By Staff

May 19, 2022: Below are highlights from the Bronxville School Board of Education Meeting on May 5, 2022.

Jim Agnello Goes to Poland

This month, Bronxville School Guidance Counselor Jim Agnello delivered supplies to Poland to help Ukrainian refugees. He bought a plane ticket, rented a van, and took two 70-pound duffle bags with supplies. These supplies included over 350 blankets.  

Dr. Roy Montesano Reflects on Two of the Biggest Changes During His Tenure

Bronxville School Superintendent, Dr. Roy Montesano, is retiring effective January 1, 2023, and reflected on some of the changes he has seen during his tenure at the school. He noted that one of the most significant changes he has seen is the advent of technology. He spoke about how teachers were easily able to adapt to remote learning during the pandemic. Another change he pointed out was that the nature of classroom instruction had changed a lot, citing that there is more project-based learning and interaction between the students.

Mastery Transcript

There was a discussion about the merits of "skills and competency-based reporting on achievement" compared with grades, such as As and Bs. This would produce a "mastery" transcript. Some schools are piloting this approach. Bronxville will look at other districts and independent schools that are taking this approach. 

One important consideration is how colleges look at these transcripts. Another consideration is that it would require training teachers. The school may have a few teachers do some professional development in this area. If this approach is piloted, it would be in the second semester with seniors in an elective class such as "Entrepreneurship."  In this case, Bronxville would not get rid of grades but would do a parallel test. 

Bronxville High School Principal Ann Meyer said some colleges have gone to "mastery transcripts" and have reported that they get a better sense of the students. However, she also noted that Bronxville would never be the "experiment" with this transcript.

Bronxville School Trustee Tom Curran raised a concern about surrendering grades at a time when most colleges are test-optional because grades are one of the data points in the test-optional world.

Budget for 2022-23

The Bronxville School Board of Education adopted the Budget for 2022-23 in March. The Budget is $51.7 million, which is less than a 1% increase from this year. The largest expense category (75%) is personnel. Enrollment is gradually declining in the Elementary and Middle Schools, but there is a "swelling" in the 3rd grade, so the school is adding a class in that grade. The most significant variance in the Budget is in compensation.

The tax levy increase will be 2.15%. The budget and tax levy changes are consistent with the past 14 budget cycles. The impact on a homeowner is $14.09 per thousand of assessed value. Dan Carlin, Bronxville School Assistant Superintendent for Business, said, "the rate is within the historic range within the last decade."

Other Financial Matters

The school is looking for bids for its cleaning and security services. Carlin reported that these two items together are over $1 million, so the school is looking at these line items. There were several action items in the meeting. 

-The school reviewed the purchasing and account payable audit. Per School Trustee Arleen Thomas, while the report states some "Risks and Opportunities," the school's internal controls were rated "satisfactory."

-The school is required to do an RFP for the independent and internal audit because it's been five years since the last one. The two firms currently doing this work are the only ones that submitted proposals, and those proposals were deemed competitive. 

Dan Carlin reported that the school is working with a firm to update its 5-year facilities plan and on closing out the Bond project. He also reported that the school is "moving along" with outdoor classroom plans.

Per Bronxville School Superintendent Roy Montesano, the school is awaiting final renderings and cost estimates and, at that time, will meet with PTA and Foundation to see if they are willing to fund the project.