Board Accepts $1.95 Million Donation

Peggy Williams, Foundation Director

The Bronxville School Foundation's Final Act Project presented the Bronxville Board of Education with a $1.95 million donation toward the renovation of the School's auditorium. This project was approved by voters this past October and budgeted at $7.5 million.  The donation supplements an earlier $850,000 grant by the Foundation and is separate from the fundraising efforts of the PTA. The fund-raising effort gained additional momentum when an anonymous donor matched contributions up to of $750,000, which is included in the total. Board President David Brashear thanked Foundation executive director Peggy Williams: "I want to thank everyone involved in the fundraising effort and who contributed to the campaign, especially the anonymous matching donor ... All of your gifts are deeply appreciated by this Board and the entire community. I continue to be amazed at the way we work together in Bronxville to make it the best place it can be."

The donation is a major component of the public/private partnership that the Board conceived as a creative way to realize a long-range capital plan in times of financial scarcity. The complete capital plan also includes upgrading Middle School science labs and certain parts of the infrastructure, but those projects are not included in the scope of the gift to the school and will be funded through the approved bonds.

Superintendent David Quattrone thanked project leaders Steven Kraemer, Christine Ftizgibbons, and Jennifer Mackesy, and added, "This gift shows the incredible commitment our community has to providing the children of Bronxville with an excellent education.  The energy and generosity is marvelous to behold, and our students will benefit from this effort for many years in the future.  This project is a once-a-century opportunity, and this particular effort makes it possible to move beyond the adequate to something very special."