YORKTOWN, N.Y. —Superintendents Ron Hattar and Karen Gagliardi, backed by their respective Boards of Education at the Yorktown Central and Lakeland Central School Districts, both moved to opt out of the New York State Education Department’s so-called “regionalization plan.”
Both superintendents said they have studied the potential benefits of the program, which the NYSED defines as “a collaborative regional planning approach for local districts to communicate what they need in order to ensure equitable educational opportunities for all students, leveraging the state’s existing capabilities, talents, and infrastructure.”
But with both districts working with BOCES of Putnam and Northern Westchester, neither superintendent saw the need to opt into the state program at this time.
According to Hattar, there are currently several regional opportunities that help school districts operate in an efficient, fiscally responsible way. He cited the district’s partnership with the PNW BOCES, which assists with better prices in areas ranging from professional consulting services to office supplies.
Hattar told Yorktown News that there is “no clear and tangible benefit to our district has been articulated at this point, and before entering into a process that is still evolving and largely unknown, I thought it wise to wait, allow the initiative to unfold across the state, and revisit the decision, if warranted, in a subsequent school year,” referencing his recommendation to Yorktown’s Board of Education to opt out of the ‘regionalization’ process.
YSCD presses for bus cams
In a January update letter to the school community, Hattar said the district was working with the transportation contractor to find a way forward in adding stop arm cameras on school buses, an effort aimed at further promoting student safety.
He told Yorktown News that while most drivers are “respectful of the law,” and that the time “we only have anecdotal data from parents and bus drivers” he said “even one person passing a school bus that is loading and unloading children, with its red lights flashing, is problematic.”
The buses have interior cameras already, but those are only accessible to district administrators. The proposed exterior cameras, or “stop-arm” cameras would be county-operated, according to Hattar.
“These cameras are intended to record vehicles that illegally pass buses with flashing red lights.”
The Mahopac Central School District launched a similar program last year to discourage drivers from passing stopped school buses.
To protect student privacy, Hattar said the district ensured that the exterior cameras—where there is “no reasonable expectation of privacy”—are totally independent of the interior bus cameras.
“Understandably, the implementation process is complex due to the integration of two separate camera systems on a single bus,” Hattar told Yorktown News.
The Lakeland Central School District has already moved to equip its buses with cameras on all sides to capture vehicles that pass when the school bus stops.
Upcoming meetings
Lakeland’s Board of Education has a work session at the Administration Building on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. A regular business meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School.
Yorktown Board of Education will meet towards the end of February, on Monday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. at Mildred E. Strang Middle School.
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