Chappaqua BOE Roundup: Survey Firm Hired, Healy Goes to Scarsdale

Eyeing Costs, Board Hires Firm to Do Survey of Residents

The Chappaqua school board voted to hire Penn Schoen Berland to conduct a survey of district residents to find out what they value from the schools.

The survey, which will cost $10,000, will be of randomly selected people, according to Superintendent Lyn McKay. It will be conducted this month and completed soon after, she explained. It is being done to help the district gauge public opinion for its short-term and long-term budget planning, McKay explained. This process is similar to the Bedford school district's "Focus" initiative, which relied on surveys and focus group events, held in 2010 and 2011, to get public input for budgets, taxes and long-term plans.

The firm is headed by Mark Penn, who served as an adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton during their political campaigns.

Popular Greeley Teacher Patrick Healy Leaves for Scarsdale

Patrick Healy, who was a popular social studies teacher at Horace Greeley High School, resigned and is now teaching in Scarsdale, according to McKay. The board voted to accept his resignation, retroactively effective July 26, at its meeting.

Healy, who was rumored to be during the 2011-12 budget process earlier this year, saw his hours cut from being a full-time employee to a .6 full-time equivalent (FTE). His new job in Scarsdale is a full-time position, according to McKay.

“We miss him," McKay said, adding, "but we’re really happy he was able to get a full-time job.”

Healy's Greeley teaching job was seen as vulnerable during the budget process because of a state-mandated system referred to as "last in, first out," where districts have to triage in their layoffs and give priority to employees with more seniority.

Turf Field Contract Vote Postponed

The board opted to table a vote on a contract with The WBA Group, Inc., for design and construction management of a proposed turf replacement for Greeley's competition field. The postponement came amid concern over whether two community groups that agreed to fundraise for the project could pay for initial costs during a three-month time period. For more on our story, .