We Need Your Help – General Update and Call for Action

In the wake of this week’s events, we have received overwhelming interest from parents who have similar concerns around the safety and security plans, protocols, and tools at Scarsdale schools. Many of the inquiries that we fielded were direct, and specifically asked “what can we do to help?”

The Board of Education and Superintendent have been outspoken in their desire not to (over)react to a small group of vocal parents, which is a reasonable concern. We have not felt that our concerns are unwarranted, and that the majority of parents if polled would generally side with our perspectives on the lack of security at our schools, but we did not have proof of concept and hence started this group to see if we were correct.

After the emails that were circulated this week, and the written responses that we have received, it is clear that we do not hold uneven expectations for our schools that are out of line with the community. It seems though that the Superintendent and Board of Education continue to need to hear from parents that they care about these issues as much as you do and place such a priority on safety and security.

The most impactful thing that you can do right now is reach out to the Superintendent and the Board with your concerns and expectations for the schools. They say they hear from many parents who not want to see resource officers in their schools. We believe their views on security are decades old, as is their understanding of where parents currently are on these topics. We encourage you to make yourselves heard. Email addresses below:

1) smattey@scarsdaleschools.org – Director of Facilities and Head of Security

2) thagerman@scarsdaleschools.org - Superintendent

3) boardofed@scarsdaleschools.org

As a reminder, our State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin attended the security briefing at the Middle School in May. She took her allotted time on the panel to highlight all of the reasons why resource officers are not helpful, and all of the security bills that have come to Albany that she has voted against including panic buttons for teachers. Again…please make yourself heard and do not allow silence to prevail.

We are working on a number of fronts and will have more information soon. Thank you sincerely for your interest and your support. Please don’t let it fade.