Northern Westchester

The Millwood Board of Fire Commissioners Monday night presented three preliminary plans for the siting and configuration of a new firehouse off Millwood Road to replace Station 1 in the hamlet. The commissioners’ preferred plan includes five back-in bays, a lobby with space for the antique firetruck, offices for the chief, line officers, the company, the district and the Ladies Auxiliary and other spaces totaling 18,000 square feet.

The cost is estimated at $12.8 million not counting the purchase of the property. The bond is expected to total about $9-10 million. The board hopes to approve the siting and building program by mid-April and move on to more detailed design.

Information on the draft program is at the district’s web site at www.millwoodfiredistrict.org under “New Firehouse.”

The alternatives will be presented again on Monday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Station 2, 366 Croton Dam Road, New Castle. Comments can be sent to the Board of Fire Commissioners, PO Box 140, Millwood, NY 10546 or millwoodfire@gmail.com.

Horace Greeley High School Principal Andrew Selesnick posted this letter to the Chappaqua school community on the school’s web site:

March 11, 2010

To the Greeley Community,

Sadly, I write to describe an intolerable incident that happened in school today.

During the day, a student’s wallet was taken from a book bag that was left in the cafeteria. From that wallet, the student’s driver’s license was removed and defaced. Language that is virulently anti-Semitic, as well as language that is offensive in other ways, was scrawled on the license, which was then taped to the wall in a boy’s bathroom across from the cafeteria.

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The federal court judges overseeing the criminal and civil cases against former North Salem Supervisor Paul Greenwood have ruled that he is entitled to sell a series of collectibles and antiques to raise $1 million to pay his attorneys. But he has one more hoop to jump through before that can happen.

The judges set a hearing for April 21 to allow the government to argue that the assets are “tainted” by the fraud Greenwood is accused of committing. Greenwood argued in his application to the court that the assets were purchased before the fraud is alleged to have begun in 1996.

Greenwood’s personal and business assets were frozen at the time of his arrest in February 2009 and a receiver is selling them off to raise money to repay investors. Greenwood wants to use the proceeds of the sale of some antiques and part of his Steiff stuffed animal collection to raise money to pay the attorneys. The receiver, Robb Evans & Associates, is selling Greenwood’s homes, pony farm and other assets.

Greenwood, who with his business partner Stephen Walsh, owned WG Trading and other companies, is accused of taking tens of millions of dollars from investors for his personal expenses and lying to investors about hundreds of millions in losses.

Photo: Greenwood’s home in North Salem

North Salem High School graduated 98 percent of the students who entered the school in 2005, according to newly-released four-year graduation rates. Of the 100 students who enrolled as freshmen, 98 graduated by June 2009.

The two students who didn’t graduate stayed enrolled in the school. None dropped out, according to the state data.

Only one school district in Westchester, Edgemont Union Free, graduated 100 percent of the incoming class of 2005.

The full story is on LoHud.com with a link to the database with all the figures.

Tell us what you think about the data or what you think about the job your district is doing.

The Chappaqua School District graduated 98 percent of the students who entered high school in 2005, according to newly-released four-year graduation rates. Of the 368 students who enrolled as freshmen, 360 graduated by June 2009.

According to the state data, six students stayed enrolled, one transferred and one dropped out.

Only one school district in Westchester, Edgemont Union Free, graduated 100 percent of the incoming class of 2005.

The full story is on LoHud.com with a link to the database with all the figures.

What do you think of the figures? Do they tell us anything useful about the school districts?

Here’s the long version of the Q & A from the Sunday Express:

Pamela Hart is the writer in residence at the Katonah Museum and works with students from nearby schools on a program called Thinking Through Art.

Q: How did the museum come to have a writer in residence and how did they come to choose you?

A: Well, the museum came to have a writer in residence partially because of a program that I’m helping manage and develop. It was a pilot and we’ve actually moved to have it be a formal part of the education department at the museum. So the program now is called Thinking Through Art, Young Artists and Writers and it came out of kind of a challenge that the museum’s (more…)

The North Salem Board of Education has decided to leave the seat vacated by Stephen Bobolia open until the election in May. The board interviewed prospective appointees at its March 3 meeting but split 3-3 on the candidates.

Three candidates had applied to be appointed to the board, Gregory Allen, Skip Floer and Frances Ott, said board President Katherine Daniels. The board split on Allen and Floer.

Bobolia resigned from the school board in early February. He was elected to the North Salem Town Board in November.

The Westchester Library System has taken down its library catalog for maintenance and it will not be available until Thursday.

The move affects all libraries in the county except White Plains. Users of local libraries will not be able to access the online catalog to place reserves, renew materials or review their accounts.

The Chappaqua Library, for one, will remain open but users will only be able to check out three items and will need to show their library cards.

The Art Against Abuse exhibit in honor of Elizabeth Butler has been pushed back again until March 18. It had been scheduled for Tuesday.

The exhibit will be at the Hammond Museum, 28 Deveau Road, North Salem, from 7-9 p.m.

North Salem Middle School was recently designated a “school to watch” as an example to other schools in the state. Here’s the announcement:

The New York State Department of Education has re-designated North Salem Middle School as a 2010 Essential Elements School to Watch in recognition of its excellence in academic programming, developmental responsiveness, social equity and structural organization. School to Watch-designated schools are held as an example for other school and district leaders in the state.

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