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