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Highlights of Bronxville School April Board of Education Meeting

Photo by A. Warner

April 23, 2025: The Bronxville School Board of Education met on April 22, 2025.

Dr. Rachel Kelly, Superintendent of the Bronxville Schools, thanked the Counseling Office, students, and teachers for their hard work on the college admissions process.

New Cell Phone Rules

Dr. Kelly said that a new cell phone rule went into effect in the School this year.

Elementary School
In the Elementary School, the policy states that no devices that have internet access can come to School. Additionally, the non-internet devices that come to School must stay in the lockers.

Middle School
Dr. Kelly reported that in the Middle School, the School invested in special "lockers" for the phones, and she said that had worked very well.

The phones are put into these lockers in the morning, unlocked during lunch, and then put into the lockers after lunch.

High School
In the High School, the expectation is that teachers don't want to see cell phones in the classroom unless needed for the lesson.

She said that the changes have worked well and will continue next year.

Report from Student Representative to the Board

Louise Jacobs, a student representative to the Board, spoke about some of the highlights of the School year.

She said that the high school chorus took a field trip to see "Moulin Rouge" and participated in a choral workshop with the actors.

One of the "Bronco TV" classes took a field trip to ABC Studios in NYC. Click here to read about that trip. The other class saw George Clooney's new Broadway Show, "Good Night and Good Luck," about broadcasting during the Cold War.

The ninth-grade health class had an assembly with the John Clever Kelly Foundation which raises awareness about mental health issues.

Jacobs also reported that Dr. Silva gave a presentation about what it's like to be a neurosurgeon, the PTA hosted a career roundtable about the benefits of learning languages, and the spring student-run play, prom and field day are coming up.

The Importance of Civil Discourse

Dr. Kelly then introduced three teachers and several students who talked about civil discourse, an important tenant of the Bronxville Promise.

For example, in the 9th-grade, students discussed whether historical artifacts should be returned to their country of origin. Students were organized into groups and read articles with different perspectives on the topic. The groups then interacted with other groups and then discussed the topic class wide. While they were doing this, they also discussed acceptable behavior and the language to use when you disagree with others. The students talked about how listening to other perspectives enabled them to keep an open mind and learn from others.

The 12th-grade AP Literature students also focused on civil discourse in their class, and two students at the April Board Meeting spoke about how this enabled different opinions and perspectives to be discussed.

New High School Principal

Dr. Kelly spoke about the appointment of Dr. Raymond Loverso as High School Principal. Loverso has served as interim High School Principal since last July.

Dr. Raymond Loverso

Dr. Kelly said that Loverso is smart, insightful, transparent, welcomes feedback, solicits input when making a decision, and puts students "at the center" of his decision-making.

Kelly also described him as thoughtful, thorough, and well-versed in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. She also said that he is "extremely strong instructionally" and able to build strong relationships with all constituencies.

Kelly said Loverso hosted lunches with students to hear about what they liked and would like changed. She said he had also been a strong partner with the PTA and generated innovative ideas for the Bronxville School Foundation grants. She also described him as having "strong communication skills."

She noted that he has worked with the child study team, is communicative with parents, has developed a strong team, and works "extremely well" with his administrative colleagues.

Financial Update

Assistant Superintendent for Business, Dan Carlin, spoke about the budget.

He said that as of now, the projected revenue surplus is $861K, and the projected total surplus is over $1 million.

He said that there is a referendum coming up on May 20th that includes projects that will address needs in a variety of areas.

Carlin said that approximately $20 million of work is needed at this time. The largest identified need is the repair of deteriorating masonry in the 80+-year-old "D" wing, which houses the Elementary School. The windows in this wing are in poor condition and should be replaced in conjunction with the brick and steel repair and replacement work.

Other priority projects include:

(1) Replacement of 12-unit ventilators serving elementary classrooms. These units are over 60 years old.
(2) New flooring in the D wing and other high-priority areas.
(3) Ceiling and Wall improvements. Much of the ceiling in the D wing hasn't been updated since it was installed in the 1960s.
(4) Casework (built-in storage) improvements in the D wing. New casework will be installed in all 24 classrooms.
(5) Toilet room improvements.
(6) Boys Locker Room: remove two shower stalls and install one toilet.
(7) Replace two sets of fire doors at the 4th-floor corridor.
(8) Modernize the main elevator.
(9) Replace and widen sidewalks at portions of Midland Avenue, Meadow Avenue, and the front lawn.

These projects will be funded by (1) $5 million from the School's construction reserve and (2) $15 million from a bond issue.

Below are some important upcoming dates:

May 8th: Public Hearing
May 20th: Referendum Vote on Budget and Capital Plans
June 2025-26: Architect to Work on Schematic Designs for NYSED Approval
Summer 2026-27: Construction Underway

Carlin also expressed his appreciation for the Bronxville School Foundations Grants this year.

Carlin also said the contracted buses will have stop-activated external cameras and internal cameras installed at no cost to the School.

Dr. Kelly said they are looking at some of the spaces in the Elementary School to see if there is a better way to use them.

You can watch the full meeting here.

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