that a detailed scope should have been outlined in the contract and that the fully vetted contract should have been presented to the Board at least 48 hours before the meeting to review. 
Superintendent White countered that while they had an elementary and middle school Principal, they did not have a High School principal.  He further stated “In speaking with folks here, the only one who really knows how to do a detailed 9-period schedule is the Guidance counselor and my understanding is that with the contract open…..we have to figure this out…”
“Jeff,” replied Mr. Rickard “You do understand that Dr. Valenti couldn’t use the computer…he couldn’t do it himself.  You do know that don’t you?”
“He can hand schedule,” suggested Superintendent White.
“You are bringing a guy in a $1,000 a day to put a hand schedule together?” asked Mr. Rickard.
“Whatever schedule we can have as long as the kids are in class and we have a smooth opening.”
Mr. Heavner noted that his main concern was the issue of time.  In terms of continuity and institutional knowledge he is in favor of bringing Dr. Valenti back for this limited purpose.
Mrs. Horneff commented that she would like to take a look at the agreement and make sure it was tightened up, but provided this was done she would have no issue with bringing Dr. Valenti in to help with the transition and the work, so long as there was a very clear scope of work that shows what the deliverable should be from him.
Mr. Rickard noted that former Interim Superintendent Nicole Scariano had been very involved with all of this stuff and had been reporting to the Board at meetings for months.  “Does she not have institutional knowledge on these issues?” he inquired.
“She does, but again I don’t believe she has the ability to schedule a 9-period day,” responded Superintendent White.
“Well, I can tell you 100% that he doesn’t either.  He doesn’t have the ability to use the computer.  Without being able to create an excel spreadsheet, I don’t know how he could do it,” replied Mr. Rickard. “What are you expecting him to deliver to you?”
“Under the last contract there was issue with oversight and Ron,” stated President Castricone.  “Now there is a full-time, contracted Superintendent who will be here and will have full oversight of Ron.  The contract that you put together says that you can use him for up to 12 days or terminate him at will if it is not working out…so, my concerns are greatly alleviated by the terms of the contract and I am wholeheartedly ready to support giving you what you need and if that’s Ron Valetni, so be it!”
“How do we recoup the $9,000 that we flushed?” wondered Mr. Rickard.
“Well, Joe,” replied President Castricone “I wasn’t in favor of terminating Ron and letting the $9,000 slide so I can’t help you with that.”
“But Dan,” countered Mr. Rickard “you were on the Board and the Board made a decision to pay him the $9,000 to go home.  Now how do we get the $9,000 back?”
“I think the members who voted for that should have contemplated that when they did it,”  retorted President Castricone.”
Bickering over recouping the $9,000 continued for a few minutes, with Mr. Rickard suggesting that if hired, Dr. Valenti should provide the Distrirct with 9 days of work that have already been paid for. 
Lucy Cerezo-Scully suggested that the original contract did not have “an out” for the District and that the $9,000 was part of the contract.  She pointed out that the proposed contract was merely an updated version of a contract they had already agreed to.
 “It was a  contract we didn’t enforce,” replied Mr. Rickard.  “He took confidential information.  He didn’t do the reporting.  He didn’t live up to the contract we had.”
Mrs. Cerezo-Scully suggested that moving forward they could adjust the contract to prevent this from happening again.  “I keep hearing that we should let the Superintendent run the school,” she stated, “and here we are arguing whether we should let him run the school the way he thinks that he needs to…so I am not sure which part we are supposed to be supporting.  He is the Superintendent.  He has asked what he has asked.”
“He does not have the ability to spend $12,000,” replied Mr. Rickard.
Mrs. Cerezo-Scully acknowledged this, further commenting “that is why we are talking about the money.”
“The other issue,” noted Mrs. Ziegelbauer,” is that our attorneys  did recommended him to us.  These are the same attorneys who have now basically punted for a month on removal of a Board member for potential misconduct.  It makes you wonder what is up with the attorneys as well.”
The Board then voted 3-3 on contract, with Bill Givens recusing himself because he was unable to hear most of. the conversation remotely.  The motion did not carry. 
Superintendent White wondered whether amending the language to say “pending legal review and inclusion of a scope” would change things.
Mrs. Horneff commented that she felt everyone would agree that the previous contract had  not served the District well and so she felt they should look at the new contract very closely, and revise it to make sure it was done right and included clauses about Intellectual Property, Scope and deliverables.
“If we put this off until we can review a contract, when do we come back and vote on this?” asked President Castricone.
Mrs. Horneff suggested it could be done at the Special meeting the following week.
“My apologies for bringing something controversial to the table,” commented Superintendent White, “but again my motivation is to have a smooth opening for the kids.”
To listen to a recording of this discussion click HERE

Public Comment:
Jennifer Jones, both a teacher and a Tuxedo resident, commented that the people attending virtually would have an easier time hearing if all of the BOE members were logged into the meeting on their chromebooks.
Mike Santoianni commented that he wanted to welcome Jeff White as Superintendent.  He went on to suggest that although it was admirable that the BOE wanted to do Zoom meetings and be as open as possible, but if the community were to see the level of discourse that had just occurred, it would be another nail in the District’s coffin.  He recently served on the committee for the Superintendent Search and at the end of that process he was compelled to write Dr. Valenti a letter in which he indicated that unless the Board was able to get on the same page and represent themselves that way to the community, there would be no chance of success for the new leader.  While he felt that Mr. Rickard made many valid points, he also felt that there had been too much information provided on the Valenti personnel issue.  He feels that should have been discussed in executive session.  “We need to be positive about this,” he stated, further indicating that over the past several years the Boards have all had the same vision., but different ideas as to how to achieve it and this has created conflict.  “That has to end…at least publicly.  You need to get on the same page as a Board.  You want to point fingers, do your dirty laundry in executive session.  I served 12 years on the Board.  I have always been invested in this district like my family has and most of the people here have.  This is not what we need.  This is what divided us before.  It is driving us into the ground and those who want to destroy us will use this kind of discourse to drive us into the ground.”  Mr. Santoianni went on to report that he had heard that Toll Brothers had made a deal with the financiers of the Tuxedo Farms project to move forward.  He strongly advised the Board to have a liaison with the Town Board…bring the builders in and show them what Tuxedo has and what it can be.  “This is the cheapest District in the area by half!  That’s a huge selling point,” he stated further suggested they needed to resell and repackage the program.  He then reiterated that the negative discourse combined with the negativity online was driving the District “further down the rabbit hole.” He encouraged the BOE to verify the information about Tuxedo Farms.
Lastly, he expressed his gratitude to recently retired teacher Stu Wirth, further commenting that the District needed to work to repair the relationship with the teachers, who had always been so invested in the school. 
PTO President Kelly Spranger introduced herself and welcomed Mr. White to the community.  She noted that she believed she was the first Middle School parent to ever be president of the PTO.    The PTO is a positive organization focused on students and teachers.  She pledged that the PTO Board would be making a strong effort to bridge the gap and be an organization that truly benefited the entire school…meaning students in both buildings.  “I would also like in my small way to try and bridge that gap, if I can, between all of you wonderful people, our PTO Board as well as our Town Board because I am all about projecting to the public what we want to project.  We have the opportunity to have a whole bunch of new kids in our school and we’re ready.  We have the ability!  We have the teachers we have a new Superintendent….we just need a principal.”
Kimberly Brieland requested that the BOE adopt a code of ethics and operate according to its tenets.  The general municipal law requires all school boards to adopt a code of ethics for the guidance of the officers and employees that sets forth the standards of conduct reasonably expected of them.  She further requested that the Superintendent of Schools, a Chief Executive Officer of the District, distribute a copy of the Code of Ethics to every District officer and employee and ensure that the District posts a copy of provisions of the general municipal law regarding conflicts of interest in each public building in a place conspicuous to its officers and employees.
Nancy Bourke welcomed Superintendent Jeff White.  She encouraged the Board to choose one of their ranks to become the liaison or the delegate to NYSSBA.  She was a delegate for three years and she assured the Board that it wasn’t a lot of work at all.  NYSSVA sends bi-monthly emails that contain a lot of good information that can in turn be shared with the entire Board.  There is an annual convention but attendance is not required. 

Prior to entering into executive session President Castricone thanked the staff for all of the hard work they put into the end of the year events including the graduation ceremonies, senior trips  and parking lot prom.

The Board then entered into an executive session for the purpose of receiving advice from legal counsel.  The session lasted roughly 90 minutes after which the meeting was adjourned.   

To listen to a full recording of this meeting, click HERE

To watch a video recording of this meeting , click HERE

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Agenda for Board of Education Reorganization Meeting July 8, 2021

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Special Board of Education Meeting July 1, 2021

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Agenda for Special Board of Education Meeting July 1, 2021

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting June 29, 2021

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Tuxedo Board of Education Names New Superintendent of Schools

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Former New Rochelle Business Official Hired as Superintedent of Tuxedo Schools

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Special Board of Education Meeting June 18, 2021

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Board of Education Meeting June 17, 2021

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Special Board of Education Meeting June 16, 2021

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting June 18, 2021

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting June 16, 2021

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Special Board of Education Meeting June 8, 2021

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting June 8, 2021

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Board of Education Workshop Meeting June 2, 2021

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Board of Education Meeting May 20, 2021

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Budget Vote and Board of Education Election Results

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting May 20, 2021

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Board of Education Workshop Meeting May 4, 2021

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Meet The Candidates Who are Running for Board of Education (Posted 5/3/2021)

The 2021 School Board election and budget vote will take place on Tuesday, May 18.  This year, four candidates are vying for three open spots on the Board of Education: incumbent Kimberly Breiland and newcomers Gary Heavner,  William Givens and Alyssa Horneff.   Current Board members Mike Arone and Meg Vaught will be retiring, each having served two terms.
The make-up of the school board is extremely important as it has a direct impact on the future of the School District as well as every one’s taxes. In addition to the annual budget, the Board of education is responisble for developing and adopting the policies and curriculum that drive the District as well as oversight of any facility-based issues.  Therefore, understanding these candidates, their areas of expertise and their levels of experience is crucial in making an informed decision. 

In an effort to inform the community, TPFYI presented each candidate with a basic questionnaire, designed to focus on their biographical information as well as their levels of experience and reasons for running.  What follows are the resposes received, unedited, in the order we received them.

Kimberly Tee Breiland

Education/Degrees:
BFA from Pratt Insitute
Vocation/Employer:
22 Graphics, Inc. (Marketing/Advertising)
Years of residency in Tuxedo:
Going on 5 years now
Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
I have helped with many of the “art” needs for the community. I have created a billboard, logo and flyers for the school. I have created a new map of all the trails in Tuxedo Park; I have created flyers for St. Mary’s and the Parks Department; and I created a map for the Chamber of Commerce.
Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education:
Initially, 3 years ago, my sole objective was to keep the high school open.
Today I run because I actually believe we have a diamond in the rough that can and will be the heartbeat of our town. Our school can resemble, if not supercede other New York public schools such as Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Technical, and LaGuardia High School of Music & Performing Arts. I want to be a part of making that happen.
The District is turning the corner with the introduction of a COVID Response Summer Program, Facility Improvements, Curriculum + Library + Textbook + Software Upgrades, a Transportation Program that reduces costs, and most importantly a more Transparent Accounting System. I have been a part of all this. And I would like to continue to work hard to ensure our District remains on a forward path.
What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
I think our top two priorities should be working to build and enhance our program and strengthening our communications district-wide. It is imperative we are all working well together and that all our messages are direct, clear, and concise. Communication is the key; not just between Board members, but also Parents, Students, Teachers, the Union, and the Administration. We all need to work together to capture our goal of a brighter future. 
    
Then we need to focus on the level of education we offer our students. What new programs can we introduce? How can we be more supportive? What can we supplement or enhance? Academics are paramount.
   
I would like to see strong academics, incredible arts, and specialized sports.
When we tackle these two items, we must focus on student retention as well as increasing the student body.

Alyssa Horneff

Education/Degrees:
New York University (NYU)

• Business - Stern School of Business
• Dance - Tisch School of the Arts

Pascack Hills High School - Montvale, NJ

Vocation/Employer:
Current:

• Clearing, Head of Operations 

Previous:

• Columbus Preschool NYC - Teacher of Early Education & the Arts
• Joffrey Ballet School, Associate Executive Director & Instructor
• Flatiron School, VP of Operations & Data/Analytics
• ClassPass, Director, Marketing & Growth + Director, Sales & Operations
• Break the Floor Productions, Director, Operations & Business Dev
• NBC Universal Pictures & Red Bull International, Marketing Associate
• Metropolitan Opera, Ballet Dancer among many other companies, jobs, etc!

Years of residency in Tuxedo:
I have been a proud resident of Tuxedo for a little over 4 years now.

Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:

• NYC Cares volunteer for 5+ years
• Serve monthly at my church in Ringwood, NJ

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?

As a mother of two young boys -- my top priority is ensuring the long term well being of my family. In an increasingly competitive world that means providing them with access to the best educational opportunities while also ensuring they can safely experience all the joys of childhood.

My work experience as a pre-school & arts teacher and more recently as the VP for Operations at one of the foremost online education programs in the country affords me with a unique perspective that understands how students can succeed in today’s competitive educational landscape and career market without sacrificing self-identity or worth.

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?

Not to discount the trials our district has gone through in the last couple years, (and I may be a contrarian) but I believe that the pandemic has presented the district with a truly once in a decade opportunity to attract new families to our town. One of our impediments in the past is that our approach to attracting these new families is still rooted in 20th century approaches which to date have yielded little results despite significant investment. I would hope to bring modern digital marketing expertise alongside a more strategically targeted outreach to bring in new families who are seeking a community that allows for commutability to the city as well as proximity to natural beauty.

The district continues to have a fleeting opportunity to market itself as an intimate, safe, and high-quality school district. To date, however, we have  missed the mark and find ourselves making the same old mistakes -- dealing with limited  enrollment while attempting to put out or inadvertently flaming PR fires. The reality is that to attract new families you need to understand new families.

Gary Lee Heavner

Education/Degrees:
Vassar College B.A.
Pace Law School J.D.

Vocation/Employer: Career Prosecutor

Years of residency in Tuxedo: 2

Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
Tuxedo Trail Angels
Tuxedo Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative
NY-NJ Trail Conference Trail Maintainer – Sterling Forest

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?

As a dad, a career prosecutor, a former teacher for a brief time, and a lifelong advocate for kids, I know that education is the greatest tool we can give our children. I fundamentally believe that all students deserve to have access to a high-quality education. COVID-19 has added challenges this past year, and students are falling behind academically and socially.  I am running for school board because I believe in the potential of all kids and I believe we can do better at helping them realize it.
What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
After the selection of a new Superintendent, I think we have got to focus foremost on the massive loss of learning that has happened as a result of this pandemic. We need to start by providing increased tailored supports to catch kids up to where they need to be. We should start by targeting students who are at the highest risk for long-term learning loss. Additionally, we should balance the dual needs of meeting students where they are while continuing to expose them to grade-level content through scaffolded supports that keep high expectations for and a high belief in all kids.

My Name is Gary Lee Heavner and I am a candidate for the Tuxedo School Board.
My wife and I moved to Tuxedo just before COVID hit in 2020, when we moved from Pomona, from the house in which I was born.  We selected Tuxedo as the school district we wanted to send our youngest child (now a junior) five years ago when we researched several private and parochial schools and luckily stumbled upon the district’s STEM program.  We like the school so much, we paid the ‘out of district’ cost to attend GFB for three- and one-half years before finally purchasing our house in the Maple Brook neighborhood.  My oldest children are beginning their own careers having graduated recently from Penn State and Harvard.  My wife Ann is a Registered Nurse at West Point.  We all love our new community. 
Immediately after college I taught secondary school social studies for two years in Sussex County.  After attending law school, I was a career prosecutor for over twenty-five years in various offices.
My experience with boards of education began back in the early 80s when, as class president, I represented my school to the East Ramapo Board of Education for four years.  I really never stopped attending board meetings and following the board’s activity.  Unfortunately, as a prosecutor, I have also investigated Rockland school boards and district officials for misconduct. 
I also have experience on several not-for-profit boards that have similar budgets and staffing as the Tuxedo board, including the Hudson Valley Council Boy Scouts of America, The NY State Soccer Association and USA Rugby.
Some local groups I volunteer with include, The Tuxedo Trail Angels, New York-New Jersey Trail Conference Trail Maintainer – Sterling Forest and the Tuxedo Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative.
I have previously volunteered and ben involved in many civic and youth organizations including: PTO presidents in multiple schools; CCD teacher; youth rec and travel soccer coach; youth, college, semi-professional rugby coach; World Rugby Judicial Officer; Boy Scout Assistant Scoutmaster, Order of the Arrow Lodge Advisor and Girl Scout Troop Leader.
           
Why am I qualified to serve as a School Board member?
My interest in school boards began years ago when I was multiple times selected by my high school to represent the student body to our local school board.  I have regularly continued to attend school board meetings the rest of my life.  Professionally, I have experience investigating school districts and officials.  As a dad, I have always been active in my children’s schools and activities, including being president of several PTOs, a Girl Scout troop leader, soccer coach, rugby coach and CCD teacher.  I also have board experience on several local, state and national not-for-profit boards that have similar budgets and staffing as Tuxedo.  Therefore, as a dad and candidate who has had direct classroom and board experience, I bring a relevant perspective and understanding of the challenges that teachers, parents and board members face because I’ve literally walked in their shoes.
What’s my vision for education in Tuxedo?
My vision is to ensure all Tuxedo students have access to a high-quality education. This includes fairly distributing resources to get students back on track.  It also involves growing and retaining a teacher workforce, as research shows teacher quality and representation are important elements of student outcomes. I want to foster nurturing learning environments through expanded social emotional and mental health supports and more fresh air time for kids.
How would I rate the school district’s performance during the pandemic?
I think the district’s response to the pandemic was slow. There was too much time spent deliberating about how to get students back to school as it once existed, versus jumping quickly into action to restructure the approach to education so it served the needs of all kids in a new reality. I would have acted with more urgency to ensure Tuxedo virtual and remote learning options were equitable, accessible, and offered high-quality instructional opportunities for kids no matter which option parents chose. I also would have focused on ensuring teachers and families were trained properly and thoroughly on how to navigate these new systems and ensured that support was ongoing. I would have ensured that our students and teachers felt safe and heard, and started updating in-person learning spaces early on so that they were ready to accommodate students in accordance with COVID-19 safety protocols once in-person learning began again.
If I could change one thing in the Tuxedo School District, it would be …
In addition to focusing on my key priorities and all the topics covered here, I’d love to see more physical improvements in the buildings and facilities.
Do I have concern about student achievement in the Tuxedo School District?
I am deeply concerned. COVID-19 disruptions have caused students to fall further behind than they already were.  We cannot approach the issue of student achievement in a vacuum. If we focus solely on boosting assessment scores through an age-old approach of teaching kids how to test, we will continue to fail them. We need a comprehensive approach to education that includes social-emotional resilience and project-based learning to increase students’ problem solving and relationship skills, culturally relevant instruction so students can see themselves in the content they’re learning, and that affords our wonderful teachers the capacity, flexibility and resources they need.
What are my thoughts on the current proposed Tuxedo School District budget?
I admire the proposed budget that Tuxedo was able to create amid so many financial challenges during COVID-19.  The Board needs to continue to be financially conservative to keep all future tax increases as infrequent and as small as possible.
Are there specific curriculum changes I would advocate?
I’d advocate for more curriculum that expands relevant and 21st century skills. We are living in a digital age where technological proficiency is critical for students to succeed in today’s economy. I’d push for more increased focus on digital literacy as it is not only essential for remote education, but has long been essential to all learning (e.g., to complete homework, access information, learn basic research skills, etc.) I’d also push for financial literacy to become a core component of our students’ education, as we have a responsibility to equip them with the tools to build the futures they want for themselves. Finally, I’d push for more project-based learning in all subjects, as research proves its effectiveness on students’ confidence, engagement, and achievement.
What is another important issue?
The school board makes short- and long-term policy decisions that directly impact families with kids in school now, families that will attend Tuxedo schools in the future and the overall prosperity of our community There are a lot of candidates on the ballot, and that can make the process of sifting through all of them feel daunting. However, given the stakes, I strongly encourage Tuxedo voters to research a little about each candidate, learn more about their priorities and make informed decisions that will serve the best interests of our students.

William (Bill) Givens

Education/Degrees:
Bachelor’s of Science

• Major: Economics
• Minor: Political Science
• Minor: Computer Science

Vocation/Employer:
Managing Director at Morgan Stanley

Years of residency in Tuxedo:
13 Years

Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:

• Coached many years of T-Ball in the Tuxedo Little League
• Annual volunteer at the Tuxedo Park Library’s Memorial Day Community Picnic
• Chaperoned multiple TUFSD School field trips
• Worked volunteer events for the Tuxedo PTO

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?

See Candidate Statement - Below

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?

See Candidate Statement - Below

Candidate Statement:

My name is William (Bill) Givens, and I am running for the Tuxedo Union Free School District School Board, because I want to serve the community that my family and I have been a part of for the past 13 years.  I have a degree in Economics, have 25 years’ experience in finance, and have spent the last 12 years at Morgan Stanley, where I am a Managing Director.  All 3 of my children are currently, and have always attended TUFSD.  My youngest attends GGM, while my older two have moved on to GFB.  Between them, they have collectively attended 24 years of school in this district. 

I strongly believe that all children are entitled to a quality public school education.  As a taxpayer with children who attend TUFSD, I am acutely aware of the challenges facing the district.  In particular, the delicate balance that needs to be struck between ensuring adequate funding for the school, and running it in a fiscally responsible way.

Our school has one job, which is to ensure that our children are getting a first-class educational foundation that will prepare them for whatever the next chapter in their lives may be.  However, between the disruption caused by COVID-19 and the mid-year change in the district’s leadership, the past year has been extremely challenging for our children and our teachers.  As we turn the corner on the challenges of the past year, I will push for safe open schools, our district to be more competitive, and for TUFSD to become the district of choice for parents, students, and teachers. 

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Board of Education Meeting April 22, 2021

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting April 22, 2021

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Tuxedo: Advisory Committee to Interview Seven Candidates for Tuxedo School Superintendent

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting March 30, 2021

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting March 25, 2021

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Board of Education Meeting March 18, 2021

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting March 18, 2021

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Board of Education Workshop Meeting March 2, 2021

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Make Your Voice Heard: The TUFSD Actively Seeks Stakeholder Input (posted 3/2/21)

Dear Members of the Tuxedo Community,

An initial part of our search process requires broad feedback from all segments of the Tuxedo community as to what qualities they believe are most critical in Tuxedo's next Superintendent.To that end we have posted a forced choice survey, listing 25 desirable qualities every community would want in their next Chief School Officer. However, you are allowed a maximum of only 10 qualities that you believe are most important for the unique needs of our Tuxedo students, staff and residents.Be sure you check the appropriate box identifying your role in Tuxedo. Read the entire survey before checking the ten most essential qualities, in your view, for our next superintendent. We have left space for any additional information you would like to share.Please be sure to complete the survey as soon as practicable since the results will be posted on our website as well as be shared with our Citizens' Advisory Committee and Board of Education to assist their questioning of semi-finalists in April and finalists in May.

Thank you for participating.

Click HERE to access survey

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Agenda for Board of Education Workshop Meeting March 2, 2021

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TUFSD Board Plans for Full Scale Superintendent Search (Posted 2/17/2021)

The TUFSD Board of Education has begun laying out plans to conduct a full service Superintendent search following the January resignation of previous Superintendent, Timothy Bohlke. 
As outlined during their February Workshop meeting, the search will be led by the District’s HR Consultant, Dr. Ronald Valenti and will adhere to a well-established timeline, resulting in the presentation of a slate of strong, qualified candidates to the Board of Education and the Community at large.
“The whole purpose of this search is to draw as wide a net as possible and to motivate as many potential candidates as we can find to be part of the process, particularly well qualified and certified individuals.” said Valenti as he laid out his proposed timeline, which calls for the majority of work to be done over 90 days during the months of March, April and May. 

The search will be formally announced between March 1 – March 15, utilizing the District Website as well as carefully developed recruitment application materials.  Dr. Valenti has also recommended that the District utilize the BOCES Network, OLAS, in addition to several State and National Organizations such as the New York Council of School Superintendents, the New York School Boards Association, the New York State Personnel and Business Associations, the American Association of School Administrators and the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development to announce the search.  He is also recommending that the District utilize the media with postings on Linked-In and INDEED as well print advertisements in the New York Times and Education Week in addition to other local news venues.  Finally, he recommends a mailing be sent to all Hudson Valley Superintendents as well as to Regional Master’s and Doctoral Degree granting institutions. 

Between March 15 and April 30 the District will engage in community outreach via a online survey entitled “Qualities of New Superintendent” as well as the formation of a Citizens Advisory Committee of 10-12, led by Dr. Valenti and consisting of 3 board members along with representatives of the professional associations (TTA & TEU unions) PTO, various community groups and local officials.  This committee will ultimately be responsible for narrowing down the list of semi-finalists in order to present the Board with a slate of finalists.  Along with the committee, Dr. Valenti has recommended a series of school community meetings for staff, parents and taxpayers/residents.

March 31 will be the final day for applications and nominations.  Between April 1 and April 15, Dr. Valenti will conduct preliminary interviews with qualified candidates assembling a semi-finalist slate.  These individuals will then be subject to background and reference checks.   Between April 15 and April 30, the Citizen’s Advisory Committee will interview the semi-finalists with the hopes of putting together a slate of 4-6 finalists for the Board of Education.  From May 3 to May 26 the Board of Education will conduct detailed interviews with the finalists with the intention of selecting a candidate.  If all goes according to the proposed timeline, the District hopes to announce the appointment of a new Superintendent, effective July 1, 2021.

If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about how to get involved with either the Citizen’s Advisory Committee or one of the community meetings, we recommend contacting the Board of Education at boe@tuxedoufsd.org

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Board of Education Meeting February 11, 2021

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and

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting February 11, 2021

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Pre-k and Kindergarten Registration is Open in the TUFSD

• STEP 1: Download and complete the registration document. To access the registration documents:
• Go to our district website; www.Tuxedoufsd.org
• Click the section titled For Parents
• Click on the Registration link to download the packet
• STEP 2: Please email the completed packet to Mrs. Dixon at mdixon@tuxedoufsd.org. Alternatively you may, fax the completed packet to (845)-351-3402, or drop it off at GGM
• If documents need to be dropped off, please schedule an appointment with Mrs. Dixon by calling (845)-351-4797 ext. 3110.  
• Families are required to provide signed proof of the following: 
• Birth Certificate 
• Proof of Residency
• Current Immunization Record prepared and signed/stamped by a physician specifying vaccines given and the dates of administration 
• Most recent physical (within one year)
• A parent’s photo ID
• Please remember children entering Kindergarten must be five years of age and Pre-Kindergarten students must be four years of age on or before December 1, 2021. 

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Board of Education Workshop Meeting February 2, 2021

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Tuxedo Students Welcomed Back To 'Positive Minds, Vibes, Life'

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6 Mid-Hudson Schools Opt For Remote Learning Monday

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Special Board of Education Meeting January 26, 2021

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Agenda for Board of Education Workshop Meeting February 2, 2021

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Board of Education Meeting January 21, 2021

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting January 26, 2021

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting January 21, 2021

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Board of Education Accepts Resignation of Superintendent (Posted January 7, 2021)

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Special Board of Education Meeting January 7, 2021

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Notice of and Agenda for Special Board of Education Meeting January 7, 2021

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Special Board of Education Meeting January 4 & 5, 2021

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Videos of the two meetings can be viewed here and here

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting January 4, 2021

The Board of Education will hold a special meeting on january 4 at 7pm via Google Meet.

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Statement From the Board of Education January 3, 2021

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Board of Education Meeting December 17, 2020

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting December 17, 2020

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Board of Education Workshop Meeting December 1, 2020

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Agenda for Board of Education Workshop Meeting December 1, 2020

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Holiday Pause

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Board of Education Meeting November 19, 2020

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting November 19, 2020

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Tuxedo Senior 'Spot' Day

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Holiday Wreath Sale - November 2-13

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Special Board of Education Meeting November 5, 2020

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Notice of and Agenda for Special Board of Education Meeting November 5, 2020

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Special Board of Education Meeting November 2, 2020

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting November 2, 2020

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting October 29, 2020

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Return To Learn - Update - Posted 10/21/2020

Dear Tuxedo Families,

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Board of Education Meeting October 15, 2020

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting October 15, 2020

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Board of Education Workshop October 6, 2020

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Agenda for Board of Education Workshop October 6, 2020

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Special Board of Education Meeting September 29, 2020

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting September 29, 2020

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TUFSD Bus Proposition Vote - Results

The proposition was defeated

YES: 103
NO: 146

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TUFSD Bus Proposition Vote - Tuesday, September 22, 2020

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Board of Education Meeting September 17, 2020

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Board of Education Workshop Meeting September 15, 2020

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting September 17, 2020

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting September 15, 2020

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Board of Education Worshop Meeting September 1, 2020

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Agenda for Board of Education Worshop Meeting September 1, 2020

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TUFSD To Open With All Remote Learning

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Board of Education Meeting August 20, 2020

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting August 20, 2020

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Board of Education Worshop Meeting August 13, 2020

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*There is a 10 minute gap in this recording due to a technology issue. the gap occrs around the 1 hour and 24 minute mark. A complete recording will be posted to the district website as soon as it is available.

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Agenda for Board of Education Worshop Meeting August 13, 2020

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Return To Learn - Update - Posted 8/10/2020

Good Afternoon Tuxedo,

This morning Governor Cuomo gave schools permission to open in September.  Therefore, the 1st day for students will be on Tuesday, September 8th (pending Board of Education approval).

Now that we have an answer, it’s time to review the Return to Learn Plan and prepare for September.  We realize there are many questions that need to be answered.  In order to best answer those questions, the District will be hosting 3 virtual Q&A sessions.  The schedule for the sessions are as follows:

·         Friday, August 14th         from 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM

·         Wednesday, August 19th     from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM

·         Thursday, August 20th     from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM

Links for the above mentioned meetings will be posted on the District website. We will also publish an FAQ page on the website and post answers to questions as they arise.  When you receive the Q&A notice, you will have an opportunity to submit questions to be answered.  These questions and answers will be added to the FAQ page as well.  You will also be able to ask questions during the virtual meeting. 

School opening information and student schedules will be mailed out towards the end of August.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS (Action Required)

With each of the options below, we are asking parents to commit to an entire semester for 100% Distance Learning.  Similarly, we are asking parents to commit to an entire semester if you opt to drive your children to and from school.  The 2nd semester (January to June) will be discussed in November. 

100% DISTANCE LEARNING OPTION

As part of our Return to Learn Plan, parents may opt to fully participate via Distance Learning for the 1st semester (September to January).  

BUSSING

Parents have the option to drive your children to and from school every day and not utilize District transportation.  To help reduce the number of students riding the bus, we are asking parents to confirm whether or not your children will be riding on the bus.   

Please complete the following survey questions and respond no later than Friday, August 21st.  This information will assist us with our planning and providing the best possible Return to Learn in September. 

Here is a link to the (short) questionnaire:

Parent Plans Survey

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Mr. Bohlke, Ms. Scariano, and Mr. Brown

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Return To Learn - Update - Posted 7/31/2020

Dear Tuxedo Community,

I hope this letter finds everyone enjoying the summer and staying cool.  Yesterday, we held our 3rd Return to Learn Advisory Task Force meeting. I would first like to thank Mr. Brown and Ms. Scariano for their work in facilitating these meetings.  I would also like to thank the participants for their dedication to this process.

As of this moment, our plan is for school to begin in September with In-Person Instruction for all students every day.  We already know this will require student training on new protocols/procedures as well as professional development to prepare staff.  This will happen the first week of school and a more detailed schedule will follow (once we have official guidance from the Governor).  However, we are beginning the pre-planning in anticipation. 

Aside from the basics, we have outlined three possible scenarios and the details of each. The Return to Learn Plan is a “living” document and will be updated regularly throughout the month of August.  This is what the scenarios look like at this time:

1.    In-Person Instruction - A regular day at school (in person) with adherence to social distancing and following expectations for PPE

a.    School will be in session every day following a regular 6-day cycle

b.    School will begin at 8:00am and end at 3:00pm

2.    Distance Learning - ALL students remain at home and follow their regular school day

.      School will be in session every day following a regular 6-day cycle

a.    School will begin (at home) at 8:00am and end at 3:00pm

3.    Learning from Home (Parent Choice) - A parent may opt to not send their child to school for the 1st semester

.      The student will remain at home and follow their regular school day

a.    School will be in session every day following a regular 6-day cycle

b.    School will begin (at home) at 8:00am and end at 3:00pm

c.     Parent/Student will commit to one full semester and this can be reviewed for the 2nd semester (details still being finalized)

Details are still being worked out and will not become final until we hear from the Governor.  At that time, we will make adjustments as necessary.  We realize many parents and students are stressing about the return to school and we hear you!  More to come next week!  

Have a safe and healthy weekend!

Mr. Bohlke

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Board of Education Meeting July 23, 2020

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Tuxedo. All the George F. Baker Class of 2020

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting July 23, 2020

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The meeting can be accessed via this link:

meet.google.com/xqr-dpmt-ojq

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Graduation Will Live Stream on July 16

We are looking forward to celebrating the Class of 2020 on July 16!

Click here for the LIVE link to the graduation ceremony beginning at 11AM.

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Return To Learn - TUFSD Engages School Community on Re-Opening

Dear Tuxedo Community,

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer and getting to spend some much needed time in the sun and visiting with family and friends.  During the months of July and August, at both GGM and GFB, we are going through extensive summer cleaning and preparation for the upcoming school year.

In addition to our ultimate goal of preparing for students, faculty and staff to return in September, we are in the process of adding new health and safety protocols to assure and ensure everyone who visits our schools is safe and remains healthy.

Return to Learn Taskforce & Planning

Our top priority is having students, teachers and staff return to school this fall.  We understand the academic and social-emotional importance of this.  We also understand our obligation to the health and safety of our students, staff and families.  

The Tuxedo Union Free School District, along with all Orange County Schools, is exploring the many different variables related to opening school in September.  The District has been working diligently on protocols and systems for the upcoming 2020-21 school year.  Our administrative team has completed walkthroughs of the buildings, noting areas of concern and need for students, teachers and staff while continuing to stay abreast of the latest guidance and information.  Behind the scenes, we have already ordered Tuxedo masks to be distributed to all students, faculty, and staff, we have been stocking up on sanitizer, we have ordered multiple fogging machines (kind of like a portable power washer for disinfecting) that will be used multiple times during the school day in each building and on the busses, and we are looking at other forms of realistic protections for students, faculty, and staff. 

We need to be prepared as a district for different scenarios in September and it is of utmost importance that this be a shared decision making process.  To that end, a “Return to Learn” Taskforce has been created, representing the diverse stakeholders in our community, inclusive of administrators, parents, teachers, staff and community members.  This team will work together on specific guidance and expectations on: instruction, academic and social-emotional wellbeing, health and safety, facilities, food service, transportation and athletics.  If you are interested in joining our Taskforce please let us know. 

Throughout the 2nd half of July and most of August, this team will meet weekly (in person and/or virtually) to review input from the community, official guidance, and provide their professional expertise to make recommendations and set implementation benchmarks and communications.  All of this work, taken together, will result in clear, specific guidance and expectations for students, teachers and families.  

Return to Learn Surveys:  Parents, Staff and Students - Complete by July 20th 

Your voice is essential as we continue to move forward as a community.  In addition to our Return to Learn Taskforce, three surveys have been created to obtain specific feedback from you to further tailor our plans for opening in September.  

It is important that we continue to consider and plan different scenarios.  We cannot afford to wait for specific guidance from the state to move forward.  We will adjust our plans as needed, per any directives and changes in the current situation.  

Below you will find links to the Parent and Student surveys.  Please be sure to take careful time in completing the survey so that we have the most accurate results and as complete a picture as possible.  If you have more than one child, it makes sense to complete one parent survey per child.  Your answers may be different depending on the grade-level and we want to capture as much data as we can.  These data will help us to make informed decisions that best support your family and teaching and learning.  The surveys will close July 20th, so please work to complete them before this time. 

Click here to take the PARENT SURVEY (Parents, please complete a survey for each child in your household)

Click here to take the STUDENT SURVEY (for students who will be in grades 6-12 this September)

Upcoming & What’s Next

Over the next week, we will also create a new tab on the website called “Return to Learn”.  This is where you will find all future correspondence, articles, and important information relative to school opening in September. 

 Towards the end of July, we expect the NYS Education Department and Board of Regents to provide guidance and recommendation.  During the first week of August, we expect the Governor to make a decision about opening.  Therefore, we will be sending the following updates:

• “Return to Learn” Update #2 will be sent to parents on Friday, July 24th 
• “Return to Learn” Update #3 will be sent to parents on Friday, July 31st 
• “Return to Learn” Update #4 will be sent to parents on Friday, August 6th
• We expect to have solid guidance at this time.

While many of our neighboring districts are much larger, it stands to reason that they have different decisions to make.  Due to our size, we will not experience some of the larger issues they are grappling with.  While there is much to continue to learn from each other, we have the opportunity to focus on what teaching and learning will look like whether we are in school and practicing social distancing or learning from home.  We will do what is best for our District and our students based on our needs.

We are Tuxedo!  And we will make decisions that are right for Tuxedo!

Have a great weekend,

Tim Bohlke

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Board of Education Reorganization Meeting July 7, 2020

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Tuxedo. Emma Maynard and Jared Spivak Earn OCCIA Scholar Athlete Awards

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Agenda For Board of Education Reorganization Meeting July 7, 2020

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting July 6, 2020

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting June 24, 2020

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Board of Education Meeting June 18, 2020

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Budget Vote and Board of Education Election Results ( posted 6/16/2020)

School Budget Vote and Election Results:

Budget: Passed

Yes - 475 / No - 392

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Agenda For Board of Education Meeting June 18, 2020

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Tuxedo. Tuxedo Proud

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Special Board of Education Meeting June 8, 2020

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting June 8, 2020

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TUFSD Budget Hearing and Special Board of Education Meeting May 28, 2020

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Notice of TUFSD Budget Hearing and Special Board of Education Meeting May 28, 2020

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Three Candidates Vie for One Spot on the Board of Education - Posted 5/26/2020

The 2020 School Board election and budget vote will take place on June 9.  Due to the pandemic, voting will take place entirly via absentee ballot pursuant to an Executive Order put in place by Governor Cuomo late last month.   Every qualified voter will receive a ballot in the mail along with a postage paid return envelope.  The ballots must be returned to the District by 5pm on Tuesday June 9.  This year, three candidates are vying for one open spot on the Board of Education.  Encumbent Nancy Bourke faces newcomers Joe Rickard and Johanna Telander.  
The make-up of the school board is extremely important as it has a direct and impact on the future of the School District as well as every one’s taxes. Therefore, understanding these candidates, their areas of expertise and their levels of experience is crucial in making an informed decision. 
In an effort to inform the community, TPFYI presented each candidate with a basic questionnaire, designed to focus on their biographical information as well as their levels of experience and reasons for running.  What follows are thier unedited resposes in the order we received them.

NANCY BOURKE

Education/Degrees:
I earned a Bachelors of Arts degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.  I majored in Psychology and took courses to be certified to teach elementary education. 
I continued my studies towards a graduate degree in Liberal Studies at Stony Brook University.  

Vocation/Employer:
Children have always been my vocation.  I have spent over 40 years working for quality education.  I was an elementary teacher for 4 years, photojournalist for 6 years, K-12 substitute teacher for 20 years, and School District Clerk for 30 years - all while raising my own three children.  As District Clerk I attended all Board of Education meetings and ran the School Budget Vote and School Board Member elections each year.

Years of Residency in Tuxedo:
My husband and I moved to Tuxedo Park in 1977.  We raised our three sons here and now live in our “empty nest” with our Golden Retriever, Ransom.

Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
I met and worked with many community members over the years through my volunteer work with the Tuxedo Library, Tuxedo Park Garden Club, Tuxedo Recreation Commission, and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church.  I served as President of the Tuxedo PTA for four years.  My service on the school board for the past three years has been a challenging and rewarding experience as I worked to enrich and enhance the educational experiences of all our students.  Currently I am co-chairperson of the district-wide Safety Committee, member of the District Curriculum Committee and the District Policy Committee.  I serve as the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) delegate for our district and the alternate delegate to the Orange County School Boards Association (OCSBA).  I was a member of the District Goals Committee and helped visualize Tuxedo 2025, our goals for the future.

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
I am running for re-election to the Board of Education because I have more to offer the children and families of the district.  My experiences as teacher, District Clerk, and parent whose children received their K-12 education in our schools provides me with valuable insight and personal experience on the issues surrounding our school district.  I want to share my first-hand knowledge of our school district and use it to help with plans to move forward.  I will work to monitor and evaluate the progress being made to achieve District Goals and I will work to ensure board policies and resources effectively support the District’s mission, goals, and vision.  I will promote strong fiscal responsibility and accountability.  As taxpayers we deserve have our money allocated fairly, responsibly, and transparently without undue burdens. 

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
I am excited about the future of our school district Pre-K through Grade 12.  I have never wavered in my commitment to keep our high school students at George F. Baker High School

• We need, as a district, to continually update and enhance all our educational arenas in order to provide the highest of education opportunities and experiences for our students, regardless of inside a building or remotely.  Teachers need to have the most current technology, training resources, and guidance for effective long-distance learning experiences if that becomes necessary again.
• Our buildings are in need of repair.  We need to put in place a systematic plan of action for maintaining, repairing, and replacing.  I have a keen focus on safety-related issues. 

Why should you vote for me?  I am uniquely qualified to be a member of the Tuxedo Board of Education. Currently I am the only member of the Board who does not have a child in the school.  This gives me a different perspective than all other members.  It is important to have diverse representation.  I work to ensure the education, safety, and well-being, of each and every child is at the forefront of my decisions.  I strive to give opportunities for our students to receive a well-rounded education and be prepared to take on the challenges in the next phases in their lives.  I support a school environment where students benefit from individualized attention made possible by the small class sizes and the security and connectedness of a small school.  With equal importance, I promote strong fiscal responsibility, accountability, and transparency.  If we all work together with open dialogue great things can be accomplished, and I want to be a part of it. 
I ask for your vote.  Please remember all ballots must be received by the district no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, 2020.

JOE RICKARD

Education/Degrees:
BA, History, Queens College
MA, Education, St John’s University
MBA, Marketing, Hofstra University

Vocation/Employer:
I started my career as a NY State certified teacher, and have taught at the HS level. 
My current company, Intellective Solutions, provides vocational school curriculum and teacher resources to educational institutions across the country.  I have extensive educational and management experience.
Before starting Intellective Solutions, I have had senior management experience in both large and small companies. Throughout my career I have volunteered in leadership positions for multiple educational organizations.

Years of Residency in Tuxedo:
My wife Maureen and I have lived in Tuxedo for 18 years. We have two grown daughters and five grandchildren.

Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
Member of the Town of Tuxedo Recreation Board
COVID 19 Community Liaison for Food Supplies

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
I am running for the Board because I strongly support the Tuxedo District and our Town. As a long-time resident and former teacher, I have the background and knowledge to add value to the Board and District.  
As a grandparent, I have a front-row seat as my daughters navigate the pressures of managing e-learning demands. I understand the unique challenges and tough road ahead for teachers, parents, and students in a post-COVID 19 world. I want to be part of the solution. I sincerely believe the District could be well-positioned for the future. I will provide the hard work and expertise to make that possible. 

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?

The top issues facing the District include:

• Turnover of Superintendents and Administrators

We have a crisis of leadership. Over the past 4 years, we have had three new Superintendents. Two of which were replaced with severance packages. We have also lost multiple Principals, Vice Principals, and supporting administration personnel. This is disruptive to the Students and limits our ability to have a cohesive strategy.

With my significant management experience, I will reinforce professional and foundational processes for sourcing, retaining, leading, compensating and supporting our employees. We cannot be successful without strong District leadership.

• Broken Budget Process

The district received a poor State audit four years ago. We still are experiencing the same problems. We continually roll large amounts of unspent tax dollars into new fiscal years. This will happen this year again. The problem with this approach is that it discourages fiscal discipline and hinders long-term planning.

I will propose that the Board receives detailed information on all major line items. By correctly allocating and reporting expenses, the Board and Administration will make better decisions. I will also insist, that the Administration be more transparent with the Board and interested residents. It is difficult to justify high per-student expenses without a credible financial reporting process

• Loss of Students

Over the last five years, we have lost students as they reach the higher grades. This is particularly a problem in the 6, 7, and 8th grades. Our classes in the 9 – 12 grades are now averaging 15 students. The retention of students must be a priority for our administration.

We need a documented and Board-approved plan to address this issue. We have great teachers and a small school. Retaining our current students will send a strong signal to potential residents that our Town is a long-term opportunity.

Thanks in advance for your support. I sincerely believe the District could be well-positioned for the future. To hear my priorities, background, and experience in more detail listen to my interview with the Tuxedo PTO and TTA, found on the Tuxedo PTO Facebook site. Q&ARickardandTelander Interview Tuxedo PTO. You may also find additional info on my Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/RickardforTuxedo.

JOHANNA TELANDER

Education/Degrees:
Baccalaureate from Sibelius Post-Secondary school with a Concentration in Music, Helsinki, Finland; B.A. in Music from Capital University Conservatory of Music, Columbus, OH; Professional Performance Certificate (two-year concentration, Integrated Arts) from The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, NY. 

Vocation/Employer:
Self-employed performer, musician, voice-over artist and composer. 

Years of Residency in Tuxedo:
My husband and I purchased our home in Tuxedo in 2018. 

Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
I have been an active member of the PTO, serving on the PTO board as Class Parent Liaison as well as organizing many of the PTO's events and fundraisers, such as the Princesses and Villains show, Back to School Carnival, Market Night, Board & Brush Fundraiser, Spring Soireé, Costa Rica Fashion Show and more. I plan to continue facilitating these exciting collaborations by reaching out to my own network in the professional artist community for events, and by volunteering my time in support of the school’s Performing Arts programs in any way that I can. I will aspire to contribute to the overall cultural enrichment of our town by forging new, impactful relationships with its multi-talented residents.

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
I am running for the board because I’m passionate about education and because I am a parent of two children in the district. My son is in his second year at George Grant Mason Elementary School, and my daughter will be starting Kindergarten in September. I have had an opportunity to view the school through several lenses in these last two years: through my son, through my role as a Class Parent, as well as through my volunteer work for the PTO. I have come to love and respect the school, and admire the unwavering dedication of our exemplary teachers. Growing up with four grandparents who were teachers, I have witnessed first-hand how a child’s primary years of education become the most important pillars on which the rest of their values will stand. I believe it is of the utmost importance to do what we can in our community to help our school system thrive. Before we moved here, my family lived in a town where the school district left a lot to be desired. We moved here for the opportunity to provide our children with a better education.  I have lived in four different countries, and have traveled extensively throughout Europe and the United States and, because of this, I bring a fresh perspective, a global point of view, outside-of-the-box creativity and innovation, as well as transparency to the board. My work as a freelancer for the past twenty years gives me the stealth needed to weather unprecedented challenges in our current world, the confidence needed to think on my feet when making important decisions, and the willingness to learn how to best serve my community. In my years as a freelancer I have worked with people coming from all walks of life and I am certain I can act as a mediator when challenging discussions need to take place. I want to do my best to ensure our district inclusively continues seeking the support of our strong community.  As a tax-payer in this town I will closely consider the school budget. There are many small decisions which could make all the difference moving forward, and I believe these changes could be achieved at no further cost to taxpayers. 

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
The strife caused by recent high turnover in the administration and the resonating uncertainty brought about by the changes our school district has weathered this year need to be smoothed over. It is imperative we, as a small school, recognize the strength of working together.  We need to remain open to healthy conversation and transparent dialogue with one another. We need to end the divisiveness among administration, teachers and the Board of Ed, and not lose sight of the common goal of providing the best possible education for our children. We should all want to take pride in what our district has to offer. I would address these issues by approaching staff, teachers, parents and students alike with the sincere desire to listen to their points of view, learn from their strengths and expertise, and then connect people together, so we can influence a movement of positivity and action. Let’s stand up and stand out as a district. 

Click here to view Mrs. Telander’s Bio

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Board of Education Meeting May 21, 2020

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting May 21, 2020

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Board of Education Opts No Tax increase in 2020/2021 Budget - Posted 5/15/2020

During a meeting held remotely via GoogleMeets on May 7, The TUFSD Board of Education unanimously adopted a $13,699.533 general fund budget for the 2020-2021 school year with no tax increase.  

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Updated School Budget Calendar - posted 5/10/2020

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Covid-19 Update - Posted 5/09/2020

Dear Tuxedo Families,

As we enter into this weekend, I would like to recognize all of the moms in Tuxedo.  This Sunday is your day and it is certainly well-deserved!  Happy Mother’s Day!!

As indicated in my newsfeed last week, the Governor has made the decision that students will continue with learning at home until the end of the academic year.   We are well aware of the impact this decision has on our entire Tuxedo school community and the many emotions that go along with it.  This is especially true for our graduating seniors. 

Senior year is a rite of passage that should be filled with awesome experiences to be remembered for a lifetime.  This year, our seniors have endured the unthinkable and deserve every bit of pomp and circumstance they are entitled to.  In speaking with the graduates, it’s evident that graduation needs to happen at George F. Baker High School and they have my commitment that I will do everything within my reach to ensure this happens. At this moment, the plan is for a virtual portion of the graduation to be accompanied by the actual graduation.  Of course, if permitted, we will have to abide by the social distancing rules and make adjustments as necessary.  There are still details to be worked out, but the blueprint has been created.  Similarly, next week we will be reviewing our options for Kindergarten and both 5th and 6th grades, as both grades will be moving-up to Middle School at GFB.  

Decisions, decisions, decisions… Some decisions are made quickly, some take a bit of time, some are on the fly, and not making a decision is also a decision.  As parents, you make decisions every day and don’t think twice.  Especially fitting for this weekend, my mother taught me a long time ago, that Mom is the ultimate decision maker!  Teachers make decisions about what strategies and learning opportunities are best for our scholars, principals make decisions about what is best for the school, and the superintendent makes decisions that best serve the entire learning community and adhere to policy set forth by the Board of Education.  COVID-19 has and will continue to require many decisions to be made.  Some will be easy, some will be difficult, some will be liked, and some will not be liked.  Over the next few weeks, the leadership team along with the faculty will be making important decisions at all levels.  Moving forward, all decisions will be based on what is best for the health and safety of all.   

Yesterday, for teacher appreciation week, the PTO organized a parade around Circle Field to show support for our teachers.  If you missed it, it was spectacular!  It was truly great to see everyone in person.  Nothing can replace the impact of a great teacher, even if it’s face-to-face via a computer screen.  Thank you to our amazing faculty!

Last night, the Board of Education adopted the budget for the 2020-2021 school year. I would like to thank the Board of Education for their commitment to the students, faculty, staff, and to the entire community.  The budget that will be presented virtually on May 28th at 6:00pm is an academically and fiscally responsible budget.  COVID-19 has put a strain on all of us, and from the onset, the Board of Education has insisted on and adopted a budget with a $0.00 increase to the taxpayer

On May 28th you will also be introduced to Tuxedo 2025.  The 2020-2021 school year will be the foundation year of a 5-year academic plan to move our District forward.  We will prepare our scholars for technologies and jobs that have not yet been created.  We will prepare them to think and collaborate globally, and to find solutions to issues facing the community as well as the planet. 

Over the past two months we have faced unprecedented challenges and addressed uncertainty head-on.  Our children have shown tremendous resilience and successfully adapted to learning from home.  When students are allowed to return to our hallways, health and safety, academic rigor, and emotional well-being will be paramount.  We can’t wait!!

As always, next week will bring new information and I might even stray from the traditional email and opt to do a video.  Principal Brown is providing me with plenty of peer pressure, so I guess the Tuxedo iNews will start sooner rather than later. 

Thank you again for your continued support.  Have a wonderful weekend and most importantly, stay safe and healthy! 

Mr. Bohlke

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Special Board of Education Meeting/Budget Workshop - May 7, 2020

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting/Budget Workshop - May 7, 2020

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Special Board of Education Meeting/Budget Workshop - April 30, 2020

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting/Budget Workshop - April 30, 2020

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Covid-19 Update - Posted 4/24/20

Dear Tuxedo Families,

Happy Friday!  We have just completed week 6 of COVID-19 learning from home.  I cannot believe we are already 6 weeks into this.  Let me start by saying how appreciative I am of our dedicated staff.  I know I might sound like a broken record, but every week I continue to see staff going above and beyond to support our children and learning from home. 
As parents and caregivers, I also have to thank you!  In addition to the stresses that come with regular daily life, you are handling a multitude of stresses that have been thrust upon you as a result of COVID-19.  I know this hasn’t been easy and we are working hard to support you as best we can.  

To that end, shortly after this email, you will receive another email with a survey of how things are going with learning from home.  Please take the time and give us your honest feedback in that survey.  I have spoken to parents over the past few weeks that have identified some areas of concern/stress, and those conversations have helped to inform the creation of the survey. 
It has been a week since my last email, and I was hoping by waiting until the end of the week, I would have more information (from NYSED) to share.  Unfortunately, we have not heard much from the Governor or NYSED.  As I’m typing this letter, I just received the following notification in an email from the New York State School Boards Association. 

In response to a reporter’s question about the timeline for a decision on whether schools will reopen after May 15, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that he will make a decision "next week."

"You need two weeks of flat or declining numbers," to comply with federal guidelines, he noted. "Declining obviously is better."

- Eric D. Randall, Editor-in-Chief

On May 4th and 5th, there will be another meeting of the Board of Regents.  We hear this will result in a “sweeping regulatory package”.  We are hoping the Board of Regents meeting will provide further guidance on grading and GPA calculation, graduation requirements, transcripts, and NCAA sports related concerns.  

Lastly, we are always looking to add new features and links to our website.  Please share some photos, fun facts, learning at home bloopers, shout outs, ideas, community information, etc. and we will post it on the website.  It would be great to recognize the hard work and effort of our students.  Email news@tuxedoufsd.org and we will post it. 

Have a great weekend and stay healthy!

Timothy Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools

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Board of Education Meeting - April 16, 2020

Click here to listen to a recording of this meeting

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Covid-19 Update - Posted 4/16/20

Dear Tuxedo Families and Faculty,

Governor Cuomo announced today that “NYS on PAUSE” is extended and all schools are to remain closed through May 15, 2020. The NYS on PAUSE initiative is intended to help protect the public against the spread of the COVID-19 virus.  A special thank you to the Tuxedo faculty, staff and administrators for working tirelessly to support our students and families with at-home learning needs.  We WILL get through this because WE ARE TUXEDO!

REMINDERS

• CANCELED New York State Exams:
• All Grade 3-8 state assessments in ELA, Math, Science, and NYSESLAT (NYS English as a Second Language Achievement Test)
• All June 2020 Regents Examinations
• Students who were scheduled to take Regents exams this June will be EXEMPT from having to take those exams for graduation this year and in the future.
• Tuxedo Union Free School District has adopted the Google platform for K-12 distance learning
• As per NYS Education Law 2D – Zoom and Class Dojo do not provide the necessary encryption to ensure security and student privacy protections, and therefore will no longer be used.

Take care and be well!

Sincerely,

Timothy H. Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting - April 16, 2020

Click here to view the agenda

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Covid-19 Update - Posted 4/07/20

Good Afternoon Tuxedo Families and Faculty,

A few moments ago, I received an email with official guidance from the New York State Education Department regarding Regents Exams and wanted to get this information out to you right away.  As suspected, the Board of Regents has cancelled the June 2020 administration of the Regents Exams and they’ve provided additional guidance with respect to graduation requirements and course credit.  Additionally, Governor Cuomo announced yesterday that schools would be closed through April 29th.

Now that Regents Exams have been canceled, I’m sure many of you have additional questions.  As mentioned above, the Board of Regents and the New York State Education Department anticipated this and created a document to answer many of these questions.  Thankfully, this document is easy to read and resembles that of an FAQ.  We still have questions that need answers and I will share updates as they occur. 

Here is the link to the Regents FAQ. This information will also be posted on our website.

Be well and stay safe!

Timothy Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools

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Board of Education Meeting - April 2, 2020

Click here to listen to a recording of this meeting

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Covid-19 Update - Posted 4/03/20

Good Afternoon Tuxedo Families and Faculty,

Congratulations on completing your first week of distance learning. Job well done! 

Throughout the week, I have enjoyed hearing the different experiences told by parents, students, and teachers.  The common thread has been a new or renewed appreciation for the various technologies we use to support teaching and learning.  Here are some updates for this week:

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

As we all strive to protect our families and loved ones during this time of uncertainty, the District has the additional responsibility to ensure our staff and students continue to be protected and safe while online.  At our Board of Education meeting last night, we opted-in to the Google Privacy Agreement which is in compliance with New York State Education Law 2D.  This law provides important new protections for student data, and new remedies for breaches of the responsibility to maintain the security and confidentiality of such data.

As a District, we have been and will continue to utilize the Google platform and this holds true for distance learning as well.  There have been some requests to use Zoom for conferencing/connecting with students.  At this time, we cannot support the use of Zoom (with students) due to security concerns.  Unfortunately, there are also security concerns regarding Class Dojo, which is currently used within the District.  While there is no need to stop using Class Dojo today, we will begin to move in the direction of Google Classroom for all K-12.  We are currently in the process of researching the specific concerns associated with Class Dojo and will keep you posted.  

NEXT WEEK (APRIL 6-10)

As you know, next week was supposed to be our Spring Break.  The Governor's Executive Order required that we utilize our vacation days for the school closure that has already occurred.  Therefore, next week is a regular distance learning week, Monday – Friday.  

Over the next few weeks we have some important days of religious observance coming up.  Teachers will take this into consideration when giving assignments to provide families with additional flexibility to accommodate their plans.  Absence due to religious observation will be excused. Please let Ms. Dixon and Mr. Takeuchi know of such absences so teachers may be notified and students excused.

CALENDAR UPDATE (as of today)

The District Calendar has been updated to reflect the changes due to COVID-19 and will be up on the website soon. 

-- May 22nd has been converted to a regular instructional day

-- May 25th (Memorial Day) remains a Holiday and school will be closed

        -- Every other day between now and June is a regular instructional day (in-person or distance learning)

GRADING

The Board of Regents is meeting on Monday and Tuesday, April 6-7, and we hope to be given additional guidance regarding grading, Regents exams, instructional expectations, and the potential of a continued closure. As soon as we are given guidance from Albany, we will share accordingly.

We understand that students and families may have questions about how our school closure will impact their grades.  Our school closure will not negatively impact your child’s marking period grade and our teachers will continue to use their professional judgement to support our students during this unprecedented time. 

Please be advised that given direction from NYSED we may need to revise our timeline for report card grading and marking periods and will update you when that is available.

At this time, teachers have been advised not to assign numerical grades to student work and to provide feedback based on other measures of success.  Our current focus is on supporting students with establishing routines and setting expectations for distance learning.   

Now that the weekend is here, change it up!  Do something different!  Perhaps, take a hike with the family, have a baking contest to see who can make the best ____, play Chess, create a fun family video about something silly or a new reality.

 Most importantly, enjoy your time with loved ones! Stay safe and be well!

Sincerely,

Timothy H. Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools

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Agenda For Board of Education Meeting - April 2, 2020

Click here to view the agenda

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Back to School - Monday March 30

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Covid-19 Update - Posted 3/27/20

March 27, 2020

Good Afternoon Tuxedo Families,

First and foremost, I hope your families and friends are staying safe and healthy as we settle into our new norms and our new way of life.  Secondly, a few hours ago, the Governor announced schools will be closed through April 14th and students return on April 15th.  However, it seems the Governor is making his decisions in two-week intervals, so we are prepared for the potential of this being extended again.  We will keep you updated as we find out more.

The past few days have been great to connect with teachers and witness the great work that has been accomplished this week.  

Monday is our “go live” and here is what you need to know about the day:  

Student “Arrival” & Attendance

There is a window for when students “arrive” to school.  That window is between 8:30AM and 12:30PM. It is during this window that attendance is recorded.  We are striving to create an environment as if children were in school. We also understand the need for flexibility during this time.  Please let your teacher know of any extenuating circumstances or concerns. We are here to support you and your children.

For students attending GGM:

• Parents for students in Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade will receive instructions from your child’s classroom teacher on how to log in to ClassDojo.

• Parents for students in 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade will receive instructions from your child’s classroom teacher on how to visit their Google Classroom and enter attendance. 

• Please check Class Dojo or Google Classroom for educational opportunities for Specials (i.e  Art, Music). There is no need to report attendance for your child’s Specials classes.

• Please reach out with any questions to your child’s classroom teacher

For students attending GFB:

• Monday is an A Day.  Students are to visit the Google Classrooms of each course they would have on an A Day.  In each Google Classroom they will complete a post that marks their attendance. This includes Specials classes as well.

• Students should already have information on how to access each of their teacher’s Google Classrooms.  Please reach out to your child’s teacher for any questions about access.

At check-in, students will see the work that is required of them.  Failure to check-in by 12:30PM will be considered an absence. After 2 absences in a row, your child’s teacher will reach out to you.  Upon the third absence, your child will receive an attendance referral.

For any questions or issues with attendance on Monday, please email Mary Dixon - GGM (mdixon@tuxedoufsd.org) or Matt Takeuchi - GFB (mtakeuchi@tuxedoufsd.org).  We will be launching our Virtual Main Offices for each GGM and GFB next week.  That launch will be announced on our website along with information on how and when to use it. 

What distance learning will look like

Each teacher has his/her own Google Classroom.  Class/course content and instructional activities are determined by the teacher, just as they would be in a traditional classroom setting.  Online, teachers has additional options:

Some teachers may require synchronous learning (this might look like: where the students are online via Google Hangouts or Zoom with the teacher at a specific time)

Some teachers may require a-synchronous learning (this might look like: where the students’ check-in, get the assignment, and then communicate with the teacher during office hours if need be)

Virtual Main Office – Stay tuned!

We are in the process of creating virtual main office Google sites.  They will be up and running early next week. Essentially, other than being online, this is no different than calling or walking into the main office in the past. 

Please enjoy your weekend!  Looking forward to Monday!

Sincerely,

Timothy H. Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools

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Covid-19 Update - Posted 3/24/20

Good Afternoon Tuxedo Families;

Please know that Governor Cuomo has changed his position regarding the need to exhaust all vacation and holidays.  Therefore, I have made the decision to bring staff back early and utilize the next few days to establish connectivity, work out potential concerns associated with online learning and basically set up a virtual school.  While much of this work was done prior to the abrupt closure on March 13th, these next few days will allow us to best prepare for our go-live on Monday. 

Tomorrow, I will be discussing our new protocols (via Google Hangouts) with the staff.  This will include how attendance will be taken, how work will be distributed and when teachers will be available (online) for student support.  Teachers will establish their class rules and this information will be shared with students/parents. Essentially, (depending on the grade level) students will need to check in to each class for the particular letter day via Google Classroom.  Checking in to each Google Class should happen between 9am and 11am each day of the week. Additional and more specific information will be provided by each teacher.

If you have immediate questions, please do not hesitate to email teachers and/or building administrators.   

We are excited to get going! More to come!

Timothy Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools

845-351-4799

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Covid-19 Update - Posted 3/19/20

Dear Tuxedo Families and Staff:

I wanted to write to provide you with an update with respect to the District’s plans as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times.  We are working vigilantly to put in place supports and structures to provide continuity of learning for students during the school closing that was ordered on March 16, 2020 by Governor Cuomo until April 1, 2020 by way of Executive Order 202.4.

At this point in time, the District is diligently working to ensure that its alternative instructional resources and activities for students are consistent with State expectations and guidance.

In accordance with the Executive Order 202.2, issued by Governor Cuomo on Saturday, March 14, 2020, the State Education Department was tasked with “promulgating guidance for districts to ensure access to meals for students in need, critical educational supports for students and distance learning options”.  That Executive Order pertains to closures required based upon the declaration of a local state of emergency, and requires that school districts exhaust any snow days and vacation when closed due to a local state of emergency to preserve state aid. Thereafter, on the evening of March 16, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order 202.4, requiring closings of all school districts in New York State for a two-week period, commencing yesterday, March 18, 2020 and ending on April 1, 2020, unless otherwise extended.  While the district is closed pursuant to Executive Order 202.4 there was still a local state of emergency declared by the Orange County Executive, and to date, Executive Order 202.2 has not been repealed by way of Executive Order 202.4.  In an excess of caution and to preserve the District’s state aid, we are cautiously assessing the rapidly evolving situation and ensuring that we are complying with the edicts announced by the Governor to preserve maximum state aid pursuant to Education Law Section 3604.

The night before last, the Interim Commissioner of Education issued guidance to the field on the contours of response plans that our school district is responsible for submitting to the State by 5:00 pm today.  While the Governor indicated that the 180-day instructional requirement shall be suspended during this forced statewide closure and any subsequent extension that may be directed by the Governor, Executive Order 202.4 also requires schools to develop a plan for “alternative instructional options, distribution and availability of meals, and child care, with an emphasis on serving children of parents in the health care profession or first responders who are critical to the response effort”.  The Interim Commissioner’s guidance, will help inform the contents of the required plan for submission to the state through its Application Business Portal.  While the school district is keeping abreast of this rapidly evolving landscape, we are working diligently to put structures in place to meet the needs of our community at-large while also satisfying the requirements of the Executive Orders issued by Governor Cuomo.

The guidance issued the night before last by the Interim Commissioner of Education is the first document issued by the New York State Education Department that helps to inform the measures that are envisioned as acceptable for the purposes of continuity of instruction.  While this preliminary guidance is instructive, we are still awaiting more robust guidance from the State Education Department in this area.

The District is taking the upcoming days and weeks to thoughtfully and cogently prepare instructional materials for its students during this unprecedented school closing and is awaiting the additional materials from the State Education Department prior to finalizing the roll-out of its distance learning plan.  While this week and next week (now through Friday, March 27, 2020) are designated as non-school days for our students and non-work days for our teachers and support services providers, we continue to post materials and activities on our website that may be used over the coming days/weeks to engage your children while we adjust to this new framework precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is critical that the district thoughtfully plan for the implementation of continuity of learning and engage all relevant stakeholders in rolling out instruction to support student learning during this school closing. It is critical to note that under state and federal laws, the district has a requirement to provide equal access for all students and to provide materials and programs that not only educate all of our students, but also allow for equal access to students with disabilities, in accordance with the terms of the students’ IEPs or 504 plans, as applicable.  In order to equitably educate all of our students, we must be thoughtful and intentional in taking the next steps that are necessary to support student learning for all different kinds of learners.  We are also working diligently to ensure that all students have access to these instructional resources, such that all children are able to access the instructional offerings provided by the district (from an educational perspective as well as a technological perspective).  The district started planning several weeks ago for these possible contingencies, but with the understanding that plans would be refined and possibly reshaped as a result of guidance that was just issued last night by the State Education Department with more guidance to be forthcoming.  We value all of our staff members and continue to work with our educators and instructional leaders to support the best interests of our students, in a way that will preserve the school district’s state aid.

I am proud to lead the Tuxedo Union Free School District through these challenging times and together we will persevere.  I will continue to keep the community apprised of additional resources and information as this situation continues to evolve. 

Your continued support and understanding during these challenging times is greatly appreciated. 

Sincerely,

Timothy H. Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools

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Covid-19 School Closure Update - Posted 3/17/2020

Dear Tuxedo Families:

We hope this update finds you and your loved ones in good health.  As shared Sunday evening, further information regarding our school closure will continue to be shared with you on an ongoing basis.   

As you know, the COVID-19 extended school closure is unprecedented.  We continue to provide guidance per direction from the Department of Health, the New York State Education Department and the Governor.  Superintendents across Orange County continue to work closely together on a daily basis to support our communities.

PLEASE NOTE:  At this time, Parent-Teacher conferences are canceled.

 What if my child did not bring home their Chromebook/iPad?

GGM - On Thursday (3/19) and Friday (3/20), parents/guardians will be able to come in to GGM to sign-out your child's Chromebook or iPad (K-6) between the hours

of 10:00am – 2:00pm.

 GFB – Beginning at 9:00am on Thursday, any student needing to pick up a Chromebook should call and make an appointment with Mr. Takeuchi to come in between the hours

of 10:00am – 2:00pm

What we’ve learned and what this means for our students

What we’ve learned is that while our staff has worked hard to prepare for this, we realize that we still have some work to do.  That said, no new assignments or instruction will be provided to students this week.  Please continue to refer to our website for activities, learning experiences and additional resources for you and your child(ren).  Packets sent home from GGM last Friday should be completed over the course of two weeks (based on teacher directions).  More information will be shared as we define expectations for student engagement and learning during this time of uncertainty.

How long can we expect the school closure?

As previously stated on March 13, 2020, we are currently closed for a minimum of two weeks.  Updates to that timeline will be shared with you as they become available.  We could potentially be closed for a longer period of time.  The administrative team are engaged in those conversations with our colleagues across Orange County and New York State.

We thank you for your continued support.  More information to come.  For organizational purposes, every memo will now be numbered as an update.  

Sincerely,

Timothy H. Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools

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CoronaVirus Update - Posted 3/15/2020

Dear Tuxedo Families:

As you are aware, Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus in collaboration with the Orange County Department of Health issued an executive order closing school for two weeks. Over the weekend, there has been on-going conversations at the County and State levels regarding how COVID-19 will continue to be addressed.

Tomorrow I will be participating in conference calls that will bring additional guidance and updates from the Department of Health, the New York State Education Department and the Governor.  On Tuesday, I will put out an update detailing what this means for the Tuxedo Union Free School District and how we will operate for the upcoming weeks.

Luckily, we anticipated the potential of a closing and our faculty, staff, and administrators worked diligently to prepare for the possibility of online or distance learning.  On Friday, most students brought home packets of work or direction on the use of Google Classroom/Hangouts and other online resources from their teachers.  At this time, tomorrow and Tuesday should be treated as a long weekend and there will be more information to come with regards to academics.

During these unprecedented times, our primary goal is the health, safety and well-being of everyone while trying to maintain our responsibility of educating our students. Thank you again for your continued support and patience during this time.

Sincerely,

Timothy H. Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools

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TUFSD To Close For a Minimum of Two Weeks - posted 3/13/2020

Dear Tuxedo Families:

Together we are facing an unprecedented health crisis in our communities. For weeks we have been following the explicit guidance of the Orange County Department of Health and the New York State Department of Education, by implementing preventative and responsive strategies to help slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The departments of health have been in daily contact with us, providing important guidance on decisions to help ensure the health and well-being of our students, staff, and community. As information is provided to us we will continue to pass that on to you. 

Latest Update: School Closure

• Today Orange County Executive, Steven Neuhaus, has recommended that schools within Orange County close for the next two weeks. This is an action which serves as a precautionary measure against the transmission of COVID-19. 
• As a result of this recommendation, the Tuxedo Union Free School District will be closed for a minimum of the next two weeks effective immediately. This includes all after school and extra-curricular activities. This also means there is no half day on Monday, schools will be closed. 

Please note we will continue to have daily, sometimes hourly, communications with health officials from Orange County and are following their directions carefully. Should they issue further guidance on extending the duration of the closure, families will be notified immediately. Information will be shared by email and on our website TuxedoSchools.org . This will include information on closure as well as instructional materials and activities.

Families and staff, thank you for your support, patience and adaptability during this time. Again, please stay tuned for any further updates as they develop.

Sincerely,

Timothy H. Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools

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Tuxedo. Mary Poppins Brings Her Magic and Music to George F. Baker High School

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George F. Baker Presents Mary poppins February 28-March 1, 2020

Click here to view larger

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mr Chan (@mrchan_music) on Feb 25, 2020 at 7:23pm PST

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mr Chan (@mrchan_music) on Feb 23, 2020 at 6:30pm PST

Click here to order your tickets online today!!!!

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Tuxedo Voters Reject $4.2M School Referendum

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Tuxedo George Grant Mason Students Celebrate Dental Health Month

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Board of Education Meeting, February 20, 2020

Click here to listen to this meeting

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Tuxedo School District Voters To Decide on Proposed $4.2 Capital Bond Project on February 25

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting, February 20, 2020

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Capital Bond Presentations Febuary 6 and February 22, 2020

The TUFSD is eager to introduce the community to the details of the proposed Capital Bond Project! We have scheduled two informational sessions: Thursday, February 6 at 6pm and Saturday, February 22 at 10 am, both in the Community Room in George F. Baker Upper School. Representatives from Clark Patterson Lee, the District’s Architect/Engineer, will be present to provide the community with a thorough presentation of the proposed project, that will enable necessary infrastructure repairs and improvements to our school buildings while also addressing important safety issues. The presentations will be immediately followed by question and answer sessions. This project represents an important investment in our children, schools and community and we hope you will join us to learn more about it!

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting, Febuary 6, 2020

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TUFSD to Open Full Day Pre-k Program in September 2020

On Friday, January 17 , the TUFSD officially anounced that they will be opening a full-day Pre-K program in the fall of 2020. The program will be free for Tuxedo residents. Registration will be on a first come/first serve basis with a cap of 20 students in the first year. Click below to view a larger version of the flyer, complete with registration details.

Click here to view larger

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Board of Education Meeting, January 16, 2020

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Kindergarten Orientation February 20 - 9am

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting, January 16, 2020

**** The Board of Education is now publishing their agendas using BoardDocs. Follow the link below and click the "regular meeting agenda" icon on the left side of the screen to view. ****

Click here to view the agenda

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Tuxedo Residents to Vote on 3M School Bond

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TUFSD Launches Mobile APP

BIG NEWS!! Tuxedo Union Free School District is thrilled to announce their new website and all new mobile app! It’s everything GFB and GGM, in your pocket. 

Watch this video to learn more about it! 

Download the app on Android or iPhone or, by searching TUXEDO SCHOOL DISTRICT in the Apple AppStore or Google Playstore. Click here to visit the new website. 

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Tuxedo Students Paint The Town for The Holidays

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Board of Education Meeting, December 12 2019

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Tuxedo's Runway to Costa Rica is December 14

Tuxedo Honor Societies Collecting Hats and Gloves for The Needy

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting, December 12 2019

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Tuxedo's Runway to Costa Rica is December 14

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Ten Locals on List of Nation's Top STEM High Schools

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Tuxedo Welcomes a New Principal to the George Grant Mason Lower School

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Board of Education Meeting, November 19 2019

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting, November 19 2019

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Notice of Regular Board of Education Meeting Date Change, November 19 2019

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Tuxedo Regains Division IV Volleyball Championship

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting November 13, 2019

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GGM Drama Club Presents THE ARISTOCATS November 8&9 at 6pm

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Haunted Hallways at George F. Baker October 25&26

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Notice of Board of Education Workshop October 22, 2019

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Board of Education Meeting October 17, 2019

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Agenda For Board of Education Meeting October 16, 2019

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Agenda For Special Board of Education Meeting October 9, 2019

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting October 3, 2019

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George Grant Mason Students Give Peace A Chance Once Again

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Board of Education Meeting September 19, 2019

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Agenda For Board of Education Meeting September 19, 2019

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting September 11, 2019

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Back to School Fesitval September 13 - Open to the Entire Community!

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Board of Education Meeting August 22, 2019

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting August 22, 2019

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Special Board of Education Meeting July 25, 2019

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting July 25, 2019

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Board of Education Reorganization Meeting July 9, 2019

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Agenda for Board of Education Reorganization Meeting July 9, 2019

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting July 1, 2019

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Board of Education Appoints New Superintendent of Schools/High School Princial

6/21/19
Dear TUFSD Community,
It is with great pleasure that the Tuxedo Union Free School Board of Education announces that Mr. Timothy Bohlke has been named as the next Superintendent of Schools in the TUFSD.  Mr. Bohlke was appointed at the June 20 Board of Education meeting and will begin work in the District on July 1st.

The appointment comes at the end of a somewhat short, yet fruitful search process during which several qualified candidates were interviewed.
In Mr. Bohlke, the Board is overwhelmingly confident that we have found an innovative and progressive leader who will enthusiastically guide our District into the future.

Mr. Bohlke comes to Tuxedo with 20 years of experience in K-12 education in which he has served as a building administrator for 16 years, both at the elementary and high school levels, as well as a classroom teacher.  Mr. Bohlke is a graduate of Widener University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree, and Mercy College, where he earned his Masters in Instructional Technology as well as an advanced certificate in School Administration.  As part of his continuing education he has attended Harvard Graduate School of Education, where his focus was school leadership.  Most recently, he has served as Interim Assistant Superintendent in the Liberty Central School District.

We continue to await a decision from the Commissioner of Education with regard to the consolidation of our Superintendent and Principal positions.  As soon as we receive word, it is our hope to appoint Mr. Bohlke as principal in George F. Baker High School as well.  We will keep the community informed via the District website in the coming weeks.

Please join us in extending a heartfelt, warm welcome to Mr. Bohlke! 

Sincerely,

The Board of Education 

Click here to view the official announcement

*On Friday, June 21, the TUFSD received approval from the NYS Commissioner of Education to consolidate the Superintendent and Principal positions effectove July 1, 2019.

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Board of Education Meeting June 20, 2019

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Board of Education Appoints New Superintendent of Schools

6/21/19
Dear TUFSD Community,
It is with great pleasure that the Tuxedo Union Free School Board of Education announces that Mr. Timothy Bohlke has been named as the next Superintendent of Schools in the TUFSD.  Mr. Bohlke was appointed at the June 20 Board of Education meeting and will begin work in the District on July 1st.

The appointment comes at the end of a somewhat short, yet fruitful search process during which several qualified candidates were interviewed.
In Mr. Bohlke, the Board is overwhelmingly confident that we have found an innovative and progressive leader who will enthusiastically guide our District into the future.

Mr. Bohlke comes to Tuxedo with 20 years of experience in K-12 education in which he has served as a building administrator for 16 years, both at the elementary and high school levels, as well as a classroom teacher.  Mr. Bohlke is a graduate of Widener University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree, and Mercy College, where he earned his Masters in Instructional Technology as well as an advanced certificate in School Administration.  As part of his continuing education he has attended Harvard Graduate School of Education, where his focus was school leadership.  Most recently, he has served as Interim Assistant Superintendent in the Liberty Central School District.

We continue to await a decision from the Commissioner of Education with regard to the consolidation of our Superintendent and Principal positions.  As soon as we receive word, it is our hope to appoint Mr. Bohlke as principal in George F. Baker High School as well.  We will keep the community informed via the District website in the coming weeks.

Please join us in extending a heartfelt, warm welcome to Mr. Bohlke! 

Sincerely,

The Board of Education 

Click here to view the official announcement

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting June 20, 2019

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Announcement From The Board of Education June 10, 2019

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meetings June 5&6

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting

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School Budget and Board of Education Election Results

Budget:
Yes - 299
No - 247

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Important Statement from the Board of Education

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Heroes & Villians

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Board of Education Meeting May 16, 2019

Click here to listen to a recording of this meeting

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Important School Budget Information

View a line-by-line copy of the proposed 2019/2020 budget here

View a copy of the May 14 Budget Hearing presentation, which clearly outlines the proposed levy, here

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Seven Candidates Vie for Four seats on the Board of Education

On May 21, 2019 School Board elections will take place in the Town of Tuxedo.  This year, seven candidates are vying for 4 spots. 
Running for re-election are current BOE members Michael Arone and Dorothy Ziegelbauer.  Running for first time seats are Daniel Castricone, Joe Rickard, Alyssa Horneff, Lucy Cerezo Scully and Anne Susan Heywood.
The make-up of the school board is extremely important as it has a direct and immediate impact on the future of the School District as well as every one’s taxes. Therefore, understanding these candidates, their areas of expertise and their levels of experience is crucial in making an informed decision. 

TPFYI presented each candidate with a basic questionnaire, designed to focus on their biographical information as well as their levels of experience and reasons for running.  What follows are the resposes we received, unedited, in the order we received them.

Joe Rickard

Education/Degrees:
BA History, Queens College
MS Secondary Education, St. John’s University
MBA Marketing, Hofstra University
Vocation/Employer:
I am a former HS History teacher and Basketball Coach. After leaving teaching, I have had a career that led to executive level positions in marketing and general management at two Global Fortune 500 companies.
I have published over 60 articles. In the past three years, I have co-authored the Graphic Communications Skills Competency (GCSC) standards for Six STEM/Vocational School Subjects. These Standards are used by States, School Districts and Vocational Schools throughout North America.  I have also co-authorized SkillsUSA assessments that are currently being used to certify student achievement. 
Currently, I run a training and consulting company, Intellective Solutions (intellectives.com) and over the past two years I have worked with School Districts across the country to implement new curriculum and vocational programs. I have worked with School Superintendents and Administrators who have developed innovative and outstanding programs in the face of declining enrollment and tight budgets.
Years of residency in Tuxedo:
17 Years
Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
Member of Tuxedo Recreation Committee
Social Member of Tuxedo Ambulance Corps
Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
This past year, our District experienced a difficult, and at times a contentious decision on whether to maintain our high school. Now it is time to move forward. This year, there are some big challenges and opportunities for us to address.
 After this year’s Budget and Board vote, there will be a referendum on a significant capital bond for the school buildings, evaluation of transportation options and decisions about new personnel and academic initiatives.
In a collaborative and respectful manner, I will insist that the District while providing a great education for our students is controlling costs and tax levies. I will not just be a “rubber stamp” for our School Administration but will actively research and evaluate all major matters that come before the Board. I will represent all the residents of the District.
 I am convinced our already great District can be the most outstanding in the Hudson Region. If selected, I intend to bring new and creative ideas to the District based on my extensive education and business background.

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
Based on my observations and conversations with parents, our K-6 program is very strong. Also, the history, the tradition of the District and the beauty of the High School Building is terrific. During the times that I have visited the school, I was impressed with the quality of the teachers, administration, volunteers and support staff and their commitment to the students.
The small school size allows teachers to provide more individualized instruction and enables them to know the needs of each student. 
To improve our enrollment in the District, we need to retain and attract students from within our District. I would focus less on trying to attract “out of District” students.  Since our school is small, there are many things we can do to differentiate ourselves from traditionally large school districts. 
Here are few examples. We are still structured and organized as a large school and have not been creative enough utilizing our resources. I would encourage more personalization of programs for each of our 7 to 12 grade students.  Each student should have a mentor and Individual Success Plan (ISP) that is updated bi-annually.  We should be benchmarking outstanding small public schools within and outside the State. We need to ensure we have a technology pathway that aligns with current university, business and nonprofit requirements and standards.  We should look to re-organize the school structure to allow flexibility in scheduling and to facilitate better partnering. We can be more innovative and creative.
As far keeping the HS open, after much debate, the Board this year voted 6 to 1 to keep it open. At this point, I would gain a consensus of the Board on what is the minimum number of students to sustain a good high school while working toward making our entire District the best in the Hudson Region. I would make sure we are holding our current administration accountable. I would insist there is a well-documented implementation plan that would be provided to the public before any final decision was made.  

Alyssa Horneff

Platform Website:
www.VISIONFORTUXEDO.com
Education/Degrees:
Pascack Hills High School, Montvale, NJ
New York University, BFA

• Business, Stern School of Business
• Dance, Tisch School of the Arts

Vocation/Employer:

• Flatiron School x WeWork
• Director, Sales Operations
• I currently work as a Director of the Flatiron School, a programming academy that provides education and career placement for the future of the workforce focused in areas of technology such as software engineering, data science and design.

Years of residency in Tuxedo:

• My husband and I moved to Tuxedo to start our family a little over two years ago. 

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education? / What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
My name is Alyssa Horneff. After living in New York City for the past decade, my husband and I moved to Tuxedo to start our family a little over two years ago.  As a new mother to my 20-month old son -- my top priority in life is ensuring his long-term well-being. In an increasingly competitive world that means providing him with access to the best educational opportunities while allowing him to safely experience all the joys of childhood.
With the natural beauty of the Hudson Valley surrounding us, the historical significance of the Park, and the new development both here and in Sloatsburg I believe that with the right leadership Tuxedo can serve as a beacon for new families. To help make this a reality I would adhere to three principles:

• Focus on the Student: Our children deserve the best academic, athletic and social opportunities and as a community, it's our responsibility to provide them.
• Lower Property Taxes: New families are the heart of our town and attracting them means we need to make it economically feasible to join and grow roots in our community.
• Specialize and Partner: The school should focus on specialized academic and extracurricular programs while partnering with neighboring communities to expand its unique footprint.

After graduating from NYU I worked as a teacher, performed in the Metropolitan Opera, and eventually was an early employee for the fitness technology company ClassPass. In my current role as a Director of the Flatiron School I help drive new students to our schools where we provide education in areas of technology such as software engineering, data science and design as well as guaranteed career placement to build the future of our workforce.
Learn more about me and my platform at www.visionfortuxedo.com.

Daniel Castricone
Family:
I am a 24-year town resident, married to Marie and father of three. Daniel age 22 (GFB class of 15)
Samantha age 19 (GFB class of 18) and John age 16 (GFB class of 21)
 Civic-Volunteer Activities:
Member, TUFSD Strategic Planning Committee
President, Order of the Sons of Italy in America, HH Rogers Cabrini Lodge
Former:
Orange County Legislator, 8th District (Chairman Personnel and Compensation Committee) 
Town of Tuxedo Councilman
Town of Tuxedo Deputy Supervisor
Town of Tuxedo Zoning Board of Appeals member
Town of Tuxedo Zoning Law revision committee member
Town of Tuxedo Master Plan committee chair
Founding Member of the Board of Directors of the Tuxedo Little League 
8 year Manager of Tuxedo Little League Teams
Eagle Scout Coordinator Boy Scouts
Education:
Pace University School of Law White Plains, NY Juris Doctor 
Graduate of the State University of NY at Buffalo BA Economics
 Employment:
Tuxedo Based Attorney and Small Business Owner

I am committed to providing the greatest possible educational opportunities to our children within Tuxedo. As part of the Strategic Planning Committee I explored opportunities to make our High School a top choice for out of district students to tuition in to us and to increase retention of Tuxedo children within our district. I focused on “College in the High School” whereby our children could take advantage of our small, safe environment and graduate High School with significant numbers of transferrable college credits. I am hoping to work on implementing that program if elected.
 As the former Chairman of the County’s Personnel and Compensation Committee I have extensive experience negotiating Government Employee Union Contracts and in searching for and hiring administrators and managers. As a Ways and Means Committee Member I have worked on $700+million government budgets and authored $90+million dollar budgets.
 While our cost per student has increased as we divide our fixed costs over fewer students, our taxes have remained reasonable. They are in fact lower than any of our surrounding districts. My commitment is to make sure that is always the case while providing the best possible education for our children.   
Finally, I want to make sure our schools remain the amazing educational facilities they have been. Having sent three children through our schools, I know the quality of education and positive impact our incredible teachers and staff provide from Kindergarten right through 12th grade.
I feel that I am well qualified for this important position. I know our community and many of the families that live here. I ask for your support.
 Thank you,
Dan Castricone
191 Maplebrook Rd
Tuxedo, NY 10987
E-mail dan@castriconelaw.com

Anne Susan Heywood [ Sue]

I am standing for the Board of Education because I am a resident of Tuxedo who cares deeply about the future of the town, the residents, and most particularly its children. The next Board will be making some important financial and educational decisions and I will commit my time to carefully considering all the facts and supporting, in a totally unbiased way, whatever is in the best interests of the students and the Tuxedo tax payers.
Born and brought up in England, I graduated from the University of London before embarking on a teaching career in international schools and high schools in six different countries. We made our home in the US in 1988; in Tuxedo in 2000.
Throughout my teaching career I have always been committed to developing extracurricular activities for the students, particularly Dramatic Arts. I have also coached team sports, swimming, and track.
After retiring, I linked up with Literacy Volunteers of America teaching Basic Literacy and English as a Second Language to adults. I also prepared students for GED. This led to my classes becoming a part of the programs offered by Tuxedo Park Library and currently Sloatsburg Library.
I was the founder of Tuxedo Performing Arts Group and served as its president for 11 years. I serve on the Vestry of St Mary’s Church and am Outreach Chair. We are passionately committed to helping local families, which has led me to interact with the faculty and students of Baker High School and George Grant Mason School.
The most important issues currently facing the School District have been identified by the Board of Education, and a Strategic Plan to address these has been set in place. I have studied their plans to increase enrollment, to promote the schools’ image to the wider community, and further enhance the quality of educational experience for all students.
If elected, I look forward to working to implement these plans in a fiscally responsible way. I believe my lifelong background in education has given me the ideas and experience necessary to contribute wisely and energetically to this work.

Michael Arone

Education/Degrees:
Suffern High School graduate
5 years of Steamfitter apprenticeship school
Vocation/Employer:
Employed by Local 638 Steamfitters (NYC)
Years of residency in Tuxedo:
I have lived in Tuxedo for 19 years (my wife Sheri is a life long resident of Tuxedo)
Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
I served 7 years on the Tuxedo Little League Board of Directors as well as managing/coaching teams. I served 3 years as den leader in Cub Scout Pack 2146.
Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
I am running for a 2nd term on the TUFSD Board of Education because if given the opportunity I would like to continue to work on important issues such as the school budget, the execution of the 5 year strategic plan and to maintain transparency within the board and the community.
What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
One of the most important issues currently facing our school district is enrollment. Included in our strategic plan is marketing to people looking to tuition their kids to our schools. I understand that we are all concerned over student numbers in the classrooms but at the same time our children are receiving a quality education.
I believe we need to continue to improve student achievement as well as striving to increase enrollment. We have faced so many issues over the past 3 years, the decision has been made to keep the high school open, so now with the help of the community is the time to move forward to make our district the best it can be.
In closing, I encourage residents to attend any school board meetings that they can to witness the challenges that the board/district faces.

Lucy Cerezo Scully

My family and I moved to Tuxedo two years ago, although we had a home here for over nine years. In those nine years both my children attended summer camp and my youngest couldn’t wait until we were able to move permanently to Tuxedo.  Our biggest draw was the school and the surrounding community. 
I am educator teaching for over 25 years and have taught College courses as well as Pre-k. For the past three years I have worked closely with the NYS Education Department in the Standards Writing Committee and most recently I am serving on the Content Advisory Committee.  I am a teacher trainer for the NYS Education Department in my content specialty and hold an administrative license for School Building Leader. I believe this experience gives me a unique perspective to work with all stakeholders in collaborating to improve our school and student achievement.
Serving on the Tuxedo Education Board would afford me the opportunity to collaborate with our community in developing a high performing district.  I have been working with the Strategic Planning Community Sub-committee bringing forth many viable plans to support our school. The students are the future of this town. This is why I believe it is important to look into all possibilities to make our school strong and have a shared vision for the community.

Dorothy Ziegelbauer

Greetings Friends and Neighbors,

My name is Dorothy Ziegelbauer, and I am running for a second term on the Tuxedo Board of Education.  In the three years I have served on the BOE I feel that we have made some significant strides to move the district forward. The board has worked diligently to ensure that our budgets are fiscally responsible, while also meeting the needs of the students in the district and enriching our educational programs.  

We have increased transparency into BOE business, which has vastly improved community relations. With board support the district has also modified its approach to assess student learning in conjunction with teacher performance. This enables administration to quantifiably identify and reward teachers for developing successful teaching strategies, as well as identify any deficits in student learning that can be proactively addressed in the classroom.

However, I believe there is still work to be done. We need to continually assess the effectiveness of our programs and ensure that we are providing the best education possible for the children in the district.
I support the STEM curriculum in our schools, but think that there are opportunities to improve this aspect of our programs, and am hopeful we can add additional enrichment opportunities for our students in this area.  We added additional STEM related field trip opportunities for all grade levels this year (K-12), and I think we should continue to look for ways to add unique STEM related opportunities to our programs.

I have a seventh grader in the district and love our small class sizes, and the individualized attention our children receive.  I like the fact that we have a private school feel in a public school setting. I feel that this aspect of our district is unique, and is something that should be celebrated.

Please support me and the, district by voting YES on Tuesday May 21st for the 2019/2020 School Budget.
Best regards
Dorothy Ziegelbauer

Listen to the May 15 Candidate Meet & Greet here

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Tuxapalooza May 21

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Agenda for BOE Meeting May 16, 2019

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George F. Baker High School Makes U.S. News & World Report List of Best High Schools

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Notice of BOE Special Meeting May 6, 2019

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TUFSD Music Department Presents Princesses & Villains" May 3 at 6:30pm

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Board of Education Meeting April 25, 2019

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Click here to view the Strategic Planning Committee's presentation to the Board

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting April 25, 2019

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Notice of Special BOE MeetingApril 24, 2019 - Executive Session Only

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TUFSD Presents "Cyber Security Concerns for Consumers and parents" April 10

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TUFSD Strategic Planning Committee Meeting April 3, 2019

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Notice of Budget Workshop & Special BOE Meeting April 4, 2019

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Notice of Special BOE Meeting March 28, 2019 - Executive Session Only

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Tuxedo PTO Launches Kindness Fundraiser

Posted 3/25/19

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Budget Review Process gets underway in the TUFSD

Posted 3/25/19

The budget process gets underway in the TUFSD this week, with multiple public meetings over the course of the next severl weeks

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Board of Education Meeting March 21, 2019

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting March 21, 2019

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TUFSD Strategic Planning Committee Meeting March 19, 2019

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TUFSD Strategic Planning Committee Launches Community-Wide Survey

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Dine to Donate for the Tuxedo PTO at Dottie Audrey's March 20

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TUFSD Strategic Planning Committee Meeting March 6, 2019

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Special Board ofEducation Meeting March 6, 2019

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting March 6, 2019

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Board of Education Meeting February 21, 2019

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting February 21, 2019

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TUFSD News Letter

Learning is "happening" all around the District. Check out the Tuxedo Happenings

Newsletter Here

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George. F Baker High School Presents CATCH ME IF YOU CAN The Musical

Special Board of Education February 7, 2019

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TUFSD Strategic Planning Commitee Meeting

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Special Board of Education Notice for February 7, 2019

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TUFSD Strategic Planning Commitee Meeting Notice for February 6, 2019

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TUFSD Strategic Planning Commitee Meeting Notice for January 30, 2019

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Board of Education Meeting January 17, 2019

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting January 17, 2019

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TUFSD Strategic Planning Committee Meeting January 10, 2019

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TUFSD Welcomes 6 New Students as Strategic Planning Gets Underway

As the kids headed back to school last week, the Tuxedo Union Free School District was pleased to welcome 6 new students: three in the elementary school and three in the high school.  Of these, 5 students are new Tuxedo residents and 1 is a tuition paying non-resident student.  All of this as strategic planning for the District’s future gets underway on Thursday evening with the first Strategic Planning Committee meeting, taking place in the multi-purpose room at 7pm.  Committee members include representatives from the Board Of Education, Administration, faculty and student body as well both resident and non-resident high school parents and members of both the Town Board and Village Board of Trustees.  The meeting will be open to the public.  The committee was formed following the BOE’s 6-1 decision to keep the high school open this past November.   Creating a strong strategic plan will be crucial for the District which has faced a fair amount of criticism since the departure of Greenwood Lake back in 2015.  Most of the opposition has been due to the low enrollment numbers, which have in turn led to a much higher cost-per-student rate.  Tuxedo’s budget remains the smallest in the area though at just over $13 million, and a majority of residents continue to support the high school, despite the high cost-per-student.
TPFYI will report on Strategic Planning efforts throughout the process and encourages all residents to keep informed.

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Strategic Planning Committee Meeting January 10, 2019

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Board of Education Meeting December 13, 2018

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting December 13, 2018

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Coffee Talk with the TUFSD Administration December 13

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting December 6, 2018

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Board of Education Meeting November 16, 2018

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Tuxedo Board Votes to Keep Baker HIgh School Open

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting November 15, 2018

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Tuxedo Students Coordinate Veterans's Day Card Campaign

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Special Board of Education Meeting November 1, 2018

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Agenda For Special Board of Education Meeting November 1, 2018

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Haunted Hallways at GFB Friday and Saturday Nights!

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Close, Consolidate or Wait: Schools GRapPle WIth Shrinking Enrollment

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Parents, Taxpayers Debate Fate of Tuxedo High School

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Tuxedo School Faces Closure Due To High Costs and Low Enrollment

Board of Education Meeting October 18, 2018

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Coffee Talk with the TUFSD Administration

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Special Board of Education Workshop October 10, 2018

The Board of Education conducted a workshop meeting on Wednesday October 10, 2018 for the purpose of discussing the Four Point Educational Consultant Study/George F. Baker High school and also to hear comments from the public on this matter.

****Due to circumstances beyond our control, both of the TPFYI recorders placed on the stage during the meeting were inadvertently switched off and a recording was not obtained.  The District does not record their meetings, and therefore we cannot share the meeting in its entirety with the public.  What follows is a synopsis based on notes:

Board President Allyson Arber opened the workshop by expressing her thoughts on the study and inviting each of the Board members to do the same.  While there were aspects of the report that the Board found to be helpful, such as the program comparison between GFB and nearby high schools as well as the cost saving estimates, by and large they expressed a sentiment of disappointment, suggesting that they would have liked to have seen more information with regard the effects of the various options on property values and also felt that the report was lacking in creative suggestions as to how the District might expand their program and increase enrollment. 
Board member Nancy Bourke read a prepared statement in support of GFB, referencing portions of the report which she feels supports maintaining the high school.  
The Board also expressed concern with the idea that should the high school close now, it could be re-opened at a later date as suggested in the report.  Although Four
Point did provide an example of a New York State school where this had occurred in their addendum, the information provided was limited and pertained to a middle school and not a high school.  The Board was unable to find/review important key data with regard to this example, such as reason for closure and enrollment.  Several Board members agreed that although the New York State Department of Education might technically allow for a school to close and reopen at a later date, they felt that in the case of Tuxedo, this would be highly unlikely and that should they decide to close the High School it would likely be a permanent decision. 

The public was then invited to comment.

****Without a recording to rely on, TPFYI is uncomfortable providing too much detailed information with regard to each comment and therefore will provide only an overview of what each person had to say based on notes.  This is by no means a detailed report of each comment. 

Bonnie LaBar expressed her frustration with the continued levels of uncertainty surrounding the future of the high school.  She believes the children in the District are thriving and that the high school should remain open.  She expressed concern that new families would not want to purchase homes in Tuxedo if there were no high school.

Board President Allyson Arber interjected, stating that a great deal of the uncertainty that existed within the community was the result of community members talking amongst themselves combined with unfortunate press from local news outlets.  She asserted that until the Board began discussing hiring a consultant earlier that year, the topic of closure had never been discussed or even raised.  She suggested that several headlines in the Tines Herald Record, specifically one labeling the district as “beleaguered” had helped to fuel the fires of uncertainty although she had done her best to refute this article by writing a quick response countering much of the information within.

Ernest Nuzzo feels that the high school should close and that the students should be tuitioned into Ramsey.  He believes that the cost per student is too high and that it is the fiduciary responsibility of the Board to right for the entire community.  He suggested that if the school were a business, it would be bankrupt.

Shari Brooks expressed concern with the constant comparison of the Tuxedo District to private schools, commenting that the only thing GFB has in common with a private school is small class size.  She feels that the enrollment is too low and wondered how low the District would allow it to go before they saw the need to close.  She believes that the high school should be closed.

Andy Berish suggested that the District should publicize some of the wonderful things that graduates of GFB have accomplished.  He himself is an alumni, having graduated in a class of fewer than 30 students.  He believes the school should remain open.

Ann Marie Voss spoke in support of the District.  She feels the high school should remain open.

Kelly Spranger identified herself as the parent of  both a GFB graduate as well aa a current 5th grader.  She expressed empathy for the Board, noting that they were faced with an enormous task.  She did passed along some information with regard to the Rye Union Free School District in Rye Brook, NY, which she described as the poster child for small schools, although admittedly it is much bigger than GFB.  The town of Rye Brook created their own District, which has been very successful and is now a major draw for the community. She also mentioned Sodus High School as well as Avenues School in New York City, which is a small, unique, specialized private international school.  She suggested that moving forward the District could benefit from some creative thinking when it came to the direction of their high school, further commenting that she had a friend in education who had directed her to these other small school districts and perhaps the Board would like to speak with her.

Mark Briggs stated that he was a GFB alumni and that all three of his children had attended the school.  Further, he sat on the BOE for 7 years.  He recalled that when he was on the BOE there was a great deal of frustration expressed by Greenwood Lake parents who felt that they were not well accommodated for and had no say in how things were governed as they were unable to have representation on the Board.  He cautioned that should Tuxedo tuition their students into another District, the same thing would happen and they would have no direct say over how things were run.

Joe Rickard commented that he had been attending BOE meetings for almost a decade and keeping well informed on the school.  Ideally, he is looking to see a great, transparent well managed school and he feels there has been some progress in this regard.  This being said, he believes that the enrollment is a serious problem.  63 children is not a small school in his view.  Small schools typically contain 350-900 students.  Referencing the consultants’ report he suggested that the data they had used on small schools was extremely outdated.  He believes that what Tuxedo has is a micro-school and he has done some research that suggests that micro -schools are not good for a number of reasons, such as learning gaps where schools are unable to address varied learning needs with limited resources.  Like Mrs. Brooks, he wondered how low the enrollment would have to go before the District deemed it too low.   He reminded the Board that the enrollment projections in the report suggested that enrollment would likely not grow and may in fact shrink over the next 5 years.  He believes that the enrollment is too low and his personal view is that the High School should close.

Jerry Motolla feels that the high school should remain open.  He is an alumni and many members of his family also attended the school and have gone on to great colleges and successful professions. He specifically referenced his nephews, who went to Ithaca and Cornell, and are now a Doctor and a Lawyer respectively.  He works as a college admissions counselor all over the surrounding area and sees great things coming out of GFB.

Angela Piatek is a retired teacher living in Tuxedo.  Noting that she had a good friend who taught in the District and that because of this she felt conflicted, she expressed concern with the low enrollment, wondering how low was too low.  She suggested that the Board should consider Suffern as an alternative further commenting that she was for the kids but she was also for her pocketbook.

Greg Tucker lives in Monroe and tuitions his son into the Tuxedo District.  The environment at Monroe Woodbury was not a fit for his son and he was very unhappy there.  Since coming to Tuxedo he is having a positive experience and his grades have gone up considerably.  He is happy in the small school environment.  Mr. Tucker believes there are other people in Monroe who might be interested in what Tuxedo has to offer but they are generally uneducated about George F. Baker and the opportunities that exist there.  The bad press coverage has not helped the situation.  Specifically the recent Times Herald Record article detailing the September 25 meeting had an incredibly misleading headline and while he felt that the article itself was alright, the headline was certainly a detriment.  Likening the District to a large business, he suggested that when things started going bad with a business there were two paths that could be explored.  The first was to begin cutting back and slimming down on things.  Most often however, this is not a successful way to save the business as it tends to have a domino effect on things.  Cutbacks only lead to more cutbacks later and a further downward spiral.  The second path is to make a new plan and to forge ahead towards new milestones with new objectives, which tends to promote success and growth.   He believes that the Tuxedo should follow this second path and remain open.  

Christopher Clark identified himself as the lawyer nephew of Jerry Matolla.  He is an alumni.  He noted that GFB had never been a big school, but that it had always been a good one, offering all the pertinent programs that lead to success.  He suggested that so long as the school was doing it’s job and educating kids well, it should remain open and that the BOE should only consider closing it when and if it was not doing the job it was supposed to do.

Rachel Artrip stated that she had once had four kids in the District but after Greenwood Lake left, they had decided to leave the Tuxedo District and attend Suffern.  She advised that although Suffern was a big school, her children never got lost there and she felt that there was never any danger of them slipping through the cracks.  She believes they all received plenty of individualized attention while having access to a wide range of sports and extra curricular activities.  She expressed concern with the fact that after five years the Board still did not know whether or not they would be able to reopen the school should they decide to close it.  She believes that many parents in Tuxedo are afraid of the larger Districts because they prefer to “helicopter” and micro-manage their children.  She suggested that it was not about class size, or the happiness of the students.  She further suggested that the Board should visit the other schools and take a look at the programs being offered there.  She feels that they are not doing their job by operating a high school for 63 kids.  63 kids.  This is the bottom line. 

Colleen Colletti commented that she had 3 children enrolled in GGM, which she feels has been amazing.  Two of the three are special education students and the attention and care they have received in the District has been fantastic.  She is however concerned about the low enrollment in the high school.  Education is more than academics and she expressed concern that GFB might not be properly preparing kids for life after high school.  She works in education in New Jersey, having attended Northern Highlands herself, where she had a good experience.  She also believes that it would be possible to reopen the school at a later date were it to close now.

Jill Brown identified herself as a former parent, who had at one time been extremely supportive of the District.  She expressed gratitude to a number of teachers individually who had helped to educate her children over the years.  Since removing her daughter from the High School several years ago she feels that the quality of the program has declined.  Citing recent AP scores in math and science she compared the number of kids at GFB who took the AP classes to the number that received a score of 3 or higher on the test, suggesting that the number of high achieving students in Tuxedo was extremely low compared to other Districts and that this was particularly alarming in a STEM environment.  She feels that the Board should be looking closely at the data and considering the facts as well as the finances.  It is her view that George F. Baker should be closed and the students tuitioned into a high performance district. 

Donna Mertz stated that her children had attended GGM early on, but that ultimately they had left the District to attend the Academy of St. Paul.  She commented that she had recently been following several conversations about the school on Facebook, where it had been suggested on more than one occasion that GFB was “not for everyone.”  She agreed that this was true, but commented that she believed it should be for everyone.  She went on to say that she had done some research and put together a list of 59 students who currently live in the District but attend other schools.  There are just as many kids attending other schools as there are attending GFB!  She submitted the list to the Board for their review. 

Maureen Coen commented that she had gotten involved with the process roughly a year ago and was grateful to the Board for their responsiveness and the time and effort they had put into finding and hiring a consultant.  This being said, she feels that there are shortcomings in the consultant’s report.  Specifically, the report does not really address the school’s impact on property taxes now or in the future given the various options.  She referenced the Pocantico Hills School district in Westchester, where students have been given a choice between several good high schools and this in turn has increased property values and made the community much more desirable.  She believes GFB is a good school, but cautioned that maybe good is not enough.

Sally Sonne introduced herself as long standing member of the Tuxedo community, further commenting that while she had not educated her children in the District, she had always been a supporter and continued to be supportive.  She feels that the school is at the heart of the community and if it is closed, the community will suffer greatly for it.  She pointed out that many people believed the Town was already dying and that closing the school could be the final nail in the coffin.  She also cautioned that closing the high school would likely have a domino effect on GGM.  She suggested that should the District begin tuitioning their students in elsewhere, as the community begins to grow each new student would become a tax-negative.  She urged the Board not to give up and to keep GFB open.

Bonnie Takeuchi agreed with Mrs. Sonne.  She believes that the High School is all the Town has left and that closing it would have a devastating effect on the community.  She is a big proponent of small schools.  The kids are safe in Tuxedo.  They care about their teachers and their teachers care about them.  Teachers are happy and enjoy coming to work.  The program is strong and the kids are thriving.  She believes that the high school must remain open.

John Horn commented that he had not intended to speak but after listening to many of the comments felt that he might have something important to offer to the dialogue.  He further explained that he had grown up in Saddle River and attended a small elementary school there, where he had done quite well.   When he was in 6th grade, Saddle river closed their school and he was the first class sent over to Ramsey Middle school, which was a much larger and more diverse environment.  Although it was not the easiest of transitions at first, over time, he found his place and fit right in.  He continued on to a large high school, where he also did well.  He believes that he is better for having been put into the larger, more diverse environment…and that being exposed to the diversity provided for a stronger experience.  He feels that kids need to be challenged in order to grow.  He suggested that if he had thrived in that environment that others could as well.
 
Michele Hines identified herself as a GFB alumni who grew up in the Tuxedo community and was now a teacher in the District.  After college she taught in both the Suffern and Washiingtonville Districts but ultimately chose to return “home” because the environment in Tuxedo is unique and special.  Teaching in the larger environments did not provide her with the opportunity to get to know any of her students.  The only students she ever got to know were the ones she would coach in athletics.   She suggested that in the larger schools, students were basically just numbers, but in Tuxedo they are like family.  Every day students choose to come into her classroom and share their lunch period with her and she loves that!  The kids have the opportunity to get involved in a lot of different things.  Students play on sports teams and participate in dramatic productions simultaneously.  There are a multitude of clubs for them to get involved with.  Activities are all inclusive.  There are no cuts and nobody is turned away.  The sports program although limited is very successful.  For the past 5 years her varsity Volleyball team has made it to sectionals and for the past 2 they have won those and progressed to the State Final Four.  Last year’s Varsity baseball team were Section 9 Champions! Referencing Mrs. Brown’s comments about the AP scores, she stated that at GFB any student who wanted to try taking an AP course was permitted a shot at it .  She further pointed out that the District had recently been named one of the top 3 Schools in the Hudson Valley and that recent Math and ELA scores placed them in the top two for Orange County. 

Shane Kearney is a sophomore currently attending GFB.  He loves it.  He values his life-long friendships and the close bonds he has formed with his teachers, who he believes go out of their way to help him succeed.
.  
Michele Spano has four children in the District.  Prior to enrolling them 3 years ago, they were home schooled.  When they first started in the District she was very happy with the program and the small size of the school but as time has gone on, she has become more and more dissatisfied.  She believes there are issues at the administrative level and that the environment is insular and dysfunctional.  She suggested that some of the kids felt that situations were dealt with unfairly and that the management needed to be fixed and fresh people brought in to run things.  There is little to no diversity in the school and this is problematic and, in her view, a little creepy.  She has begun to consider removing her kids from the District.

Beth Murray stated that she felt the administration was caring and attentive and that they had been good to her children and her family.

Zoe Vaught is a freshman and she loves the school.  She likes the small class size and the relationships she has with her teachers and her friends.  She does not want to go to a larger school and would like the school to remain open. 

Eliza Vaught is also a freshman who loves GFB.  She likes knowing everybody in all of her classes and feeling comfortable and close with all of her teachers.  She would like to remain  in Tuxedo with her friends at the high school.

John MacNamara thanked the Board for all of their time and effort, further stating that he had attended almost every Board meeting for the past several years and he understood what an incredible amount of time they put in as volunteers.  He stated that whatever the decision ended up being, he hoped that the community could find a way to come together and get behind it.

Rich Ratazzi commented that he and his family had always been supporters of the district. .  He has a daughter who is currently in the 7th grade and doing very well.  His older two daughters did not attend the high school, mainly because of all the uncertainty surrounding its future. He hopes that the Board will come to a decision and that whatever it is, the uncertainty will finally be put to rest. 

Peter Bush expressed concern with the level of control that the Developers of Tuxedo Farms seem to have had over the District and the Town.  He suggested that ever since he had arrived in Tuxedo several years ago, the developer had making demands while suggesting that the project was shovel ready…but all these years later nothing was happening.  He believes that they are lying to the community and they are in no position to demand that Tuxedo close its school.  He felt that the Town Board should be supportive of the School and that the two Boards should consider making a united stand against the developer, who is not delivering.

Commenting that she was likely the oldest person in the room, Madeline Dowling stated that she had been born and raised in Tuxedo. She would like to see the school remain open.

Adriane LaBar Dowling is a sophomore currently attending GFB and she loves it.  She values the sense of community and understanding that comes with being in the small environment.  She implored the Board to keep the school open. 

Jake Matthews stated that he was an alumni of GFB who had enjoyed a strong, positive experience at the school, before continuing on to a good University.   He cautioned that he did not believe it likely that they would ever be able to reopen the school should they decide to close it now and that the Board should keep this in mind when making their decision.

Town Board member Ken English commented that he had come to the meeting the listen and observe.  He lives in Northern Tuxedo, which is a part of the Monroe Woodbury school district.  Recently there was a referendum to redraw the District lines there and he found it exceedingly frustrating that even though he pays over $8,000 annually in school taxes, as a resident of Tuxedo he had no say in that vote.  He suggested that this was something to keep in mind when considering tuitioning in to another District. 

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Tuxedo School Faces Closure Due To High Costs and Low Enrollment

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School District Releases Addendum To Educational Consultants' Report

On  Saturday, October 6 the School District posted an addendum to the recently released Educational Consultants’ report to their website. The addendum directly addresses questions that were raised by both the Board and the Public during the Consultant’s presentation on September 25.  Items addressed in the addendum include athletic and extra-curricular comparisons between Tuxedo and the four exploratory districts (Monroe Woodbury, Suffern, Ramsey and Northern Highlands) as well as crucial information about the effects of Special Education costs on the overall projected savings associated with closing the high school, which were not included in the original report.  Also included is a link to information about Holland Middle School, which is a public middle school in New York state which was reportedly allowed to close and then re-open at a later date.
Click here to read the addendum

Additional information as requested of the district by members of the public following the September 25 meeting has been posted the District website.

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Special Board of Education Workshop October 10, 2018

Click here to view the notice of agenda

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Tuxedo School Board to Vote on Future of High School November 15

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Tuxedo School Board sets vote on Baker High's Fate

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Board of Education Meeting September 25, 2018

Click Here to read a copy of the full Educational Consultant's Report

Click here to listen to a recording of this meeting

A copy of the powerpoint presentation given at the meeting caback to top

Agenda for Board of Education Meeting September 25, 2018

Click Here to view the agenda for this meeting

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Special Board of Education Meeting September 12, 2018

Click Here to hear a recording of this meeting

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Notice of Special Board of Education Meeting September 12, 6pm

Click Here to vIew the notice

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Board of Education Meeting August 23, 2018

Click Here to listen to a recording of this meeting

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting August 23, 2018

Click Here to view the agenda for this meeting

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Tuxedo union Free School Circulates Town-Wide Survey

The Tuxedo Union Free School District is working on a new long-term plan for the education of its students.  One of the key issues that the new plan will address is how best to serve the District’s high school students.  To support their planning work, they have engaged FourPoint Education Partners to gather and analyze a variety of data, including input for community residents.  In order to ensure that they are gathering data from as many residents as possible, FourPoint has created a short, on-line survey that is available to all community members.  The survey is anonymous - they will not be able to tell who submitted the information.  Survey results will be collected and analyzed by FourPoint.  Aggregate results from the survey will be included in the final report from the consultants and available to the public.  Adults and students are invited to complete the survey.  Only one survey per person will be accepted.  All results submitted by August 10 will be included in the analysis.  Every household was sent a postcard containing the survey link.  The link can also be found on the District website: http://www.tuxedoufsd.org.

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Tuxedo Lowers Tuition to Non-District Students

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Board of Education Reorganization/Regular Monthly Meeting, 2018

The Board of Education met on Tuesday July 10 at 8pm. All members were present.

Click Here to listen to a recording of the meeting, commencing after the baseball recognitions.

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting July 10, 2018

Click Here to view the agenda for this meeting

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Board of Education Meeting June 14, 2018

The Board of Education met on ThUrsday, june 14 at 7pm. board member Diane Petrosky was absent.

The meeting began with a recognition of the Varisty baseball team, who recently won the Section 9 Championships.

Each player was called forward by name.

Click Here to listen to a recording of the meeting, commencing after the baseball recognitions.

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting June 14, 2018

Click Here to view the agenda for this meeting

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School District Seeks Community Input With Educational Consultant

The Tuxedo Union Free School District recently engaged a National educational consulting firm for the purpose of developing a long-term plan for the education of its students, with particular focus on the High School.  As part of this process, the firm will be conducting community focus groups on the evenings of June 4 and June 5 at 7pm.  All community members are invited and encouraged to attend and vice their opinions as collecting feedback from all stake holders is a critical part of the process. 

R.S.V.P. is necessary

Click here to view the open invitation from the School District.

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Board of Education Meeting May 17, 2018

Click here to listen to an audio recording of this meeting

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School Budget Vote/Board of Education Election Results

Voters came out in record numbers for the budget vote/Board of Education elections on Tuesday, May 15.  Here are the results:

Budget:

Yes – 357

No – 84

School Board:

Allyson Arber – 372

Mary Elizabeth Vaught – 316

Kimberly Breiland – 303

Paul DiPaolo – 143

Donna Posta – 140

Set up $250,000 Capital Reserve:

Yes – 314

No – 117

Fund Repair Reserve for $150,000

Yes – 314                           

No – 113

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting May 17, 2018

Click Here to view the agenda for this meeting

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Meet The Candidates For Board of Education

Elections for the Board of Education will take place on May 15, 2018 from 2pm-9pm in the multi-purpose room at George Grant Elementary School.  This year, there are 5 candidates vying for 3 open spots.  In an effort to help residents get a better idea of who the candidates are, why they have chosen to run and what their priorities will be if elected, TPFYI presented each Candidate with the following questionnaire.   Below are their unedited responses in the order they are received.

KIMBERLY BRELLAND

Name: 

Kimberly Breiland

Education/Degrees:  Pratt / BFA

Vocation/Employer:  I own a boutique design/marketing firm, 22 Graphics, incorporated 27 years ago; founded theNYnetwork, an all women’s networking group, 11 years ago; president of Lodge Brooklyn, Sons of Norway for the last 3 years.

Years of residency in Tuxedo: We moved to Tuxedo two years ago and are enthralled.

Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo: I have participated in a few town and St. Mary events and look forward to future opportunities.

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?

Being a newcomer can be an advantage. It might be the right time to have an outsider with-out specific views in one direction or another to be seated at the table. I can provide this vision, voice, and sounding board. This concerns all of Tuxedo, but now this issue impacts my family as well, as we are tax payers, have a daughter in the school, and are concerned with the communities growth, strength, and well being.

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?

A clear vision of our future is vital. Putting in place short and long term goals for our school districts' future which addresses financial and academic concerns is essential.

Regarding finances, the choice of remaining open or tuition-out must be carefully analyzed. This is needed for a transparent view of the consequences of the outcome, with a 10-20 year outlook.

To remain open we need a robust and dynamic curriculum which will make our district a highly desirable choice. Building off our history of high test scores and promoting STEM, with the possible addition of the arts, creates a unique, and therefore attractive environment for a public school. Statistically this increases student enrollment and real estate value with a decrease in school tax. Our community is only as strong as our public school. I am aware of the interdependence between a successful public school and business development, property values, and standards of living in our community.

To tuition-out it is essential to know the impact it will have on our students and families, future real estate values, and school tax. As a community we need to secure contracts insuring costs will not escalate and we continue to have a voice in the education of our students.

I will take initiative to identify all challenges from each angle, dive into research, and seek viable solutions that work. I am committed to an outcome that is in the best interest of our residents, entitled to prudent use of tax dollars, our remaining a desirable place to live, a healthy community life style, and quality education for our children.

DONNA POSTA

Name: 
Donna Posta

Education/Degrees:
I attended both Ithaca College and Rockland Community College.  I chose leave school to start a career as a Purchasing Agent and after 10 years, I took some time to stay at home and raise my 3 children. I am now a Logistics Coordinator where I am negotiating pricing and contracts with carriers to transport goods from all over the United States and Europe.

Vocation/Employer:
I worked as a part-time aide and greeter at George Grant Elementary School for 4 years. I am currently employed as a Logistics Coordinator at Opici Family Distributing

 Years of residency in Tuxedo: I’ve lived in Tuxedo’s East Village for the past 25 years.

 Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
I served as both secretary and vice-president of the Tuxedo PTO for 6 consecutive years

 Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
I am running for the Board of Education, hoping to be a part of the process identifying a solution for our current issues.  With two children in the district, I feel the need to act on my ideas for the district’s future as opposed to voicing them at Board meetings. I want to work together as a team exploring new avenues and ultimately, make the best decision for the community, but mostly, for the students. I believe all the conclusions made by the consultants should be easily available to all members of the community and presented with all the facts given to us. This should include the actual number of school age children in our town, not just the children in the district’s data base.  What, factually, will happen to our taxes and our property values, should tuitioning our students out to other schools be the best option? Our community needs the answers to these questions based on fact.

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?  The biggest issue our district and community are currently facing is determining how we can improve all aspects of the high school experience. Are we providing our children with the best academic, extracurricular and social environment with the resources we have available?  
I fully support the current School Board’s decision to hire an expert to aide us in answering that question.  I look forward to hearing their conclusions and am open to making the best decision for our students and our community.

ALLYSON ARBER

Name:

Allyson Arber

Education/Degrees: BBA in Accounting

Vocation/Employer:  I am currently employed as the Tax Director for a residential real estate developer.  Prior to my current employment, I spent twenty years as a tax professional for two national public accounting firms. 

Years of residency in Tuxedo:  My family has lived in Tuxedo since 2005.

Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:  I have served on the Board of Education since 2015.  I served as an officer of the Tuxedo PTO for two years, and have also volunteered for the Tuxedo Little League.

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?

I am running for re-election because I believe that while the Board has made progress over the past few years, there is still work to be done, and I would like the opportunity to finish the work that we have started.  Aside from my business acumen, I am a rational and open-minded voice, and have worked diligently to serve the Board well during my term. 

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?

The biggest issue currently facing our school district is our high school enrollment.  We have an extraordinarily difficult decision ahead of us with respect to how best to educate our students in grades 9 through 12.  Before making this decision, I think it is imperative that we thoroughly examine the current and future implications of all available options.  To that end, the Board has engaged an educational consulting firm to assist in the process of information gathering and data analysis.  While it is unlikely that there will be an outcome that will please everyone within the community, it is critical that we have the right information on which to base this decision.  I encourage everyone to stay informed and let their voices be heard throughout this process, as this decision will impact all residents for many years to come. 

As a result of our current enrollment numbers, our spending on a per pupil basis is higher than that of surrounding districts.  While computing the incremental cost of educating a student within our District is much more complicated than taking our total budget and dividing it by the number of students, I do believe it is crucial that the Board continue to look for creative solutions for operating our small district as cost-efficiently as possible, without compromising the quality of the education we are offering.   I also believe that this year’s budget process, whereby all residents were afforded the opportunity to participate in a review of our budget on a line-by-line basis, was certainly a step in the right direction, and I am hopeful this process will continue in the future. 

Thank you for your time, and please come out to vote on May15th!

MARY VAUGHT

Name:
Mary E. Vaught     

Education/Degrees:
Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern California

Vocation/Employer:
Executive Assistant, Chartwell Worldwide Speakers Bureau

Years of residency in Tuxedo:
I have lived in Tuxedo Park for 42 years

Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
Tuxedo Board of Education 2015 – Present
Episcopal Youth Fellowship - Youth Leader - 2015-Present
Officer of the Tuxedo PTO – 2009-2014
St. Mary’s Pre-School – Board Member/Teacher – 2007-2009
Tuxedo Park Library – Memorial Day Picnic Committee – 2008-Present

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?
I am running for re-election to the Board Of Education because I care passionately about the education of the children in the Town of Tuxedo as well as the long-term viability and success of our community.   While I believe the Board has made some progress in the last 3 years, there is still work that needs to be done and I would like the opportunity to finish what has been started.

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?
Low enrollment in our high school is one of the largest issues the Tuxedo District currently faces.  The smaller number of students causes some residents to question the viability of the school, despite the strong academic program that is offered there, and also increases per student expenses.  Addressing this issue is extremely challenging.  Despite the small class sizes and the unique familial atmosphere, tuitioning in non-resident students at a rate that is competitive with many parochial schools has proven difficult while marketing efforts can be quite costly and have shown limited results.  So what do we do?  The District has recently employed an educational consultant to take a close look at the program in order to ensure that the what is being offered is both academically strong and fiscally responsible.  Ahead of those results, in my view, the best solution is to use this time to focus our energy on finding creative ways to augment and strengthen our program.  We are in an incredibly unique situation and our small size opens the door to opportunities that simply do not exist with larger schools.  What Tuxedo needs is some real “out of the box” thinking and planning in order to examine  ways in which we can create and provide learning opportunities that mix grade levels, disciplines and learning styles while encouraging more hands on project based learning, without significantly increasing our budget.  How can we make better use of technology to offer a wider range of courses to our students?  How can we expand our arts program?  How can we take better advantage of our proximity to New York City? These are the types of things the District should be looking at.  If we can create a program that offers opportunities that students can’t get elsewhere, it will be easier to attract non-resident students to the District while we wait for the development to replenish the local population.  Some change is necessary.  This is no longer the same District it once was when Greenwood Lake students attended and it is imperative that this be both acknowledged and embraced.  We need to ensure that we are offering our children the best possible education while maintaining control over what we are going to pay for it.

Another serious issue currently plaguing the District is the lack of sound, strategic planning.  It is crucial in my view that the District put together a solid, clear 5-year strategic plan, which outlines bold objectives and details how they will be achieved.  While the plan should be aligned with the District’s annual goals of improving test scores and increasing professional development, it must differ significantly, specifically laying out the framework for how they intend to strengthen their program.  Built into this plan must be a cycle of constant public review and evaluation in order to provide strong accountability.  Without a strategic plan to guide improvement, it is all too easy for the District to become bogged down by day-to-day/month-to-month operations.

Finally, I feel that the District needs to work on both improving and enhancing communications with the Tuxedo community.  Currently, the main source of communication is the District’s website, their social media presence and their bi-annual mailings.  This is problematic because residents who do not have children enrolled in the school, and even some of those who do, do not visit the District website with any regularity nor do they follow it on social media.  The unfortunate result is that a lot of residents have no idea what is happening in the schools!  The District must find ways to directly and physically engage the community that do not involve the computer or the mailbox!  How do we accomplish this?  Some of my suggestions include: getting involved with the Tuxedo Farmer’s Market (a weekly booth in the fall would allow the District the opportunity to showcase whatever it may choose….student projects and/or art work, National Honor Society efforts, STEM endeavors etc.), actively exploring opportunities for students with both the Sterling Forest State Park and Tuxedo Park Tree Advisory Board in an effort to have the students working directly with community members to enhance this beautiful spot in which we all live, working in conjunction with the St. Mary’s Youth group (EYF) to promote community service in a social environment, more widely promoting our fabulous music groups by exploring increased opportunities to have them perform in and around Town and various events (Farmer’s Market, Chamber events, Family Fun Day, etc), working directly with organizations such as the Tuxedo Park Library and the Chamber of Commerce to more frequently utilize the districts beautiful and historic auditorium by bringing in speakers and performers who will benefit the entire community, establishing a closer relationship with Tuxedo Park School by creating an annual calendar of 3-5  joint events be they athletic, educational or social and finally maintaining a regular, monthly presence at municipal meetings.

PAUL DiPAOLO

Name:

Paul DiPaolo

Education/Degrees:
1991 Rutgers College, BA Communications

Vocation/Employer:
NBC Universal - 15 + years with NBC Sports

Years of residency in Tuxedo:
17

Volunteer Work in the Town of Tuxedo:
Volunteer on town board of Recreation. 
Leader of the committee that formed the Tuxedo Little League. Former President of the Tuxedo Little League.

Briefly, why are you running for The Board of Education?

There is so much confusion in our town regarding the High School and the students who attend/ do not attend and the multitude of reasons why. Since Greenwood Lake left the district, there has been a lot of “talk” in Tuxedo regarding the pros and cons of our high school. I feel it is time to take action and try to determine solutions to the challenges we face, not just talk about them! I want to help our Board work with the recently hired consultant to determine the best solution to offer ALL high-school age students in Tuxedo the best possible opportunity for a quality education and overall high-school experience that includes a variety of extra-curricular, social activities and sports.

What are the most important issues currently facing the School District and if elected how would you propose to address them?

1. The small size of our high school and the large number of children who leave the district in particular for high school but at all grade levels
2. The perception of the poor quality of the High School
3. The limited extra-curricular activities, electives and sports offered by the high school
4. The impact the divided community is having on Tuxedo – wouldn’t it be great to have a high school that the majority of children in the town look forward to going to/attend together?
5. The impact the high school is having on real estate values, taxes and the town as a whole.

We need to work with the recently hired consultant to take decisive actions that are in the best interest of the majority of the children in Tuxedo.  If tuitioning-out our high school students is the recommendation of the consultant we need to have the courage to implement it. We need the consultant to provide solid guidance, factual comparisons to other schools and tax and property value assessments so the School Board can make an objective decision to determine the best future for the children in our town now, and for many years to come.  

Our small elementary /middle school needs to receive the attention and investment it deserves to become a better, more reputable school.  My son is currently an 8th grader out-of-district – he started at GGM.  There are 8 children in his current out-of-district class who started GGM and left (and others who left for different schools).  Why? Children are leaving in every grade – the board needs to address the issues to make sure students want to attend GGM and are receiving the education and opportunities they deserve.

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Tuxedo's Proposed School Budget To Have a 5.46% Tax Levy Reduction

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TUFSD College Acceptances 2018

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Board of Education Meeting April 19, 2018

Click here to listen to an audio recording of this meeting

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Tuxedo School Board Adopts $13.18M Budget

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Board of Education President Responds to Recent Times Herald Record Article

Board of Education President, Allyson Arber, has issued a response letter to the Times Herald Record's 4/15/18 article entittled "Tuxedo considers hiring consultant to help decide high school’s fate"

Click here to read the letter

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Tuxedo Awarded O&R STEM Grant

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Tuxedo Is Awarded $6000 HAAS Foundation Grant

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Tuxedo STEM Program Awarded $6,000 Grant

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting April 19, 2018

Click Here to view the agenda for this meeting

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Board of Education Special Meeting/ Budget Workshop April 12 5 & 7pm

The Board of Education will hold Special Meeting at 5pm on Thursday, April 12 for the purpose of receiving presentations from Educational Consulting Companies in response to their recent RFP.  This meeting will take place in the high school library.  Following the presentations, at 7pm, the Board will conduct a budget work shop in the multi-purpose room.

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Board of Education Meeting March 15, 2018

Click here to listen to an audio recording of this meeting

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George F. Baker High School Presents The Little Mermaid March 16-18

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting March 15, 2018

Click here to view the agenda for this meeting.

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Important Information Regarding The Tuxedo School District

The Tuxedo Union Free School District has recently put out a Request For Services (RFP) as they move forward with their intent to hire an educational consultant who will explore in depth the options for the education of students in grades 9 through 12. The TUFSD is seeking to maximize the academic and extracurricular opportunities available to our students in a fiscally responsible manner.

You can read a statement from the Board President Allyson Arber here.
You can review the RFP in its entirety here.  

Additionally, School Budget season is almost here.  

The Budget Development Calendar can be found here

This year, for the first time, a separate Board of Education committee has been put together for the purpose of conducting a public line-by-line review of the budget.  This committee will meet a total of 4 times.  The schedule for these meetings can be found here.

TPFYI encourages all residents to take the time to educate themselves first hand with regard to the school as it is an important entity, which has a direct effect on all taxpayers, families and school children in the District.

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George F. Baker High School Presents The Little Mermaid March 16-18

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Children's Dental Month marked at George Grant Mason School

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Tuxedo Always On Alert

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Board of Education Meeting February 15, 2018

The Board of Education met on February 15, 2018 at 7pm. Board member Mike Arone was absent.

To listen to a complete recording of this meeting, click here.

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Statement from The Town Of Tuxedo Police Department

In considering recent and tragic events in the State of Florida, their community and citizens having our heartfelt support, the Town of Tuxedo Police Department has had dialogue with the Tuxedo School District and Superintendant Nancy Teed. The Town of Tuxedo Police and the Tuxedo School District, having a close relationship, have mutually agreed upon the use of frequent patrols of the schools and grounds. Please understand the presence of police at schools as the Town of Tuxedo Police Department will be present, conducting patrols and walk-throughs. The purpose is to help ensure the safety of our students, faculty and community. Any safety or other concerns should be addressed to the Town of Tuxedo Police Department at 845-351-5111 or the Tuxedo School District at 845-351-4786. As always, dial 911 for any emergency and please be safe.

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George F. Baker High School Presents The Little Mermaid March 16-18

Order your tickets online now by clicking here

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting February 15, 2018

Click here to view the agenda for this meeting.

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Tuxedo Union Free School District & Tuxedo Park Ambulance Corps Present 'Citizen Preparedness Corps Training Program - Friday, February 23

Click here for more information.

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Statement From The Board of Education January 23, 2018

January 23, 2018 

We will continue to provide you with updates as this process moves forward. In the interim, the Administration and Faculty are looking forward to and have been actively preparing for the 2018-2019 school year for grades K through 12. 

If you have any questions or would like any additional information, please feel free contact me at 

boe@tuxedoufsd.org

Sincerely, 

President, TUFSD Board of Education 

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Board of Education Meeting January 18, 2018

The Board of Education met on January 18, 2018 at 7pm. Board member Diane Petrosky was absent.

To listen to a complete audio recording of this meeting, click here.

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Revised Agenda for Board of Education Meeting, January 18, 2018

Click here to view this agenda

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Special Board of Education Meeting January 11, 2018

The Board of Education held a special meeting on January 11, 2018 at 7pm for the purpose of discussion regarding having an independent consultant complete a study of the Tuxedo Union Free School District.

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Agenda For Special Board of Education Meeting January 11, 2018

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School Taxes Information

 A lot of people have been asking whether or not they can pay their school taxes early...the same way they are able to pay Real Property Taxes in Town this week. Unfortunately, the answer is no. This is because the school cannot obtain a tax warrant until at least 30 days after the budget vote, which occurs in mid-May. You can read all about it on their website.

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Board of Education Meeting December 21, 2017

The Board of Education met on on Thursday, December 21 at 7:00pm. all members were present.

To listen to a complete audio recording of this meeting, click here.

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Agenda For Board of Education Meeting December 21, 2017

Click here to view the agenda for this meeting.

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Tuxedo Students Join Forces To Jump Start Annual Toy Drive

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Public Comment:
There were no public comments.

Administrator’s Reports:
Business Administrator – Business Administrator Marc Matatia reported that the District had been contacted the previous week by the State Education Department with regard to an administrative review of the Food Service Program.  The S.E.D. will be coming into the District on December 14 and there will also be an offsite review prior to this.  This is mainly a review of the program’s operation as well as the District’s procurement process.

Board member Meg Vaught inquired as to whether or not the review was done in conjunction with the Board of Health. 

The answer was no.  It is done in conjunction with the Child Nutrition program, which is overseen by State Education.  Each Region has an individual responsible for overseeing their program and this is the person who will be visiting the District on the 14th.  They will be analyzing things such as Offer vs. Serve and the Free and Reduced program.
K-12 Principal – Principal Schrammel’s report was included in the Board’s monthly packet. There were no questions.

Superintendent’s Report – Superintendent Teed began by noting that the 7th and 8th grade students had spent the day on a Field Trip at the National Museum of Mathematics in New York City.  The trip gave students the opportunity to “understand the roll of mathematics in eliminating the patterns and structures all around us,” and everyone had a great time.

The Varsity Women’s Volleyball Team will be competing in the State Final Four Tournament on Saturday, November 18 in Glens Falls at 3pm and Superintendent Teed wished them good luck on behalf of the entire District.

The First Elementary School Musical entitled Magic Tree House/The Knight At Dawn will take place on November 17 and 18 at 7pm.  Tickets can be purchased through the school’s website.

The National Honor society has a food drive underway to assist families in need.  There are collection baskets located in the lobby of the High School.  Mrs. Martin will transport the food to the Greenwood Lake and Sloatsburg food pantries within the next week. 
Mrs. Teed next extended her thanks to both St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and the Sloatsburg food pantry for providing families in the community with turkey and fixings for Thanksgiving dinner, noting that a lot of hard work goes into this annual event.
The annual Toy Drive, run by Dr. David Kaufer in conjunction with the Suffern Police Department will kick off the week of November 20.  Boxes for toy collection will be located at the Town Hall and in Dottie Audrey’s as well as The Orange Top, The Barber Shop, The Tuxedo Park Library and in the lobbies of both school buildings.  They are asking for new, unwrapped toys to benefit those who may be in need this holiday season.

K-6 parent teacher conferences will take place on Wednesday November 22 from 1-2:48 and Wednesday, November 29 from 5-8pm. 

Winter concerts will be taking place on Thursday, December 7, with K-6 taking place at 1:45pm and 7-12 at 7pm in the High School auditorium.

GGM Saturday basketball begins on Saturday, December 2 and times will be listed on the school calendar on the District website.

OCSBA Update – Board member Meg Vaught reported that the Orange County School Boards Association meeting of November 1 had featured a presentation from Tammy Rhein, Director of Mental Health Service for the Orange County Department of Health, who spoke about the opioid epidemic and it’s impact on schools.  She reviewed some of the grim statistics relating to overdose rates in this area as well as addiction patterns and stressed that recommendation is that all districts work hard to educate everyone; students, teachers, parents and administrators alike.  She further suggested that the department of health was willing to conduct educational seminars and that it might be good idea for Tuxedo to host such an event and invite members of the surrounding communities to attend as well.  She believes this would be to everyone’s benefit. “You never think it is going to happen to you, until it does,” she cautioned.  Additionally, she reported that many districts, including BOCES, are making sure to have Narcan on hand at all of their facilities and are actively training various individuals in how to administer it.
Also discussed at the OCSBA meeting was the recent NYSSBA convention, which went very well as well as OCSBA’s legislative platform for the coming year.  Next month’s meeting will feature a presentation from Julie Marlette, the Director of Governmental Relations for NYYSBA, who will provide the group with a primer on State Aid and legislative issues.

Items for Action and/or Discussion:

Warrants, Transfers & Bids – there were none.

CPSE/CSE – Board member Dorothy Ziegelbauer inquired about the report, expressing some confusion with the way the information was presented and Superintendent Teed clarified the information in question.  The Board then voted unanimously in favor of approving the recommendations of the Committee of Special Education.

Senior Trip – Information with regard to the Senior Class’s annual trip to Disney World was included in the monthly Board packets.  The trip has been scheduled for later in the year than previous trips and will take place after exams are completed for the Senior class.  The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the trip.

Board Member Meg Vaught inquired as to whether or not the 8th Grade class would be taking their annual overnight trip to Boston in the spring.
Superintendent Teed responded that this was still under discussion and a determination has not yet been made.

Personnel – The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the personnel recommendations as presented. 

Old Business:
Superintendent Teed updated the Board on the subject of e-mail monitoring in the District as discussed at their previous meeting.  Working in conjunction with the IT department, the Superintendent has found a company that can provide e-mail monitoring services and software for a relatively inexpensive cost ($1,155)  The software picks up on certain flagged words, which when detected are reported back to the monitoring company who in turn contacts the school to report incidents.  In the event they are unable to reach the school, reports go directly to the local police. 
Ultimately it was agreed that they would need to discuss liability issues with the district”s attorneys before moving ahead with a contract.  

In regard to the Building Condition Survey, Board member Dorothy Ziegelbauer commented that she was aware that the Board had requested a list of outstanding items that might possibly be addressed with reserve funds, but in reviewing the actual survey she noted that there were certain items in the document that appeared to be relatively easy fixes.  As the document is outdated by a couple of years, she wondered if the administration might be able to provide the Board with an updated list of issues that still need to be addressed. It was agreed that this would be done.

Public Comment:
John McNamara thanked the Superintendent for her update on email monitoring.  He inquired as to whether or not there was a policy in place, which requires all school related communications must take place on the school server and that no school related communications by the administration can take place using personal email.
The answer was no.

Mr. McNamara stated that he believed there should be such a policy in place to prevent anyone who might wish to avoid such monitoring from discussing school related business, be it student related or otherwise, via personal email.

Secondly, he commented that he felt the OCSBA update with regard to opioid abuse had been a good one and he wondered whether there was narcan on site in the district so that they would have the ability to treat an overdose immediately should the need arise.

The answer was no.  While there is no narcan on site, a member of the administration has been trained and the Town Police are also accessible.  

Mr. McNamara responded that there were kits available for little to no cost that the school could obtain and he wondered whether they might consider obtaining one. 

There was a brief discussion about this and the Board seemed to be in agreement that having multiple staff members trained would be a good idea.

Mrs. Vaught commented that one of the suggestions made at OCSBA was that districts implement a training program as part of an overall prevention policy.  Again, she suggested that the District host an information program for the purpose of educating folks on the real dangers associated with this issue.

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The Magic Tree House - November 17th

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting November 16, 2017

I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call and Quorum Check
III. Pledge of Allegiance
IV. Public Comment (Up to 3 minutes per person; 30 minutes total per meeting)
V. Routine Business
1. Approval of Board Meeting Minutes – 10/24/2017
2. Administrators’ Reports
• Business Administrator
• K-12 Principal
3. Superintendent’s Report
4. OCSBA Update
VI. Items for Action and/or Discussion
1. Warrants, Transfers & Bids
2. CPSE/CSE
3. Senior Trip
4. Personnel
5. Old Business
VII. Public Comment (Up to 3 minutes per person; 30 minutes total per meeting)
VIII. Proposed Executive Session – Potential Contract Negotiations
IX. Correspondence
X. Adjournment

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Tuxedo celebrates berth to state volleyball semis - 11/6/17

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Board of Education Meeting October 24, 2017

The Board of Education met on Tuesday, October 24 at 7pm.  All members were present.

School Board Recognition Week – In honor of School Board Recognition Week (October 23-27) Superintendent Teed acknowledged the Tuxedo School Board and thanked them on behalf of the administration for all of the time and effort they put in for the students, community, parents and staff.  

Public Comment:
There were no public comments

Routine Business:
Independent Auditor’s Presentation - Scott Preusser of Raymond G. Preusser presented the Board with a report regarding their recent external audit.

A summary of the 70-page audit was circulated and reviewed.   To review a copy of the summary, click here.

Administrators Reports – Business Administrator Marc Matatia thanked both this staff and the members of the Audit Committee for all of their hard work in assisting with the auditing process. 

Board member Nancy Bourke inquired as to whether or not the auditors would award the District any sort of rating based on the audit.

Superintendent Teed responded that if it was a Moody’s Rating that Mrs. Burke was referring to, that this would be independent from the audit.

The K-12 Principal Report was included in the Board’s information packet.  There were no questions for Mr. Schrammel from the Board.

Superintendent Teed began her Superintendent’s report by welcoming the newly hired K-12 Assistant Principal Mrs. Tracie Ferreira, who was present, to the District.  The District is thrilled to have Mrs. Ferreira and the Superintendent is confident that she will bring nothing but good things to Tuxedo.  Next, Superintendent Teed expressed her gratitude to the PTO for the recent walk-a-thon for hurricane relief, which they sponsored.  The event raised over $4000.  This is the most money ever raised by the District for an outside cause. 

Mr. Matatia and Superintendent Teed recently participated in a phone conference with architect Chris Colby, who has assessed items on the District’s Buildings Condition Survey and reviewed with them certain details pertaining to that report.  Mr. Colby will be further analyzing details pertaining to those items that the District has prioritized (namely the roofs and boilers) Some tests are being done on the roofs in order to determine whether or not they need to be replaced entirely or if perhaps only certain sections need to be worked on and/or repaired.  Mr. Colby will provide a detailed report in early November and has offered to present his results directly to the Board in person.  He is unfortunately not available for the regularly scheduled November meeting but is willing to come in for a special meeting if the Board so desires.

The Superintendent is currently reviewing the 2017/2018 District Calendar as there were some questions recently posed with regard to the last week of school.  Currently the last two days of the school year are listed on the calendar as full days, but she is continuing to work with her colleagues across the County as there has been a lot of controversy regarding the State regulations as they pertain to ½ days.  She will provide follow-up information as it becomes available  and noted that the Board might want to consider revising the calendar in January.

Board member Diane Petrosky wondered if the controversy had to do with the ½ days not counting towards the total 180 days that the school is required to be in session in order to receive full State Aid.

The answer was yes.

Board member Meg Vaught inquired as to how many hours connote a ½ day.

The answer was 5, unless there is adverse weather event.

Board President Allyson Arbor then noted that the District’s ½ days at the end of the year must not count as legitimate ½ days then since they are typically 3 hours or less in duration.

The Superintendent explained that if these days were in combination with Professional Development Days then they were counted towards the 180 total. 

Finally, Superintendent Teed highlighted some upcoming District events as follows:
Haunted Hallways will be taking place this coming Friday, October 27, from 7-10:30.
Parent/Teacher Conferences for grades 7-12 will take place on Monday, November 6 from 5-8pm.  Parents who are unable to make this session can also schedule a conference on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 7 or Wednesday November 22.  between 1-2:45pm.   K-6 Conferences will take place on Wednesday, November  29 from 5-8pm.

The Kindergarten Veterans Day Celebration will take place on Thursday, November 9 at 1:45pm in the multi-purpose room. 

The GGM Musical “The Night at Dawn” will be presented on Friday and Saturday November 17 and 18 at 7pm.  This is the first time GGM has put on its’ own musical!  There are 35 students involved in the production.

OCSBA Update – Board member Meg Vaught reported that the October OCSBA meeting had featured a presentation on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which is the State mandate the authorizes federal education for homeless children.  The presentation was given by a woman named Elizabeth Russell and in addition to providing general information, focused on issues such as staff development for traumatized classrooms as well as a bibliotherapy program being run by Ms. Russell herself.  

Also discussed at the meeting was the annual NYSSBA Convention.  Proposed resolutions such as tax cap levy reform were reviewed. 

Next month OCSBA will receive a presentation from the Orange County Department of Social Services on the opioid epidemic and its effect on schools. 

Items for Action and/or Discussion:

Warrants, Transfers & Bids – There were none

CPSE/CSE – The Board unanimously approved the Special Education recommendations as presented.

Donation- The Board voted unanimously in favor of accepting the donation of a mechanoid personal robot from Kelly Spranger on behalf of her son Chris Ahart. 

Adoption of 2017/2018 Budget Calendar – Business Administrator Marc Matatia informed the Board that an additional session has been added to the schedule this year to allow for further review if needed following the first three sessions. 

Noting that she understood that it was New York State who set much of the calendar, Board President Allyson Arbor pointed out that the public was not allotted time to comment on the budget until after the date by the which it had to be approved.  She wondered whether there were a mechanism in connection with the budget workshops that would allow them to collect public input.  Receiving public input after the budget has already been approved is almost futile.  This was discussed at some length. Mrs. Vaught wondered if they could schedule a public hearing prior to passage of the budget.  Mr. Matatia informed her that they could not.  The State mandates when the hearing must take place.  Mrs. Vaught wondered if they might not have two public hearings.   The answer was no.

President Arbor suggested that if they could not technically hold a hearing, perhaps they could conduct a public workshop.  She inquired as to whether or not public participation had historically been allowed at the budget workshops.  The answer was no, however Mr. Matatia informed the Board that they could easily allow for it.  Following further discussion, it was agreed that public comment would be added to the workshops at both the beginning and end of each session, which would allow for more public participation throughout the budget process.

Mrs. Vaught further inquired about the timing of the Board’s budget approval, noting that last year they had waited until the day before the budget was due to approve it and that this proved to be problematic when several of the Board members had questions or concerns about what being proposed.  Mrs. Vaught had felt backed into a corner with this and somewhat uncomfortable approving the budget without having the opportunity to further explore the issues that had been raised.  In an effort to avoid a similar situation this year, she wondered whether or not they might consider scheduling their approval meeting a few days prior to the due date. 

Mr. Matatia explained that the approval was always scheduled for the day before the due date because the District often times does not have all of the information they need until that time. 

Mrs. Vaught then wondered if she could have some assurance that she would be able to view all of the presentation materials prior to each meeting, noting that this had been part of the problem the previous year as she had not been able to look at some of the material until she arrived at the meeting and did not feel she had enough time to properly formulate questions.

Mr. Matatia responded that while he might not be able to provide the Board members with copies of the presentation days before each meeting, he could certainly provide them with the budget information that would be contained within.  He further suggested that with the addition of the extra workshop meeting, there should not be any issues with timing as the Board will have had ample time to review what is being proposed and address any questions they might have about it prior to the approval meeting.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of adopting the  2017-2018 budget calendar as proposed.  The calendar will be made available to the public on the District website as soon as possible.

Acceptance of 2016/2017 Financial Audit Report – The Board voted unanimously in favor of accepting the 2016/2017 financial audit report.

Board of Registration – The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the suggested appointments for the Board of Registration for 2017/2018.

Personnel – Various personnel matters (appointments, redesignations and resignations) were reviewed by the Superintendent after which the Board voted unanimously of approving them.

Old Business - There was none

Public Comment:
Tuxedo resident Greg Beard addressed the Board thanking them for their service and commenting that he liked the discussion that had taken place around the idea of having a more open budget process.  He thinks there is a lot of  ill will that has been generated over the last 10-15 years in the community because the process has not been an open one.  That being said, he continued that he knew that the community supported the school and the idea of educating kids from Tuxedo and providing them when the best education they could as this was their obligation to the community.  “But we don’t owe it to other school districts to educate their children,” he stated. “And you don’t owe it to 100 staff members to employ people.”  He noted that over the past several years there had been many emotional pleas to approve the budget on behalf of the kids, but the budget has not been openly vetted or even discussed with the public prior to approval.  This has been damaging in his view.  What’s worse however is to find out years later that the budgets were not accurate and that the people have been over taxed and over billed by hundreds of thousands of dollars.  This is a red flag and he believes it is a flag to the Board that they need to better manage their administrators.  “Hearing the Business Administrator push back on when you can do timing and what numbers come from where…that’s pushback!  He works for you.  He works for us.  You could ask him to prepare a budget for 14 million dollars and then you could say ‘show me what it would look like for 10 million dollars or 11.’  He works for us!  He is going to do what you want on the timeline that you set.  There are red flags here that indicate that the school is being run less for the benefit of our children here in Tuxedo and more for the benefit of the administrators.  That’s dangerous.  You are the line of defense.  You are the ones who defend the community from that.  It’s you and you alone.  People support the school but there is repair that needs to done and you are the only ones who can do it.  You are empowered to do it.  Use that power that you have.  Doing things like having the extra workshops and letting people’s voices be heard can really help.  You need to look at it and really study it because I think you are about at the limit where you are going to get a backlash from the community.  That is why I am here. It’s better not to have a backlash…..it’s is better to manage it smoothly…but we are on the verge of one” He went on to suggest that Tuxedo was one of the most expensive school districts in the State, which could be worth it if they were offering the best education in the State, but the numbers do not suggest that they do.  He feels that the school is so expensive that they cannot attract families to move here, so we have import kids from other Districts.  He feels that the District might have to shrink in order to grow.  They might have to lower the budget and the taxes so that they can attract the families that will allow them to grow. “But, when you have administrators who do not even think it is in the realm of being possible….I just heard an administrator say that nothing was going to be much different this year than it was last year that he could tell.  Why not?  We are being choked to death!  We ought to be thinking out of the box how to solve the problem because we are losing our kids and it’s not affordable for the community.  It’s not good for any of us.   I am talking to the Board.  It’s your Board…they serve you.  Make them serve you and don’t take no for an answer.  Make them think outside the box.  Things will get better and our kids will benefit for it.”  With this, he again thanked the Board members for volunteering their time to serve.

President Arbor thanked Mr. Beard for his comments, assuring him that the Board had heard his concerns and that they would consider them. Further noting that she was not sure what time he had arrived, she reiterated that they are looking to add public workshops and increase community involvement in the budget process moving forward.
Responding to the earlier discussion on the District’s Moody’s rating, John MacNamara commented that Moodys was a measurement of credit rating.  It is not a measurement of how the school district is doing but rather one of debt plus the ability of the municipality to levy taxes so that they can judge the ability of the municipality to pay back the principal and interest on bonds.  So, more than just the school, it is also a measurement of the community and its demographics in terms of income.

Next, he commented that there was a meeting he had missed at which the Board was discussing goal planning and had indicated that they believed they were on the right path and moving on the right direction.  He acknowledged that they might have been referring to the curriculum and the staff, but suggested that he was distressed to hear them speak this way without addressing the fact that the District maintains the highest cost per student in one of the smallest districts.  He believes this is where a great deal of the frustration in the community comes from in terms of getting that cost per student to a reasonable number.  He believes that to some point, Tuxedo is almost double the cost of the surrounding districts and that this is where the focus needs to be. 

He then inquired about previous conversations that had occurred with regard to email retention and monitoring and asked for an update as to where that stood.  Specifically he wanted to know how long emails would be retained, whether they would be monitored and if so, who would be monitoring them.  What are the parameters around escalation?
He was informed that the District had adopted an email retention policy.

This was briefly discussed.  The Superintendent informed him that a plan was “definitely in the works,” In the meantime, an email retention policy has already been put in place, with e-mails to be retained by the district for a period of 7 years.

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting October 24, 2017

I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call and Quorum Check
III. Pledge of Allegiance
IV. School Board Recognition Week- (10/23/17 to 10/27/17)
V. Public Comment (Up to 3 minutes per person; 30 minutes total per meeting)
VI. Approval ofMinutes: 09/28/2017
VII. Routine Business
1. Independent Auditor's Presentation - Scott Preusser of Raymond G. Preusser
CPA, PC
2. Administrators' Reports
• Business Administrator
• K-12 Principal
• Superintendent's Report
3. OCSBA Update
VIII. Items for Action and/or Discussion
1. Warrants, Transfers & Bids
2. CPSE/CSE
3. Donation
4. Adoption of2017-2018 Budget Calendar
5. Acceptance of 2016/2017 Financial Audit Report
6. Board of Registration (District Voter Registration)
7. Personnel
8. Old Business
IX. Public Comment
X. Correspondence
XI. Proposed Executive Session- Contract negotiations

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Tuxedo Coach Michelle Hines wins 100th volleyball game - 10/17/17

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Tuxedo students celebrate Peace Day - 10/5/17

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Board of Education Meeting September 28, 2017

The Board of Education met on Thursday, September 28 at 7pm.  All members were present.

Public Comments:
Commenting that he wanted to talk about the Reserve funds, which he identified as $350,000 in excess\unassigned funds that “sitting in nothing for the last year and a half,” Joe Rickard noted that he had read the report about the strategic planning session that the Board held back in July and was not encouraged.  He further stated that he believed that the District’s efforts to recruit students had not been very successful and that ultimately the financials were not aligned with the size of the school.  “We have a 14 million dollar budget for less than 320 kids.  There is nothing in the strategy discussion about how you align the number of kids to the money that you’re spending and that’s very disappointing.  You’ve got a big building out here.  You’ve got 16 busses.  You’ve got a full time school psychologist.  You have huge expenses that would apply better to the school that we used to have when we had over 500 students…but now we have less than 320.”  He then wondered whether or not there was going to be a discussion and some leadership from the Board in asking the administration to “get this thing right sized.”  He further suggested that the District did not own the building although they were entertaining placing $350,000 into a reserve fund to finance repairs.  H implored the Board to give this money back to the taxpayers and then “really get down to work” in terms of figuring out how to get the school sized correctly. 

Introduction of new staff members to the Board of Education:
Superintendent Nancy Teed officially introduced the following new faculty members to the Board:
Elba Matthies – 2nd Grade – GGM
Stephanie Stasaik – STEM Integration Specialist - GGM
Sharon Fox – Library Media Specialist – GGM
Natalie Van Curen – Part time Guidance Councelor – GGM

Administrator’s Reports:
Business Administrator’s Report – Business administrator Marc Matatia commented that he did not have anything new to report, however he noted that there was a scheduling conflict with the district’s external auditors in that they had already been booked for October 19, so they would not be available to present to the Board at that time as planned.  Options were discussed and it was ultimately agreed that the Board would move their October meeting from Thursday, October 19 to Tuesday, October 24 at 7pm in order to accommodate the auditors. 

K-12 Principal – The Superintendent noted that Mr. Schrammel’s monthly report had been included in the Board’s packet and invited them to ask any questions of the Principal.  There were none.  Mr. Schrammel then noted that benchmark quarterly exams had been administered in the High School however they had not yet been given in GGM due to an issue with the NWEA server.  Other Districts in the region encountered issues when administering the tests online whereby the testing service was crashing half way through the exam, which necessitates retakes.  Mr. Schrammel reached out to NWEA earlier that day and was informed that the issues had been resolved and the servers are back up and running, so the benchmark exams will now be administered in GGM.

Superintendent’s Report – Superintended Teed informed the Board that Tennis and Golf programs were now being offered in GGM through the Rockland TGA.  Tuxedo is one of the few Districts in Orange County that offer programs of this nature for students in grades K-6 and there are a good number of kids signed up for both programs.  Last month the Board approved a request for an elementary drama program and the dates for the Elementary School musical have been set!  The show will be called The Knight at Dawn and is scheduled to take place on Friday, November 17 and Saturday, November 18 at 8pm.  Next month the Board will also see a request for a new after school dance club in GGM for grades 4-6.  The PTO will be sponsoring a walk-a-thon for hurricane relief on Friday, October 20.  The time has yet to be determined.  The District is in receipt of a flyer from the Town Clerk outlining a hurricane relief program for Puerto Rico being run by the Orange County Government Offices.  The District will be putting out donation boxes in both schools to aid in this effort.  The “historically exciting” Haunted Hallways will be held on the two Fridays prior Halloween this year, October 20 &27 from 7-10:30pm.  Finally, all Board members are invited to attend the National Jr. Honor Society and National Honor Society induction ceremony on October 26 at 7pm.

Next. Superintendent Teed provided the Board with a brief over-view of the District’s resent State Test Scores.  In grades 3-8 (GGM) the District tied for #1 out of 34 Mid-Hudson school districts with a 60% proficiency rate in ELA and was the top ranking school in Math at 64% proficient. 

Click here to view the proficiency rates in GGM as compared to State rates.  Also provided is an analysis comparing results with goals in the District’s Professional Development Plan.

Board member Diane Petrosky inquired as to whether the percentage of students who had opted out of the testing was higher or lower than it had been last year.

The answer was that in math, the percentage had been a bit higher (19%), while it was a bit lower in ELA (14%). 

“So, based on that, they did even better than these numbers reflect,” commented Mrs. Petrosky. 

Board member Nancy Bourke wondered whether the parents of those students opting out had been interviewed as to the reasons why they had made their decision.

The Superintendent responded that the District could not ask them and that the decision was theirs to make.

Noting that this was more of an opinion based question and not specific to the Tuxedo District, Board member Meg Vaught wondered where the disconnect was that allowed for 39.8% and 40% proficiency rates in ELA and Math State-wide.  She furthered wondered where the standards set forth in the tests were unrealistic and perhaps too high if more that 50% of students could not achieve them.

The Superintendent responded that in her opinion it was the Commissioner’s goal to raise the rates across the Board, but there are those Districts that do not score well, based on their demographics and this factors into it. 

Mrs. Vaught the inquired whether or not they were seeing drastic changes in the Common Core curriculum from year to year that reflected these lower proficiency rates.

The answer was no.

Mr. Schrammel suggested that the manner in which Common Core was rolled out could play a role in the lower proficiency numbers.  

Mrs. Vaught expressed pleasure that the Tuxedo District was showing some of the highest numbers, offering congratulations to the administration and staff, but simultaneously expressed dismay that less than 50% of New York State students were able to achieve proficiency. 

Superintendent Teed commented that the Common Core was always changing and would be changing again.  Many people including parents, teachers, administrators and various educational professionals, have been involved in the development of the new standards.  

With regard to the students in Tuxedo who are testing, Board member Dorothy Zeigelbauer inquired as to whether the District has seen improvement in the numbers of level 1 and 2 achieved and more specifically, whether they were seeing an increase in the number of students who were achieving the higher proficiency levels overall. 

The Superintendent responded that they could analyze the data and provide an answer.   She further cautioned that the test changes from year to year so it is not possible to make an “apples to apples” comparison. 

The Superintendent then moved on to discuss the High School Regents Scores.  These scores are still embargoed by New York State, so the individual scores cannot be revealed.  That being said, in aligning the scores to the Professional Development Plan, they are able to determine some proficiency rates. 

Click here to view the proficiency rates as presented for the High School.

OCSBA Update:
Board member Meg Vaught provided an update on the September Orange County School Board Association Meeting, which featured presentations on the upcoming, annual NYSSBA Convention as well as the Mid-Hudson Study Council.  There was a somewhat lengthy discussion regarding the convention.  The district had been slated to send two representatives but due to a family emergency on the part of one of these individuals, will no longer be able to attend.  Next year’s convention will take place in NYC, and Mrs. Vaught expressed her sincere hope that they would be able to send representation at that time given the close proximity to Tuxedo, which means lodging would not be a concern for the District.  Additionally, she provided some lose details regarding the addition of student run booths to the Education Expo, suggesting that this would be a great opportunity for the District to showcase the High School’s unique Pathways program.  NYSSBA will be accepting proposals for the booths upcoming months.

Items for Action and or Discussion:

Warrants, Transfers & Bids – There were none.

TTA Agreement – Superintendent Teed commented that she appreciated the fact that the Teacher’s Union had met with the Administration on multiple occasions in working on the agreement.  She feels there were strong efforts on both sides of the table and this is sincerely appreciated.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of ratifying the agreement as proposed.

Audit Committee Charter – Following a brief discussion the Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the Audit Committee Charter.  There followed another discussion with regard to participation of a member of the public on this committee.  The District had one volunteer this past year however he ultimately decided not to join the committee.  It is too late to bring on a new member this year but moving forward the District intends to start the process much earlier and will look to recruit a new community member in the spring.  Methods of advertising the position were discussed.

Personnel – After a long interview process, the District has chosen a new Assistant Principal.  She then proposed the appointment of Traci Ferreira for K-12 Assistant Principal.  Mrs. Ferreira will be coming to the District from Nyack school District, where she is currently a Social Studies Teacher and an Instructional Technology Liaison, who trains teachers.  Due to regulations in New York State law, Mrs. Ferreira is required to give 30 days of notice when leaving her current job, therefore Tuxedo does not yet have a concrete start date for her, however they are hopeful that she will be able to start prior to November 1.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the appointment as well as the other instructional and non-instructional appointments as proposed.

With regard to the Activities and Clubs, the Superintendent announced that Mr. Landro has offered to start a running club on a volunteer basis.  This club will be available to grades 5-8 on a rotating basis throughout the week, with 7 and 8 graders attending on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule and 5 and 6 graders attending on Tuesday and Thursday.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of this appointment as well as the other Activity and Clubs appointments as proposed.

Board President Allyson Arber inquired as to whether or not 6 grade students were permitted to participate in modified sports, commenting that she understood that in Monroe, 6-8 grade students were considered Middle School.

Mr. Schrammel responded that he believed that the modified program was traditionally run for 7 and 8 grade students with the occasional involvement of some students in grade 9 with league approval.

CPSE/CSE – The Board voted unanimously in favor of approving the recommendations from the Committee of Special Education as approved as well as the updated list of Committee members.

trategic Plan/Goals Discussion- The Strategic Goals as outlined by the Strategic Planning Committee were presented and discussed.

With Regard to the first Goal, which pertains to improving student achievement in academic performance toward college and career readiness, Board member Dorothy Zeigelbauer noted that as currently proposed the only methods of measuring success were State Assessments and Regents exams.  She wondered if there might not be another, comparable way to measure college and career readiness aside from these State driven exams.

Superintendent Teed responded that she would look into this, noting that she had done a presentation several years ago on college and career readiness and could share this information with the Board.

Noting that somebody had told her that she “should be saying nice things,” Board member Diane Petrosky turned to Goal number 3, which talks about expanding and enhancing STEM methodology in all classes K-12.  She commented that she felt there was nothing better than sitting in a Kindergarten classroom in October in having a student say to her “do you want to see what I have in my cloud?”  In her view, the ability of 5 and 6-year old children to talk about storage clouds and IPADS is a wonderful thing.
Moving on to Goal Number 2, which talks about improving student achievement by providing high quality professional development to all teaching staff, Mrs. Vaught noted that within the process of formulating this goal there had been a discussion about requiring that some of this professional development come directly from outside sources by sending various staff members out for training rather than employing the turnkey method.  She further noted that as written the goal suggests that 100% of the staff will participate in at least 3 hours of training per year outside of the training provided to them on conference days but it does not specify that any of this training will come from an outside source.  While she understands that the costs of sending everyone out might be prohibitive, she believes that it is important that some of the training come from outside sources.  This was discussed at some length.  The Superintendent suggested that sending 100% of the staff out in one year would be financially unrealistic.   Ultimately it was agreed by a majority of the Board that they should strive for a healthy mix of training types to include sending teachers out, brining trainers in as well as turnkey.

Mrs. Vaught then commented that she was in support of the goals as proposed having worked to help author them, but she now wondered specifically how the District was planning to achieve them. She stated that in her view there was a notable difference between Strategic Goals and a Strategic Plan, namely that the later included bullet points, which outlined an action plan for achieving the goals.   Without this, the she feels there is no solid form of accountability in terms of making sure that the goals are fulfilled in specific ways.  This was discussed at some length.  Ultimately it was agreed that the Goals would not be voted or adopted that evening.  Rather the committee will meet again in an effort to create an action plan, which will then be reviewed and discussed by the Board at large in a future meeting.

Old Business:

Fraud Policy (#6215) – The Board briefly discussed and reviewed revisions to policy 6215 before unanimously adopting the changes.

Record Retention  (#6301) - The Board briefly discussed and reviewed revisions to policy 6301 before unanimously adopting the changes.

Paroled Sex Offenders Who Reside Within the Boundaries of the District (#2108/2018R) - The Board briefly discussed and reviewed revisions to policy 2108 and 2108R before unanimously deciding to delete 2108.

Reserves Discussion/Repair Reserve:
Board President Allyson Arber briefly explained that the specific purpose of the discussion was to examine the possibility of holding a special election, as had been suggested by one member of the Board, in order to achieve the voter approval that is required to fund the Repair Reserve.  This would allow the District to initiate the process of putting together RFPs for a number of projects, previously outlined and prioritized in the Buildings Condition Survey, which would in turn enable them to be ready to commence these projects in June of 2018 after school lets out.

Board member Diane Petrosky commented that considering the fact that it would take time for the District to get accurate quotes for some of the projects that have been proposed, she felt they should get a better idea of the specific costs involved before moving forward.  She feels they should save the few thousand dollars that it would cost them to hold the special election and make up their minds with regards to the projects before they go to voters for approval.  She would rather know what the projects were going to cost before she decided whether or not to move forward with them.  She understands that the projects, as outlined in the report, are projects that need to be done.
The Superintendent commented that they had scheduled an appointment with an architect for the following week to come and help them determine a time line for the projects.  She reiterated that the list of proposed projects had come directly from the Buildings Condition Survey and had been prioritized with help from their Director of Facilities.   The steps of the High School are the top priority as they relate directly to health and safety.  This project has an approximate cost of $120,000.  One of the boilers in GGM is next on the list, with an estimated cost of $81,000.  Third on the list is the replacement of windows in the old section of GGM as well as the gymnasium.  This project has an estimated cost of $320,000 for windows in both buildings. 

Vice President Adam Eirand inquired as to whether all the proposed projects needed to be done imminently.

The Superintendent responded that the project list was based on the 2002 Buildings Condition Survey.  Many of them are in fact overdue.

Mrs. Zeigelbauer commented that she felt it would be better if they knew exactly what they were going to be doing and precisely what it would cost before they asked the voters to approve it.  That being said she added that agreed that it was a good idea to go out to the community for a vote prior to the normally scheduled election in May so that they could get the approval needed in order to be ready to commence work as soon as school let out in June. 

Mrs. Vaught suggested that she hesitated to tie the funding of the reserve in with the general election and budget vote, noting the levels of opposition and they annually face at that time of year.  She worries that they will not receive approval if voters directly associate the funding of the repairs reserve with the annual budget.

The Superintendent cautioned that if they were to hold a special election, it would need to be noticed at least 45 days in advance.  The costs would be essentially the same as those associated with the annual election. 

Board member Mike Arone commented that he also felt it would be prudent of them to know more specifically what they were intending to spend on the projects before they brought the vote to the public.

President Arber agreed that it would be important to determine how much money they were going to spend before they asked the voters to approve funding the projects, but noted that the purpose of the discussion was to determine whether or not they should have a separate election/vote after they had determined those costs rather than to lump it in with the annual budget vote in May.  Budget season is often a contentious time in the District.  The question at hand is whether or not to separate the need for repairs from the annual budget.

Vice President Eirand wondered whether the decision had to be made right then.

Mrs. Bourke responded that she did not see why they shouldn’t. 

The typical RFP/bidding timeline was then discussed in terms of when to put the RFPs out in order to receive the best possible price.  The overall process was also reviewed.
Mrs. Vaught again suggested that the two votes should be separate commenting  “if we combine it with the budget vote, and God forbid we have to raise taxes, there is no way we are going to get it.”

Mrs. Petrosky responded by saying “Let me ask you a question as a parent, and there are people in the audience who are not parents.  If you see on the vote that we need a new boiler….you as a parent….even if you hate the budget….you won’t vote against it.  You are not going to vote against something that involves safety.  My fear is that if we go out for RFP too soon, the pricing we would get would be higher than if we wait till closer to the spring and go out then.”

Mrs. Bourke pointed out that all they were looking to do was to move money into the reserve fund.  The taxpayers would not be voting on the steps or the boiler or the windows. 

President Arber agreed with this but commented that in order to justify moving the money, she felt it was only fair to tell the people what they were planning to do with the money.

Mrs. Vaught agreed with all of this but again asserted that she felt that if they were to do the votes at the same time, taxpayers would be asking themselves how the District could be charging them so much money in the form of taxes while at the same time they had a large portion of money that they were moving into a savings account.  Speaking to Mrs. Petrosky she commented that she agreed that as a parent she would vote in favor of anything that involved safety for the students, but she further pointed out that this was the way she chose to act as both an individual and parent.  She believes that there are other people, who have valid voices, within the community who are looking at their taxes and questioning these things.  Using Mr. Rickard’s earlier comments as an example she suggested that there were those taxpayers who felt that the District was already mismanaging money and did not believe that they should even bother to fix the steps as the District did not own the buildings.

Mrs. Petrosky responded that this was misinformation and proceeded to give an overview of the situation as it surrounds the ownership of the buildings.

Mrs. Vaught countered that she understood this well, but that regardless of her understanding, there was historically a lot of misinformation circulating throughout the community during budget season and quite frankly whether she knew the truth or not, there were those residents who did not know it and who would believe the misinformation regardless of whatever efforts the District or the Board members might put forth to counter it.  She further commented that in her view it did not matter whether this vote took place in January or at a later time over the winter, but she felt strongly that it was important that it be separated from the annual budget.

Business Administrator Marc Matatia pointed out that regardless of the RFPS and specific amounts involved, based on the general estimates they already had the Board knew that the $300,000 they are proposing to move would be spent on some of these projects.  This was a number they felt comfortable proposing which would still allow them the ability to give some money back to the taxpayers.  Therefore, if they chose to move forward, they could effectively still have the vote before they generated the RFPS.
Following some further discussion, President Arber polled each of the Board members in an effort to determine how they should proceed.  Ultimately the President and Vice President along with Board members Dorothy Zeigelbaur and Mike Arone suggested that they would like to have more information before deciding how to proceed.
 
Public Comments:
Joe Rickard commented that he had been surprised to hear that the District did not have assessments in place for career readiness.  He recommended a couple, noting that they were very inexpensive and that most schools utilized something like this.

The Superintendent responded that they did in fact have an assessment in place.

Next Mr. Rickard stated that he was very much against using the reserve fund to finance the repairs as suggested.  He is also very much against a $14 million dollar budget for 320 kids.  He does not feel that the Board really understands the magnitude of how the District is spending money.  They put $300,000 in last year’s budget for sports teams, not including coaches salaries, and they don’t have teams!  He feels that they need to look at how they obtained the $350,000 in the first place.  There was a Board in place that did not employ any oversight.  They continually had excess money rolling from year to year.  As a result of this, he stated, “We called the State.  We knew that you had the money.  This Board was not aware of it.  The Administration was not forthcoming.  The State came in and did an audit and sure enough, $350,000 showed up.  This was money that should have been used in the budget or it should have been given back to the taxpayers.  Now you are sitting here and saying ‘hey, we’ve got that $350,000 from our community and now we are going to find things to use it for.’  None of the stuff that you just mentioned was ever mentioned in the budget discussions last year.  The steps, the boiler….nothing!  You never mentioned it!  It was never put into the budget.  All of a sudden now you are coming up with all of these things for the $350,000.  This is wrong.  You have $60,000 per student.  You have full-time teachers and professionals where you should have part-time.  You have money in last year’s budget, which you are not even going to spend and now you are talking about taking $350,000 from spending, that you took in the first place that was misrepresented.  I know you guys weren’t here.  You only have one member on this Board who was.”  With regard to the buildings he suggested that should they ever need to shut down the high school building, they needed to understand that it was not at commercial code.  It has been grandfathered.  It cost up to $3 or $4 million in order to bring the building up to code, and they do not even own it.  He wondered if any members of the Board had even considered this fact.  Generally speaking he feels that the costs are too high and that the existing infrastructure was put in place for a 500-person school.  It appears to him that the District is taking $350,000 that the auditors found and attempting to think up ways to spend it.  “In this community we have not won too many elections, but the awareness is becoming greater and greater.  People are not all voting, but they are becoming aware of the costs associated with running the school.  I am pleading with you, take the $350,000 and give it back to the taxpayers.  I think people would appreciate it.  I think they would understand it.  Then you can go back and do a budget next year that is either flat or declining and community would appreciate it.  You have plenty of money.”  He further suggested that if the District wanted to move forward with the repairs as discussed, they should build them into their budget.

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Tuxedo students seize opportunity to learn the importance of awareness - 9/29/17

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Agenda for Board of Education Meeting September 28, 2017

I. Call to Order

II. Roll Call and Quorum Check III. Pledge of Allegiance

IV. Public Comment (Up to 3 minutes per person; 30 minutes total per meeting)

V. Introduction of new staff members to the Board of Education

VI. Routine Business

1. Approval of Board Meeting Minutes – 8/17/2017

2. Administrators’ Reports

• Business Administrator

• K-12 Principal

• Superintendent’s Report

3. OCSBA Update

VII. Items for Action and/or Discussion

1. Warrants, Transfers & Bids

2. TTA Agreement

3. Audit Committee Charter

4. Personnel

5. CPSE/CSE