Bronxville School Board Bids Farewell to Two Members, Continues Improvement Projects

After six years of service, members Tibisay Guzman and Thomas Kenney said farewell to the Bronxville Board of Education Thursday evening.

But before the goodbye speeches, the group tended to its regular agenda which included personnel matters and ongoing construction to repair $22 million of damage caused to several school facilities by an April 2007 flood.

The board agreed to outsource its garbage removal services to CRP Sanitation of Cortlandt Manor and abolish 15 custodial/cleaner positions effective June 30.  The board agreed to provide health benefits for the soon-to-be former full-time custodial workers through August 31 as well as compensation for the unused vacation leave.

Contract negotiations with the Bronxville Teachers' Association have been suspended until August. The group has agreed to continue under the terms of its existing contract until a new agreement is resolved. The Board approved a 2% merit increase for administrators. Superintendent David Quattrone said the rate "was commensurate with teacher step increases."

Despite delays in the expected arrival of structural steel for the building that will house the school's new boiler unit, Kevin Sawyer of Mount Kisco architectural firm KG & D assured the board that a new electrical switchgear system should be up and running by Nov. 1 and a new boiler operational "by the next heat season."

Sawyer assured the board the new boiler should be installed and water-tight by July 1. The old boiler room was submerged in 14 feet of water during the 2007 flood, Quattrone said. The old boiler unit will be demolished in the fall once the new unit is operating at full capacity.

Athletic Director Karen Peterson and William Aniskovich from the WBA Group of Branford, Conn. also gave an update on proposed improvements to Chambers Field. The installation of a new turf field and track was part of Phase 1 of the construction. The Board approved plans for additional work: the construction of a new concession stand, bleachers and storage building.

The board also approved contracts with Herff Jones for the high school yearbook and four vendors for musical instruments. Additional money was allocated for unemployment claims, the employee retirement system and insurance policy renewals. Also approved was a merger agreement with Eastchester and Tuckahoe school districts for the Modified and Varsity ice hockey programs.

The board thanked retiring nurse Julie Herman and teachers Carolyn Bauer, Dennis Davan, Micki Kennedy, Donnie Kravitz, Jim Mitchell, and Linda Orsenigo for their service to the school district.

Also retiring were board members Tibisay Guzman and Thomas Kenney. During her remarks Guzman mentioned the ongoing construction projects discussed during meeting, congratulated the Board for turning "a 100-year flood event into an opportunity to improve the school's facilities."

Kenney said: "I hope the pattern of community involvement will flourish."

Kenney also reminded the board that there had to be "limits on the growth of the school budget" so that a diverse demographic could be maintained in Bronxville village. "The school is the community," he said and noted that the relationship between the needs of the school district was a 'balancing act' that needed to be measured against the resources of Bronxville residents.