Ilhan Gokhan, Bronxville High School junior, opened December's Board of Education meeting with a presentation about the Model UN program. Sponsored by history and economics teacher Steve Klurfeld, the Bronxville team went to Princeton for this year's conference, where students from many schools made speeches, prepared draft resolutions, and learned about international diplomacy. Gokhan explained his own participation: "I represented Venezuela in a committee that had to do
with expanding refugee rights, so I found all of the official documents
relating to refugees that Venezuela actually signed or authored." He went on to explain that "this year, Bronxville High School students participated in traditional committees like UNESCO, the IMF, and the WHO . . . Some topics included preserving endangered
languages, eradicating childhood diseases, and helping refugees flee civil
strife."
After introducing Gokhan, Superintendent David Quattrone reported on efforts regarding mandate relief and flood mitigation. Superintendents from the four-county region met this last week with legislators to identify key items where mandate relief would help districts maintain educational quality in the context of a 2% tax cap. Locally, modifying transportation requirements for private school students and rolling back special education requirements that exceed federal guidelines were the pressing needs. The Superintendents have prepared a detailed position paper that describes the massive financial burden of such mandates.
With respect to flood mitigation, Quattrone confirmed that the District is working with the Village to develop plans and review the environmental impact of a proposal to install stormwater detention and pumping systems that would alleviate flooding in the neighborhood of the school. The Village and District are expecting a federal grant to support this project at a 75% reimbursement rate. The next step for the Board will be to hear a comprehensive presentation of the proposed project in the early months of 2012.
