WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

Hits: 0

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. May 8, 2013:

Timothy Connors, former Superintendent of Schools for the city of White Plains from 2002 to 2009, signed an interim contract with the district Tuesday to serve for one year as Interim Superintendent while the district searches for a new one.

Mr. Connors will be paid $258,000 for the year, with 30 days of paid vacation; a $500 a month car allowance and $100 per month “to defray the cost of his use of his personal Smartphone in the performance of his job duties. Connors salary is $31,000 more than what the Board is paying Dr. Christopher Clouet, the present superintendent leaving the district to become Superintendent of the Union Free School District of the Tarrytowns.

Previously the White Plains School Board had elected not to renegotiate Dr. Clouet’s contract in view of the Tarrytown offer since Clouet was under contract to White Plains for two more years.

The money the district authorized Monday evening to bring back Mr. Connors is $5,000 more than what the Tarrytowns will be paying Dr. Clouet in the first year of Dr. Clouet’s new contract ($253,000). Mr. Connors also earns a $39,000 pension from New York State from his White Plains retirement which meets approximately what Mr. Connors was earning in the district in 2009 ($297,000).

Connors is the highest paid public official in White Plains by over $100,000.

The new Interim Superintendent’s contract is for one year, and the school board must advise him six months before July 1, 2014 if they want to renew is contract for another year, but the contract does not automatically extend if he is not notified by the district.

Hits: 0

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. MAY 7, 2013:

Michele Schoenfeld, Clerk to the Board of Education told WPCNR this morning that the Board of Education approved a contract with former Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors ( who served as Superintendent 2002-2009), to serve as Interim Superintendent beginning July 1, while the district searched for a new superintendent.

Terms of the contract will not be disclosed until Mr. Connors signs the contract, Ms. Schoenfeld said, which is expected to happen tomorrow.

Ms. Schoenfeld also reported that  John Orcutt was hired as an Assistant Principal at White Plains High School.

She said that no members of the community filed petitions to run for the two positions open on the school board, so Charles Norris and Sheryl Brady, incumbents whose terms are up are running for reelection unopposed.

Hits: 0

1925-2013

WPCNR MILESTONES.  May 4, 2013:

John Taddei, the man whose natural instinct for solutions contributed to the  Columbia Broadcasting System technical growth in television’s golden age of the 1950s and 1960s died this week in White Plains. The White Plains resident was 88 years old.

Mr. Taddei spent his professional career contributing to television innovations that are used to this day. After he retired in the mid-1980s, the City of White Plains chose him to be Chairman of the White Plains Public Access Cable station.

Taddei, working with Executive Director Fred Strauss, and Edward Wolf,and Gary Stukes supervised the design of the White Plains Public Television studios at 4 Martine Avenue in the Four Seasons Apartment complex in White Plains  when it moved from the White Plains Library.  

The compact studio design  with its capacity to televise meetings from the White Plains City Hall became a national model for other communities across the country building community access television operations.

The reason the studio was effective, an acquaintance familiar with the creation of the studio said, was  Mr. Taddei gave the committee responsible for designing the new studios access to CBS studios in New York. Taddei arranged for them to tour the CBS Broadcast center and see first-hand how to set up the studio, where they could save money, and bypass “the learning curve.” Taddei, the acquaintance said was revered at CBS, where he knew William S. Paley personally.

Thanks to Taddei’s entrée to CBS,  representatives from White Plains television were treated with respect and  received expertise on creating their studio, seeing how a premier television network studio was designed and run,  that led to the creation of a studio that has served White Plains thirty years from the analog to the digital age.

According to a retrospective of his life distributed at his wake last week Mr. Taddei died in White Plains Hospital on April 26. He was born in Manhattan to Paulo and Rosa (Gherardi) Taddei. The family later moved to Brooklyn where Mr. Taddei attended public school.

The lure of boy-scouting took him out of the city for the first time and inspired him to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. He served as assistant scout master at the Ten Mile River Boy Scouts of America Camp in New York’s Catskill Mountains on the Delaware River.

He was a member of the St. Finbar’s CYO basketball team and a tennis player. He met his future wife, Anna Zaharek on the tennis court. They wed in 1952 and later made White Plains their home.

Mr. Taddei  commuted to CBS in New York, where he was employed as a television broadcast technician until his retirement in 1986. His expertise led to his being named Chairman of the White Plains Public Access Cable station at the critical time when the present state-of-the-art studio (in the Four Seasons Condominium complex was being designed and equipped.

His love of classical music led to his devising a method to digitize rare pre-war selenophone recordings of Toscanini-conducted performances for the New York Public Library Branch at Lincoln Center.

A man of deep faith, he was very active in various organizations in his parish, Our Lady of Sorrows, and is remembered as the “go-to” person for microphones and television equipment for liturgical and school use.

He was an avid ham radio operator and in his last years relied on his network of ham radio friends to keep him connected.

His wife Anna predeceased him in 2007.

John is survived by his sister Mary (Lucian) DeBonis of Sag Harbor, NY; his children: Joanne Taddei of Cranston, Rhode Island; John (Patricia) Taddei of Somers, NY; Marianne (George) Wisker of Tolland, Connecticut; Robert (Mary) Taddei  of Doylestown, Pennsylvania; grandsons John Patrick, Christopher, Nicholas and Benjamin Taddei and many nieces and nephews. He was cared for by his devoted home health aides CeCe and Mariama.

He was laid to rest in Gate of Heaven Cemetary.

Hits: 0

The 2011-12 school year Report Card for White Plains was published today on the White Plains Schools website, the day after all report cards for public schools across the state were released by the New York State Education Department. The report can be reviewed at  http://www.wpcsd.k12.ny.us

White students at all levels still score significantly higher last year than black and Latinos across all levels. The Black-African-American population has improved their performance drawing even with the Hispanic-Latino achievement levels.

Departing Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christopher Clouet  in an exclusive interview with WPCNR this morning said

“All districts in the state of New York that have diverse populations continue to face challenges with  students who are English Language Learners, as well as students with disabilities. That’s where we have our biggest challenges.

“Clearly there is room for improvement, and it’s also true there is a lot of learning going on for all of our students, including ELL (English Language Learners) and students with disabilities that is not reflected in the test scores.”

The Elementary Level continues to be a work in progress, with 52% of Fifth Graders passing the 5^th Grade English Language Achievement Test, the same percentages as 2010-11. In the 5^th Grade Math Achievement 64% of the Fifth Graders passed, slightly better than 2010-11.

In the 8^th Grade English Languare test  last year,  the significant test that shows high school readiness, 48% of Black students passed, and 46% of Hispanics passed. Passing is a grade of 65 or better. Of white students taking the English Test 79% passed.

At the fifth Grade Achievement test in English, 74% of the White students scored 65 or better, 41% of blacks and 41% of Hispanics did.

The gap between white and black and Hispanic-latinos continues.

This is significant to the school district continued performance, because the demographic breakdown last year shows of  the largest student population is Hispanic-Latino at 51%, the white student population, 29%; the black population, 16%.

The School District last year had 3,775 students at the elementary level, a decline, 1,510 in the middle school (Grades 6 through  8) and 2,116 in the high school, and a total of 6,957 students overall.

A total of 2,722 students were eligible for free lunch,  469 were eligible for partial free lunch  and 982  Limited English Proficient. 

The district employed 547 certified teachers, 223 teaching assistants, 8 Principals and 10 assistant principals and 85 non-teaching personnel.

CLOUET’S REACTION

WPCNR asked Dr. Christopher Clouet his reaction the 2012 Report in an exclusive interview this morning. He said the report indicates that the district is tuning  “the learning practices, needs and styles of our students.”

“All districts in the state of New York that have diverse populations continue to face challenges with  students who are English Language Learners, as well as students with disabilities. That’s where we have our biggest challenges.

“Clearly there is room for improvement, and it’s also true there is a lot of learning going on for all of our students, including ELL (English Language Learners) and students with disabilities that is not reflected in the test scores.”

WPCNR asked how so?

“You see it in the classrooms. Kids that are reading, kids that are writing interesting reports, that are reading at a good level, but that when they take the test  — the test is somewhat of an artificial way to measure learning – and so, though the test has value—I don’t want to say the test has no value—but it’s also true there’s a lot of learning going on that is not reflected in the tests.”

WPCNR asked about the Middle School test results that generated more than 5% improvement in the 8^th Grade ELA scores.

“There’s clearly evidence that things are going well in the district. But of course, the bottom line is the kids that graduate which is a very high level of graduation rate.

“We are in the middle of a huge transition, as we align our curricula and teaching strategies to the common core standards and the tests being recreated to align with the common core standards.  This is a huge area of transition. I think we are well-poised and we’ve done some things over the last several years to be in a position to adapt to that. It’s still part of an evolutionary process.”

I asked his reaction to the results that show Black and African-American students appear to have drawn even in academic performance with the Hispanic students.

“Yeah, yeah. I tend to think that grouping – and I know the federal government does this — kids together as white, or  African-American or Hispanic sometimes doesn’t capture the variability or individuality of the children we’re talking about.”

I asked if he agreed African – Americans were catching up with the Hispanic academic performance, because the group had been behind the Hispanic-Latino student population in the past.

“ Yes, again, I think we’re doing a better job in our instructional practices and that’s slowly, but surely paying off. One of the factors that is absolutely essential in measuring student outcomes is the issue of family income and resources. Did you read the article, “No Rich Kid Left Behind?”  in last week’s New York Times?

It’s an interesting article because it confirms things. It looks at the growing disparity in income as a new challenge for our country. That brings me back to the issue that White Plains is a perfect laboratory for seeing how we can really adjust instruction so that kids from all backgroundsuncluding families without means can have an opportunity to become well-educated and successful.”

I asked him what has been the reaction to the new assessment tests this year have been from students:

“They’re more difficult. That’s been the reaction students have reported to us. It is unclear how the scoring will be done in terms of the cut scores – something the state holds close to the vest. “

I asked how the elementary schools are dealt with making adjustments to improve scores this year. Clouet pointed to a new math instructional technique and the new I Block sequence designed to have children read higher level books to improve comprehension and writing skills.

Hits: 0

WPCNR HEALTH WATCH. From WPCNR and  the Westchester County Department of Health. (EDITED) April 30, 2013 UPDATED MAY 1:

Tuesday afternoon the County Health Department issued this statement on the ongoing investigation of the April 20-21 outbreaks of severe gastrointestinal symptoms involving some 300 guests at three different banquets at the Rye Town Hilton in the last three weeks.

WPCNR learned Tuesday that a similar outbreak of intestinal sickness affected scores of people also occurred two weeks earlier on the weekend of April 7 at the Hilton involving a large union banquet for the CSEA Womens Conference.

News of the last two outbreaks the 20th and 21st was not known until last Friday the 26th, 7 days after the April 20th incident. Wednesday morning, it was reported by the Journal News that a fundraiser for The Carver Club held last Friday at the Hilton was also plagued by persons reporting becoming sick.

The health department did not respond to a WPCNR question Tuesday afternoon asking why the Health Department has not shut down the Hilton.

In the statement that follows the most recent Carver Club sicknesses are not mentioned.

Here is the Health Department statement as of Tuesday afternoon:

“The Westchester County Department of Health has an ongoing investigation underway to put a stop to a recent rash of illness in people who attended events at the Hilton Westchester. While we have not yet determined the cause, it appears to be Norovirus, an infection whose symptoms are vomiting and diarrhea.

Recognizing the importance of protecting the health and safety of the public, the Hilton Westchester is voluntarily following every recommendation that the health department has made, including:

1. Arranging for an outside contractor to provide an industrial cleaning of all hotel surfaces, with a special focus on the banquet halls;
   
2. Contracting for corporate health staff and corporate sanitarians to be present and to assist in assuring that all health department recommendations are being carried out by staffers;
   
3. Discontinuing service of uncooked foods that are prepared on site, and substituting commercially prepared salads and uncooked fruits; and
   
4. Providing a 72 hour paid furlough to all banquet service and kitchen staff starting now through Friday night.

Hotel management has been extremely cooperative throughout this investigation to work with the health department to protect the public’s health.  They also have notified organizers of upcoming events about these recent illnesses.

The health department has increased its presence at the hotel this week and will have two sanitarians present during every event throughout the weekend.  Inspectors are reviewing sanitary procedures throughout the hotel, as is our routine practice in these situations. Public health nurses are also reaching out to those who may be affected to help determine the source of the illness and to identify any new cases.

For more information about Norovirus, go to www.westchestergov.com/health.

How can I avoid getting ill?

To help prevent the spread of the infection, wash hands thoroughly after each toilet visit, between contact with others and before and after preparing your own food.

If you have symptoms, what should you do?

It is important for those who have symptoms to stay home from work and to limit their contact with others to avoid spreading the virus to family members and close contacts until 72 hours after all symptoms resolve. Anyone who experiences nausea, vomiting or diarrhea should not go to work and should not handle food for others while ill. You also may want to contact your physician.

Unfortunately, there is no treatment other than to make sure to drink plenty of fluids. The illness must just run its course. Most people usually recover in a couple of days.

What is Norovirus?

A common cause of vomiting and diarrhea in this kind of setting is Norovirus. Norovirus is a group of viruses that can cause acute gastrointestinal discomfort and illness.