Superintendent Presents 2010-11 Draft Calendar

At its January meeting the Bronxville Board of Education took a look at next year's calendar as proposed by Superintendent David Quattrone. The draft, patterned after the generic calendar prepared by the Lower Hudson Council of Superintendents, reflects consultation with the Bronxville Teachers Association and the district administrators.

The 2010-11 calendar presents a specific problem: Labor Day (September 6) and Rosh Hashanah (September 9 and 10) both fall in the week of September 6th. Based on past practice this would leave only two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) available for student and staff use. (The BTA contract stipulates that school may not start prior to Labor Day.) Although the day after Labor Day has traditionally been a conference day for teachers, that would result in only one day of student attendance during the week of September 6. However, delaying the start of school until September 13 also presents problems. As a result, September 7 and 8 will both be student days.

Three conference days are scheduled throughout the school year. These days are used for workshops, training, and other activities related to professional and curriculum development. The first conference day is planned for Friday, November 12. Because the previous day, November 11, is a holiday, this gives students and families a long weekend.

The second two conference days are planned for March 24^th and 25^th. These dates split the difference between February and April vacations. Two consecutive conference days permit more sustained curriculum work and are also a more efficient way to use consultants.

This calendar will be presented for further review at the February Board meeting. The draft can be found here.

Please Note Change in School Calendar

Because of a change in the New York testing calendar, Bronxville needs to change the date of the April Conference Day. The original school calendar called for Monday, April 26, 2010 as a no school day for students. However, this past July the New York State Education Department announced a change in testing dates, moving the testing period from March to late April, thus conflicting with our Conference Day. We must now use April 26 as a testing date to comply with the state schedule. As a result the Bronxville Board of Education has moved the Conference day from Monday, April 26 to Friday, April 30. There will be no school for students that Friday.

The revised calendar can be found here.

Board Approves 2009-2010 Calendar

After a second reading, the Bronxville Board of Education approved the school calendar for 2009-2010. Patterned after the calendar adopted by the Westchester County Chief School Administrators, the next school year begins on Tuesday, September 8th for teachers and Wednesday, September 9th for students. The school year ends on Friday, June 25, 2010. There are 182 student days and 185 teacher days.

The approved calendar is here.

Tuition and Residency

For many years the Bronxville School has generated revenue by admitting non-resident tuition students. This current year, 35 tuition students have been admitted, providing income of about $1,660,875. Of these, 20 are special education students and 15 are K-12 regular education students. Admission as a tuition student is made on a space available basis at the discretion of the school principal, the recommendation of the Superintendent, and approval by the Board of Education. In the current school year elementary tuition is $18,300 and secondary tuition is $23,300.

Each year questions arise about how the district handles families who move out of town during the school year or who may no longer be residents eligible to attend our schools. State law and Bronxville policy are very clear. Only students who reside in the Village of Bronxville may attend tuition-free. For those who leave the District during the year, tuition is pro-rated. District policy on pupil residency can be found here.

When a credible inquiry about residency is received, the district verifies residency through the use of investigative services. Anonymous complaints are typically disregarded. Since September 2008, the district has investigated eight claims of non-residency. In each case, residency has been verified, tuition has been charged, or non-residents have withdrawn from school. At the present time there are five pending cases.