(Please note: I will be sending a copy of this update email below to our fellow residents on the BOE in order to help keep everyone informed). 

Dear fellow Scarsdale residents,

I hope you and your families all had a great summer.  Some more recent updates on petition related information.

When I attended Scarsdale Schools in the 1960's and 1970's it was known to many, due to its rarity, that there were only a few Scarsdale resident families in the entire school district who chose to enroll their children in out-of-district private schools.  This was not common due to Scarsdale School's No. 1 ranking and national popularity that attracted families to Scarsdale, famously known as 'the Education Town.'  Today, however there are many Scarsdale resident students and parents who choose to enroll their children in out-of-district schools and yes, it is in the hundreds in just the Middle School and High School alone, not including the five elementary schools.  Parents have told me as to why they choose to enroll their children in out-of-district private schools and it's due mostly to academic curriculum being structured on paper-based learning being used with little to no electronic usage.  

I would like to now please bring to your attention to these article links you might find quite alarming:

'6 tech executives who raise their kids tech-free or seriously limit their screen time'
https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-execs-screen-time-children-bill-gates-steve-jobs-2019-9

'The private school in Silicon Valley where tech honchos send their kids so they DON'T use computers'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2052977/The-Silicon-Valley-school-tech-honchos-send-kids-DONT-use-computers.html

'Children are tech addicts – and schools are the pushers'
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/26/children-tech-addicts-schools

The hypocrisy of tech executives as to how they choose to educate their own children which allows them the advantage to succeed academically over other students due to tech-free private schooling as opposed to our children being on the other end of their financial profiteering at the expense of our children's education using tablets and computers for endless hours in our schools and at home.  All this while our children are trying to cope and overcome electronic device addiction, distraction, physical concerns, stress and increases in mental depression due to social media. This type of hypocrisy should be considered nothing less than double-standard entitlement. All this allotted from our tax dollars.

As I mentioned in the past, I saw first-hand when my older son's grades were at the very bottom of the grading system due to using a school issued electronic device as opposed to when the School District took back their device due to a school issue and they had no other option other than giving him paper-based learning where his grades immediately went to the higher end the very next marking period and cut homework time in half because the electronic addiction and distraction was gone.  I can understand why many Scarsdale resident families are choosing outside school enrollment for their children if our own school district is not offering options similar to what these tech executive's children are afforded with tech-free learning.  As you know, the petition's initiatives give everyone the right to choose from paper-based learning or e-learning or hybrid learning. These initiatives will also possibly entice the many Scarsdale resident 'out of district' students to return to our schools.

This year, the decision has been made that will result in technology indoctrination getting children hooked and addicted to electronics at even earlier ages in our schools, making its way down to children as young as in the 3rd grade by now supplying each student with a Chromebook, having already supplied iPads to kindergartener children resulting in much frustration on the part of parents.

It appears our intentions were perhaps heard via the petition due to the School District Technology Department's initiating their 'Comprehensive Technology Survey' in June of last school year.  However, with the start of the Fall school season having come and gone, many of you have asked me if I heard anything regarding the 'Comprehensive Technology Survey' and wondering if the School District is even giving it any serious form of consideration.  I have not heard any news regarding this.  Many residents were expecting to have heard the survey results prior to the start of the school year and School District electronic device issuance to students, being the School District had an entire summer to gather and analyze so results could be made available to the community.

I have written multiple times and spoken to the Scarsdale Board of Education on May 22, 2023 about the three learning options included in the petition, however no considerations or actions have been taken on the part of the BOE.  We need oversight and transparency on the part of the Scarsdale Board of Education to stand-up for the intentions of all 700 of us who signed the petition. Why is the Scarsdale Board of Education silent over these issues so important to the community?  This year, there was the call to advocate for oversight and transparency from the BOE: 
https://scarsdale10583.com/section-table/122-scarsdale-worships/9595-board-member-ron-schulhof-advocates-for-oversight-and-transparency-in-second-term

Also, the School District's Responsible Use Policy (RUP) Agreement legal contract is non-enforceable if you do not sign it.  The past years I have never signed it and have no intentions in the future. Please check for my next update email coming very soon, you will all be surprised to see the contradictions and inconsistencies by the School District in trying to implement the RUP contract for my son when in the Middle School, which I will show you in email correspondences I had with them.

One final note, I have said it many times, we have of the finest teachers and counselors in our Scarsdale Schools!  Keep the electronic static distraction away from students and parents who prefer their children fully focus on their teachers without addictive devices between them in classrooms and for homework (like the special considerations tech executive's children are afforded) while being mindful for those who prefer e-learning or hybrid learning, the essence of the petition initiatives so that all our children fully succeed academically.  Our School District needs to make an effort in adjusting to each individual student's needs otherwise in today's environment, it is just standardized education catering to and being controlled by the desires of tech.

As one Scarsdale School teacher mentioned to me, "Scarsdale Schools used to set the standard for public education in the country, parents need to speak up, it's greatly needed more than ever."

Best regards to all,
Ray

Ray Dotoratos
Scarsdale resident and school parent
Petition Link: https://www.change.org/p/petition-to-choose-learning-options-in-scarsdale-public-schools