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Chappaqua Central School District board meeting, Aug 5, 2026

56 min · 3 public speakers

Safety, weapons and police ▶ 1:16

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 56 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Parents raise classroom screen-time concerns as Chappaqua board takes up tax warrant 19:34

  • The board held a hearing on code of conduct changes and the district-wide safety plan, and took a roll call on a tax warrant of $128,280,312 for school district purposes. 1:16
  • Several speakers at public comment raised concerns about educational technology and screen time in classrooms, particularly for the youngest students. 19:34
  • A staff member said proposals on technology and screen time were out to the full faculty for feedback and that an update to families would come after August 25th. 28:18
Item by item (12)
  1. Opening of the meeting 0:01
    • The meeting was opened at 7:10 PM after an executive session, with 2 members attending on Zoom. 0:01
    • The president's report noted it was summertime and said the school year would start back in September. 0:42
  2. Hearing on code of conduct and safety plan 1:16
    • A district staff member said code of conduct changes include the updated mission statement, moving the student Bill of Rights from policy 5020 into the code, and language from the Gun-Free School Act. 1:59
    • The staff member said new infractions address e-bikes, which students may not use unless they are 16, and shell casings, bullets or other items that cause disruption. 1:59
    • The staff member said there were no real changes to the district-wide safety plan, no public comment was offered, and both documents would be presented for adoption consideration on September 2nd. 1:59
  3. Tax rates and outdoor classroom donation 6:19
    • A staff member said the tax rates for the school district and library had not changed since the budget vote. 6:29
    • A staff member said a donation matched by an employer totaled $40,000 from the CSF to build an outdoor classroom and game space at Roaring Brook. 7:30
  4. New superintendent regulations 8:36
    • A staff member described new regulations on privately contracted photographers and videographers on district property and on the process for families seeking to have students repeat or skip a grade. 8:36
    • A speaker asked what impact the photography regulation would have, and a staff member said it would make the process clear to parents and reduce frustration. 11:01
    • A staff member said regulations describe how policy is administered and are not necessarily subject to board approval. 15:56
  5. Budget transfers and school opening 17:11
    • A staff member said 3 budget transfers were for accounting purposes, including moving funds for depreciation and end-of-year retirement payouts into the correct codes. 17:16
    • The superintendent said the district was preparing for opening, including fall sports, new family orientation and new pre-K classrooms. 18:14
  6. Public comment on educational technology 18:56
    • A speaker at public comment questioned the use of 1-to-1 iPad devices for 4- and 5-year-olds and asked for more meetings where parents can ask the administration questions. 19:34
    • A speaker at public comment asked how parents could ensure a child's technology use does not exceed the proposed 30 minutes a day. 25:48
    • A speaker at public comment asked the district to communicate with parents within the next couple of weeks about what technology would look like for elementary students. 27:36
  7. Board discussion of technology and screen time 28:17
    • A staff member said the elementary team would meet on August 19th and the middle school and high school teams on August 25th, with an update to families after August 25th. 29:27
    • Tim McNamara asked whether the Strategic Planning Committee relied mostly on survey results or also reviewed current research, and a staff member said the committee reviewed books, testimony, position statements and state standards. 30:54
    • A staff member said Apple privacy policies prevent server-based tracking, but the district was looking at Screen Time data and its Lightspeed internet filter to measure student use. 37:23
  8. Fees, heat policy and code of conduct 47:45
    • A staff member said fees were increased by 3.97%, matching the budget-to-budget increase, and that nurse and security guard costs would be passed along to community organizations that use them. 48:14
    • A staff member said a new heat alleviation policy has the district take action at 85 degrees, while the law requires action at 88 degrees. 49:30
    • A staff member said the code of conduct was on the agenda as a first reading and invited community members to email comments. 50:23
  9. Minutes and personnel items 51:12
    • The board called a vote to accept the minutes of the July 6th meeting. 51:12
    • Motions were made on 6.1 instructional and 6.2 non-instructional items as presented. 51:36
  10. Consent agenda 52:07
    • No one asked to pull items from the consent agenda, items 7.1 through 7.23, before a motion was called. 52:07
  11. Tax warrant 53:10
    • The resolution read aloud asked the board to approve the tax warrant for the 2026⁠-⁠2027 school year in the amount of $128,280,312 for school district purposes and $3,836,142 for library purposes. 53:10
    • Members voted by roll call on the tax warrant and on letters to Newcastle and Mount Pleasant. 53:55
  12. Purchasing, financials and adjournment 54:30
    • Motions were called on purchasing items 9.1 through 9.7 and on financial items 10.1 through 10.4, including the treasurer's report. 54:53
    • The next meetings were announced for Wednesday, September 2nd, 2026 at 10 AM and Tuesday, September 15th, 2026 at 7 PM in the Horace Greeley High School Academic Commons. 55:21

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “CCSD Board of Education Meeting 8/5/26”