Tower The Masters School
November 8, 2013
Volume 70, Number 2
The Masters School, 49 Clinton Avenue, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
CFO Bob Rooney brings different approach and mindset
Photo by Daniel Barnett
CFO BOB ROONEY comes with over 18 years of experience with independent schools. His radical approach of fixing things before they break down has reinvigorated the campus.
by Teerin Julsawad Editor-in-Chief
From installing air conditioning to beautifying the
campus, the school’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Bob Rooney seems to be working beyond what his job description
calls for. While his primary role as the “numbers man” remains, his dedicated involvement in other aspects of the school
has not gone unnoticed. “I have been here for 16 years, and I have never seen a CFO so invested in so many aspects of the campus life: faculty, staff, students and facilities,” science teacher Elisabeth Merrill said. In Merrill’s tenure at school, Rooney is the fourth to serve as the CFO. He has worked for over 18 years with independent schools and 10 years as a CFO. Rooney’s responsiveness to requests highly impressed Merrill. She said, “When one of the science teachers asked for some new equipment, he came to meet with her and the Department Chair, and got the equipment, seemingly just like that.” Additionally, he has also approved Merrill’s request to install plants and flowers near the boys’ dorms. “I got sick of
looking at the hill of dirt, so I asked him, if I bought the plants, if he would pay for it, and he said yes,” she said. “And not only did he pay for it, but he went with Tanya (Richard Simon’s wife) to the nursery and bought more plants to put out.” She continued, “In the past, the answer to various requests was frequently “no” but Mr. Rooney seems to be listening closely to the requests of faculty and staff and, quite often, responding affirmatively—a real pleasure!” While recent projects, such as the tennis courts construction, were all in place before Rooney began his role as the CFO, his arrival has brought many other changes, such as the installation of air conditioning in both the middle school and Strayer Hall. Additionally, new office
spaces have also been added for faculty members in the middle school. Head of the Middle School Everett Wilson has described Rooney as a creative and proactive problem-solver. “He has made a tremendous positive difference,” Wilson said. “It [the various changes in the middle school] has made students and teachers feel validated. He addressed it right away. The amount of goodwill that was created and morale booster was obvious from the very beginning.” Despite his certainty in dealing with things that, he believes, need improvement, Rooney admits that money is still one of the biggest factors that he cannot afford to ignore. “It’s a balancing act,” Rooney said. “When I continued on page 10
Proposal for constitutional amendment passes Executive Committee by Rajan Cutting Op-Ed Editor
Executive Committee has created and passed a new constitutional amendment. Junior class presidents, Abigail Costigan and Brandon Schneider, conceived the co-chair secession proposal, which was recently passed in Executive Committee. Schneider said, “This amendment says that any senior in good academic and disciplinary standing is eligible to run for cochair, and the reelection period shouldn’t take any longer than eight weeks.” In addition, a potential candidate must have attended three executive meetings in the last 18 months. Ten years ago, the school’s constitution was revised to suite a growing and changing population. The school had
recently become co-ed and lacked an ideal document. Chris Frost, former Head of the Upper School, played a role in writing the current constitution. He said, “Our Constitution of Community Government wasn’t appropriate for our school when I first came to Masters. We had male students but no reference to a male co-chair, things needed to change, to bring the document up to date.” Rewriting the constitution took about a year. Frost said, “It was important that we took our time to carefully think about what issues we needed to address in our government.” The writers of the constitution left out key information, such as re-election plans for a missing co-chair. Brian Pugh, a former student and contributor to the constitution said, “I
don’t recall us anticipating something like this.” Matt Ives, current Head of the Upper School who was a history teacher at the time, also played a role in constructing the document. He said, “Part of the reason, ‘how to replace a co-chair’, wasn’t included was the re-election process takes too long and depending on the time of the year, isn’t always practical.” Senior male chair Henry DuBeau has been very optimistic about his solo role. He said, “In the beginning of the year I was worried, but Christina has been great about helping out with co-chair responsibilities alongside being secretary.” Apart from not including a co-chair vacancy plan, the constitution also leaves out class president succession plans.
Photo by Bob Cornigans
SECRETARY CHRISTINA GUARIN tied the theme of water to the challenges in life as a journey on the river. This is the second year in a row where the secretary gives the female co-chair’s speech.
Frost said, “I suppose these things were left out because our student
leaders are generally outstanding school citizens. After the current co-chair
Opinion
Features
Sports
Gender stereotypes running our education
Water theme makes a splash
Cross country races towards success Photo by Vincent Galgano
Photo by Sofia Linden
Photo by B.F. Herzog
Page 4
Pages 6&7
issue is resolved, it would be a good idea to address this and other missing parts.”
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