Meeting Information
Thursday October 21, 2021 at 8:00PM(via Zoom)
Thursday November 18, 2021 at 8:00PM
Thursday December 9, 2021 at 8:00PM
Thursday January 6, 2022 at 8:00PM
Thursday January 26, 2022 at 8:00PM – Public Meeting/Nominations Announced:
Wednesday/Thursday March TBA, 2022 at 7:00PM – Candidate Interviews
SBNC meetings normally take place in the EHS Faculty Lounge. However, due the pandemic, they may be held via Zoom, depending on prevailing conditions at the time.
In addition to the above meetings, we will conduct candidate interviews, which will take place in mid-March. These interviews are not open to the public.
NOTE: SBNC members are required to attend a minimum of three Board of Education meetings prior to the candidate interviews in order to be eligible to vote. Click here for a schedule of Board meetings for the 2021-22 school year.
An attendance sheet will be located near the door to the LGI by the library stairs. Please make sure you sign the SBNC sign-in sheet when you attend a meeting. In addition to the fact that it is a requirement, attending Board meetings is the best way to learn about the issues facing the School District and potential BOE candidates, so you are encouraged to attend as many as possible.
Meetings Summary
First Meeting, the Organizational Meeting: To be held by November 15th. The SBNC chair explains how the committee functions and what will be expected of each member. In addition, the Edgemont School Board President attends to discuss his/her view of the BOE and its role, the time commitment necessary, and his/her view of the role of the school board, and anything else the President or the SBNC members think important. This all occurs in a public meeting. The committee also discusses how best to elicit from the community ideas of who might be good candidates for the board. In closed session, with only the SBNC members present, potential candidates are discussed. The committee begins to talk about whom they might recruit and why.
The SBNC talks about what credentials the school board may need most to operate best given
known or possible upcoming transitions, and who might be a good potential candidate to approach and encourage to apply.
Second Meeting: To be held by December 15th. Since the last meeting, committee members have begun outreach to Edgemont residents for ideas about possible nominees to sit through the SBNC process. Possible nominees are discussed, and people are assigned to reach out to individuals and to encourage them to run. After this meeting, the SBNC chair is responsible for alerting the community to how many seats are available and to the need for people to make themselves available to serve on the Board of Education. Publicizing the process is designed to find individuals from the community at large who may not have been approached by the SBNC but may be interested in serving on the BOE. Notices are put in the Scarsdale Inquirer, the newsletter and on social media. In addition, a letter which asks for nominations and gives the details of what is required for a letter of nomination is mailed to the entire community in late December or early January.
Third Meeting: Held in late January. Letters of nomination are due before the meeting starts. In open session, the nominating letters are read aloud. In closed session, the committee discusses types of questions to ask, what is appropriate and why. In recent years, there have been approximately four or five of the same questions asked of each nominee. Each SBNC member has the opportunity to ask questions.
Fourth Meeting, Nominee Interviews: Usually held in March. These are intensive sessions with about 25-30 questions asked over the course of the interview. Each nominee is interviewed for approximately one hour and has an opportunity to present a short opening and closing statement. Each member of the committee can ask a question of his/her own choosing. In general, people ask questions about the nominees’ background and qualifications, why the nominee wants to serve; about the financials and operations of the BOE and the school system; and about current topics facing the district as well as longer-term issues. SBNC members are given strict instructions to keep everything confidential and not to discuss the interviews even among themselves. Interviews are confidential to protect the nominees and to ensure that no nominee has the advantage of knowing what has occurred in a preceding interview.
Final Meeting: Rigorous and respectful discussion of each nominee, and the composition of the Board of Education. Vote on which nominee(s) to endorse. As with the interviews, everything that occurs in this meeting is confidential. After the meeting, the chair of the SBNC calls the nominees to alert them to the outcome of the SBNC decision. Candidates, both those endorsed by the SBNC and anyone else who decides to run for School Board, must follow NY State law to secure a place on the ballot in May.
Candidates Forum for Community: Held in April. This is an opportunity for the community to meet all the candidates, including any candidates running outside the SBNC process. Each candidate is asked the exact same questions by the SBNC Chair. These questions have been solicited from the community at large as well as from the SBNC. The press is encouraged to attend so that they may report on each candidate’s views.