Scarsdale taxpayers received good news this week when interim school superintendent Dr. Drew Patrick announced the district expects to recover nearly all of the approximately $1.8 million in penalties and interest it paid to the IRS since the district’s payroll tax payments were filed incorrectly in 2020 and 2021.
The district filed an abatement request to get all penalties returned to the district, and Patrick said the district has already received two refund checks covering the assessments for the first quarter of 2020 — $714,168 for refunded penalties and $30,027 paid as interest to the district.
Also, the IRS has said it would refund penalties assessed for the 2020 third quarter, and is expected to issue a check to the district for just over $100,000, Patrick said.
The total — approximately $844,000 — is “essentially a full offset” of the $843,558 fourth quarter 2020 tax payment the school board authorized in March 2022. That action by the school board brought the district’s payroll tax payment errors to light, nearly a year and half after the district became aware of the matter. Community response and the “distraction” caused by the IRS issue led Scarsdale schools superintendent Dr. Thomas Hagerman to resign in May.
Continuing his account of the abatements and refunds at the school board meeting Aug. 22, Patrick said the $412,837.45 penalty assessed against the district in the second quarter of 2021 has also been abated in full and the IRS independent office of appeals notified the district that $534,000 in penalties assessed and interest associated with the fourth quarter 2020 taxes have been fully abated.
Given the positive response of the IRS to the district claims, Patrick predicted that the $1.3 million lien against the district “should self release within 30 days.”
COVID restrictions eased
With children and teachers preparing to go back to school in next two weeks, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced updated COVID-19 guidance from the New York State Department of Health on Monday, Aug. 22.
The guidance follows new federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations and essentially leaves it up to local school districts to decide whether any restrictions or requirements are necessary.
“Since the early, uncertain days of the pandemic, New York schools, teachers and parents stepped up to ensure continued learning and a safe return to the classroom,” Gov. Hochul said. “Today, we are making sure that state and federal guidance is aligned so that students and educators can enter the classroom with confidence and have a safe, healthy school year.”
State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said, “This new guidance will give schools and districts more flexibility to continue providing in-person instruction as we head into the new school year.”
Gov. Hochul said that New York has made significant progress in the fight against COVID-19. “It is through these ongoing efforts that schools can provide safe instructional environments, increase access to COVID-19 testing and ensure that staff, students and their families have access to the resources they need to safely remain in school,” she said.
The governor added, “We’re getting this information out to parents, into schools, and making sure that our children are where they need to be this fall. We know there’s no replacement for in-classroom learning, and we’re going to make sure that this year is a very different year.”
The COVID mitigation strategies that were announced for the 2022-23 school year relate to policies on quarantine, staying home when sick or symptomatic, and isolation.
At the Scarsdale Board of Education meeting Monday night, interim superintendent Patrick said “the key piece that’s confirmed is the five days of isolation for confirmed positive cases.”
Assistant Superintendent Eric Rauschenbach reviewed the new CDC policy, which no longer recommends quarantine except in high-risk congregate settings, and no longer requires schools to group their students in pods or cohorts. He noted the community spread in Westchester County and New York State is in the moderate category, and has been “relatively stable” since June. Both had been in high level of spread at the end of last year.
In addition, the CDC recommends that all people with a known or suspected COVID-19 exposure, regardless of vaccination status or history of prior COVID-19 infection, follow current CDC exposure recommendations, which include wearing a well-fitting mask or respirator for a full 10-day period, and getting tested at least five days after close contact, or sooner if symptoms develop.
The CDC continues to recommend that people stay home when sick. This guidance applies to any student or staff member who has symptoms of respiratory or gastrointestinal infections, such as cough, fever, sore throat, vomiting, or diarrhea, the CDC said.
Testing is recommended for people with symptoms of COVID-19 as soon as possible after symptoms begin, health officials continue to stress. Those who are at risk for getting very sick with COVID-19 who test positive should consult with a healthcare provider immediately for possible treatment, even if their symptoms are mild.
The state’s Return to School strategy includes distributing three million tests to schools before the beginning of the school year. Rauschenbach said the school district would “continue to give out COVID-19 tests — as long as the state continues to provide them — as needed to parent and families. There is still a recommendation that we encourage students who are symptomatic to test before returning to school.”
Any individual who tests positive for COVID-19 and does not have a regular health care provider can be evaluated for treatment by either calling 1-888-TREAT-NY or visiting the New York State COVID-19 ExpressCare Therapeutics Access website.
People who are symptomatic and awaiting COVID-19 test results or have tested positive for COVID-19 should follow CDC’s Isolation Guidance. Isolation may end based on how serious someone’s COVID-19 symptoms were. If someone had no symptoms, isolation may end after five days. If someone had symptoms, isolation may end after five days if they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and symptoms are improving.
People should wear a mask through day 10 after ending isolation when they are feeling better — meaning, no fever without use of fever-reducing medication and symptoms improving. Antigen testing is not required to end isolation; however, some schools may allow use of the “test-based strategy” to potentially shorten the length of time for post-isolation mask use. Two consecutive negative tests 48 hours apart would allow removal of masks sooner than day 10.
In March, Gov. Hochul lifted the state mask requirement in schools, a decision based on key COVID-19 data trends showing New York’s significant progress in vaccinations and declining cases. The state has set up pop-up vaccination centers to enhance COVID-19 vaccine access.
