Education

The Northport-East Northport Board of Education at their Sept. 18 meeting. Screenshot from the Northport-East Northport School District website

By Sabrina Artusa

At the Sept. 18 meeting, the Northport-East Northport Board of Education reviewed upcoming goals and changes as the school year begins. 

Students and schools have completed a seamless transition into the 2024-25 school year, which started on Sept. 4 for students grades 1-12. 

The board reported that it met with various committee leaders and liaisons. The committee meetings will be starting next month. 

“I think we had a really positive start to the school year and I just want to reinforce that” said Superintendent Dave Moyer, who attended many student athletic events. “It’s enjoyable to see everybody back out there doing their thing.” 

This will be Moyer’s first full year as superintendent. At the prior meeting, Moyer presented a teaching model he hopes to implement this year called Professional Learning Communities. 

This is not a program but a model of teaching that Moyer hopes would help impact students’ absorption of material, engagement and enthusiasm. According to Moyer’s presentation at the last meeting, this method requires a collective effort of teachers as opposed to teaching without collaboration.

At the Sept. 5 meeting, Moyer explained that they will be repurposing some of the staff to include duties that honor the PLCs and that are more supportive to teachers — these staff members will be taking a more “active role” in assisting teachers. He mentioned instructional coordinators and future-focused teaching positions as examples. 

Moyer hopes that PLCs will be beneficial to teachers as well, whose jobs are getting “more and more intense” every year. PLC is pitched as a mutually beneficial model that will help both students and teachers reach their potential. 

“When teachers get in a collaborative environment and realize they don’t have to do everything themselves, it starts to make the work more manageable,” Moyer said on Sept. 5. “It starts to make them feel like they do have an impact and they can manage the work because they are working on a team and they don’t have to do it by themselves.”

Carol Taylor, BOE president, said she “loves the vision” of PLCs. 

“There is a tangible deliverable with this,” she said at the Sept. 5 meeting. “When teachers have the opportunity to be collaborative, there is an atmosphere of support. So, if you aren’t doing your best, you are learning how to be your best and with that comes creativity.” 

She noted that years ago Responsive Classroom was emerging as a teaching method and is now the standard. She said she expects PLCs to be no different. 

Professional learning communities would require teachers to meet regularly to develop better leadership strategies, share successful methodologies, reflect on trouble areas and to coordinate their teaching strategies so as to optimize their students growth. 

Moyer clarified his plan regarding PLCs – some people expressed uncertainty about whether it would increase the budget.

“PLCs are not something that comes with a price tag,” Moyer clarified after alluding to concerns raised after the previous meeting. Grant money will be used as support. The board has $60,000 in grant funding. Moyer said there will be “no budgetary impact.”

The next BOE meeting is Oct. 10 at William J. Brosnan School at 7 p.m. On Nov.7 the board will give a presentation on school improvement plans for each school. Every meeting’s minutes, agenda and recording will be posted online.

By Peter Sloniewsky

Harborfields Central School District Board of Education met Wednesday, Sept. 18 to address a wide-ranging number of agenda items. 

Superintendent Rory Manning and President Susan Broderick at the Harborfields Central School District Board of Education meeting. –Photo courtesy the Harborfields Central School District livestream

First, the board was presented with a capital bond update detailing a number of projects the district has planned through the summer of 2026. The plan, broken up into three phases, began in January with the design phase, which will continue in this period until May. 

Construction in this first phase includes roof replacement and repair and replacement of the outdoor track at Harborfields High School, alongside a number of similar changes made across the district around October. Construction will continue through the summer of 2025. 

Phase 2 will run from June 2024 to spring 2026, and Phase 3 from October 2024 to summer 2026. These projects include air conditioning installation at the high school, repairs to outdoor facilities such as basketball and tennis courts, and “general classroom enhancements” across the district. 

Beyond this presentation, the board approved a variety of financial documentation and human resources work. The board also elected its voting delegate to the New York State School Boards Association convention, namely BOE member — and Suffolk County Legislature candidate — Dr. Eve Meltzer-Krief. 

Finally, the board approved the implementation of two new educational programs: Individualized Education Programming and the Marketing Pathway Career and Technical Education program. 

The board will meet again Oct. 16 at 7:45 p.m. at Oldfield Middle School.

Mount Sinai High School. File photo

By Jennifer Donatelli

Mount Sinai Board of Education held its first meeting of the new school year Wednesday, Sept. 18. Superintendent Christine Criscione began the public session by announcing the arts scholars, updating and aligning the district’s activities for the Dignity for All Students Act and its obligations for the schools, as well as introducing the first student member on the board. The BOE approved the first draft of the Student Harassment and Bullying Prevention and Intervention Policy Handbook, which will be distributed this year. 

This year, the Long Island Scholar-Artist Award presented by the Long Island Arts Alliance was given to Mackenzie Kling for her theater performance. Matthew Manzo, Carrie Wang and Erika Lo received all-state honors and are among an elite group of musicians who received a score of 100 on NYSSMA. In addition, Orlando DiDesidero, along with Kling and Manzo were also named to the All-County Vocal Jazz Ensemble All-State Honors and will participate in November alongside 15 other students who were also nominated. Newsday will feature each scholar in its “monthly profiles” section. The students will also be eligible for early scholarship consideration by Long Island Arts Alliance higher education partners. 

Christina Romeo, high school assistant principal, updated everyone about the benefits of DASA in the district and explained how it creates a learning environment free of discrimination and harassment for all students. She went on to explain that it also mandates the reporting of all incidents of harassment, bullying, cyberbullying and discrimination based on a person’s race, color, weight, nationality, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex. 

The district is currently developing guidelines for school training programs to discourage discrimination and harassment, raise awareness and sensitivity to potential issues related to those topics, and enable employees to prevent and respond to incidents of discrimination and harassment. 

Romeo also mentioned that individual schools within each district are responsible for designating and training one staff member as the dignity act coordinator who is trained to address incidents of harassment, bullying and discrimination. The district must also provide training for all employees to increase awareness and sensitivity to the existence and effects of harassment, bullying and discrimination and develop a school strategy to prevent it. Romeo said, “We need a consistent practice across all three buildings and we need to come together as a district to make the policy work.”  

The newest board member, Mount Sinai High School junior Audrey Han, represents all students within the district. She spoke about Spirit Week as well as the Homecoming Dance and football game against Miller Place. The school is rolling out a program called Mustang Manners, which is a character education system that encourages students, teachers and staff to live by certain values of respect, accountability and behavior in a fun way. 

The next board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 16.

SBU campus. File photo

By Daniel Dunaief

In the last 18 months, Stony Brook University has generated positive headlines for a host of wins, from receiving a record donation from the Simons Foundation to climbing academic rankings to winning the bidding for a climate solutions center on Governors Island.

This year, those gains not only helped attract a larger applicant pool, but also led to a record high enrollment for first-year students in the university’s 67 year history. The total number of undergraduates is also at a record high of 18,263, exceeding the previous high of 18,010 in the fall of 2010.

The downstate flagship university received about 55,000 applications for first year students, with an acceptance rate of about 49%.

“Stony Brook has now become a premier destination for so many students” in the state, country and world, said Richard Beatty, Senior Associate Provost for Enrollment Management. The increasing applicants and the largest ever class size of 4,024 students reflects the “fruit of all the work the campus has been doing.”

Stony Brook ranked 58th in the 2025 US News and World Report rankings this week, up from 93 in 2022. Stony Brook was also ranked the top public university in New York.

Just over half of the first-year students, or 50.5%, are women, while 49.5% are men. These statistics don’t include people who chose not to disclose their gender.

The university didn’t change its admissions standards to accept this larger class.

“We had the same academic quality as in previous years,” said Beatty, as each student has had high quality experience inside and outside the classroom.

Additionally, for the class entering its second year this fall, Stony Brook had a 90% retention rate, which is also an all-time high. The university typically loses 11 or 12% of students from the first to the second year.

“We want the student [who matriculate at Stony Brook] to graduate with us and we want them to graduate in a timely manner,” said Beatty.

New hires

Recognizing the increased interest in attending Stony Brook from in and out of state, the university started hiring additional staff to provide students with the same level of education and university services.

The ratio of faculty to students “didn’t change that much” because of the university’s staffing efforts, Beatty said. “We are keeping the educational quality the same even though we have a larger [freshman] class.”

The enrollment of students who identify as Black and LatinX also increased, even as universities such as Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have experienced a decline in such enrollments.

The first-year class at Stony Brook includes 433 people who identify as black, which is an increase of 19% over the total from the previous year and represents about 10.7% of the incoming class.

LatinX, meanwhile, rose 28% to 633 this year from 496 in the previous year.

SBU Interim President Richard McCormick. File photo

“Stony Brook today exemplifies dramatically all the most important developments in modern American higher education – a growing and highly diverse student body, an expanding research enterprise, and research achievements that are contributing mightily to the economy and society,” Interim President Richard L. McCormick said in a statement.

While the number of foreign students increased over last year, the total number has still not recovered to its 2019 level, prior to the pandemic.

Stony Brook leads the SUNY system in the highest number of Educational Opportunity Program applications. The state-funded program provides financial support to New York students who have financial and academic barriers, helping them attend and graduate from a SUNY college.

Storm challenges

At the same time that the university welcomed its largest ever first year class, the campus and the area endured a sudden and violent storm that not only damaged the historic Stony Brook Grist Mill, but also made some dormitories uninhabitable.

“It was an unbelievable concerted effort throughout campus” to find places for students amid the clean up, said Beatty. “The housing team came up with solutions” that included housing some students in hotels.

Two of the residence halls, Ammann and Gray, are still undergoing repairs, although the university has found places for its students.

The university has 52 sophomores who are living at an off-campus hotel, where they are expected to remain through the semester. They should be able to return to campus in the spring.

Expanded food services

The Starbucks in SBU’s Melville Library. Courtesy facebook.com/SBUDining

Amid higher enrollment, Stony Brook expanded the hours for dining facilities this year, compared with last year.

Starbucks opened at the Melville Library with expanded hours. The foods trucks have a consistent schedule Monday through Friday and Stony Brook added a Nathan’s Famous truck to the food truck fleet.

The university launched new franchises and dining concepts this fall, such as Popeyes, Carvel and Iron Waffles.

Academically, Stony Brook has had a wide range of potential interests from its incoming students. Beyond the typical strengths in physics and math, the university also experienced a growth in the numbers of students applying for journalism, political science and economics.

“We ended up not being over enrolled in any of our programs,” Beatty said.

McCormick suggested the increased interest in the school reflects recent higher visibility.

“This historic enrollment of first-year students is a testament to Stony Brook University’s steadfast commitment to providing an exceptional educational experience and its rise in reputation as one of the nation’s most prominent public flagship research universities,” McCormick said in a statement.

The State University of New York schools have seen an increase overall in the number of applicants.

Stony Brook’s admissions process, which remains test optional for standardized tests like the SAT and the ACT, has become considerably more holistic.

The admissions committee looks beyond the grade point average or whatever test scores candidates submit, while weighing the student achievement in the context of the options available at their high schools.

The larger class size amid a greater interest in the school also has positive implications for the local economy and for the community.

More students shop at stores and restaurants and also contribute to extracurricular activities such as theatrical performances and to community service projects.

These students, who come from all over the world, add to the diversity of the area, start new clubs and present the findings of their own research while attending college, Beatty added.

As for future applications and class sizes, school officials anticipate greater numbers of interested students in the coming years.

“We expect applications to continue to rise,” said Beatty.

Caption: Pictured (left to right): Amol Pophali, Jinwon Choi, Michal Luchowski, Taejin Kim, Mohammed Sifat, Krishnakumari Pamula, Leah Landron and Hyeonji Park. Photo from Dr. Taejin Kim

The United States Chapter of the Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers (KIChE) has selected Stony Brook University Professor Taejin Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences as the recipient of the 2024 James M. Lee Memorial Award.

The James M. Lee Memorial Award honors the founding and first president of the KIChE U.S. Chapter by recognizing Korean and Korean-American scientists and engineers who have demonstrated exceptional leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge in the field of chemical engineering.

“We are immensely proud of Professor Taejin Kim for being selected as the recipient of the 2024 James M. Lee Memorial Award by the United States Chapter of the Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers (KIChE),” said Dilip Gersappe, Chair of the Materials Science and Chemical Engineering Department. “This award is a testament to Professor Kim’s exceptional leadership and groundbreaking contributions in the field of chemical engineering. His work on heterogeneous catalysis in environmental and energy fields not only advances scientific knowledge but also has significant real-world applications.”

Kim, who also serves as the graduate program director for the department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, studies the fundamentals and applications of heterogeneous catalysis in environmental and energy fields. His research group has explored the structure-activity relationship of catalysts through catalyst synthesis, characterization and catalytic performance evaluation.

The KIChE-US Chapter was founded in 2002 to promote constructive and mutually beneficial interactions among Korean Chemical Engineers in the U.S. and to facilitate international collaboration between engineers in the U.S. and Korea. The KlChE is a scientific, engineering, and professional organization dedicated to the advancement of the theory and application of chemical engineering technology.

Kim joined Stony Brook University in 2013, has been an active member of the KIChE U.S. Chapter and received the KIChE Service Recognition Award in 2023.

He will receive the award and present his research during the 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting in October.

Caption: Christopher Berger, AVP for Procurement. Photo by John Griffin/SBU

Stony Brook University recently announced that Christopher Berger, MBA, has been appointed as Associate Vice President for Procurement. He reports to Vice President for Finance Lyle Gomes.

Christopher Berger brings over 25 years of procurement leadership experience serving local and national organizations, most recently as Chief Procurement Officer for Suffolk County. There, he established a centralized, comprehensive procurement framework for the county. He has also held roles as Chief Procurement Officer at Hearst Media, Global Head of Procurement, Travel, Expense, Vendor Risk and Contracts at Bloomberg, LLP and as Chief Procurement Officer at CA Technologies.

“After completing an extensive search, Chris emerged from a highly competitive pool of candidates as a seasoned, innovative and collaborative procurement leader.” said Lyle Gomes, Vice President for Finance. “Chris has a demonstrated track record of excellence in numerous procurement practices including centralizing procurement functions, implementing cutting-edge technologies and optimizing processes to deliver exceptional service. He has also served as an advocate and champion for cultivating collaborative supplier relationships and using digital infrastructures to enhance operational efficiencies.”

As Associate Vice President for Procurement, Berger will be responsible for the management of all procurement activities, including strategic sourcing, procure-to-pay processes, and utilization of technology systems. In his role, he will craft and implement procurement operations to enhance efficiency and accuracy. Additionally, he will oversee the operations of purchasing, receiving, paying, mail, and property control, with a focus on delivering exceptional customer service to the campus community.

Berger earned his BA in Math & Science and a Master in Business Administration from Dowling College.

 

Christopher Bishop. Photo by John Griffin/SBU

Stony Brook University Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Christopher Bishop was awarded the 2024 Senior Berwick Prize by the London Mathematical Society (LMS).

The Senior Berwick Prize ​​is awarded in even-numbered years for an outstanding piece of mathematical research published by the LMS within the last eight years. Bishop was awarded the Senior Berwick Prize for the publication of two papers: ‘Models for the Eremenko–Lyubich Class’, published in the Journal of the London Mathematical Society in 2015, and ‘Models for the Speiser Class’, published in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society in 2017. He will formally receive this award in November.

“I was gratified and delighted to hear that I had been awarded the Senior Berwick prize by the London Mathematical Society,” said Bishop. “To be recognized with this highly regarded award is a tremendous honor that I appreciate very much.”

Since its inception, Bishop is the only sitting faculty member from Stony Brook University that has received this prestigious award. Other notable winners include mathematicians John G. Thompson, Louis Mordell, JHC Whitehead, Nigel Hitchen, William Hodge, Ian Agol, and many others.

“Professor Bishop’s groundbreaking work creating the technique of quasiconformal folding and applying it to open questions in transcendental dynamical systems is an important milestone, opening new methods of investigation in this branch of mathematics,” said Scott Sutherland, professor and chair of the College of Arts and Sciences Department of  Mathematics. “It is a great pleasure to see the London Mathematical Society acknowledge its importance with this well-deserved prize.”

Bishop joined the Stony Brook University Department of Mathematics in 1991 and was named a SUNY distinguished professor in 2021. Throughout his career, he has participated in several notable conferences and fellowships. In 2018, Bishop was invited to speak at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). He also participated in several fellowships, including as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, the Sloan Foundation Fellowship in 1992, was selected as a fellow of the American Mathematical Society Award in 2019, and as a Simons Fellow in Mathematics in 2019.

Bishop received his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, a master’s degree from  the University of Cambridge where he was a Churchill Scholar, and his PhD from the University of Chicago.

 

Bradley Dirks, James H. Simons Instructor in the Department of Mathematics, and Yichul Choi, PhD student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, were awarded fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). Dirks will complete his fellowship in the School of Mathematics for the 2024-2025 academic year and Choi will complete his in the School of Natural Sciences between 2024-2027.

This prestigious membership allows for focused research and the free and open exchange of ideas among an international community of scholars at one of the foremost centers for intellectual inquiry.

Bradley Dirks

During his stay, Bradley will work on the study of singularities in geometry. Though his research lies in the field of pure mathematics, singularities arise in many adjacent fields, like statistics and theoretical physics. An important point of his project is to attempt to quantify “how singular” a geometric space is. The hope is that spaces that are “not too singular” from this point of view should share many nice properties with smooth spaces.

“It is an amazing honor to spend a year at the Institute for Advanced Study,” said Bradley. “A large proportion of the mathematics that I study was developed by past and permanent members of the Institute. I am especially excited because I will have the opportunity to meet many scholars from various universities and fields of study.”

“Brad Dirks has been doing great work as part of our algebraic geometry group, and the math department has been very fortunate to have him among us for the past year,” said Scott Sutherland, professor and chair in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Mathematics. “This fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study is a well-deserved opportunity,  and the Department looks forward to him rejoining us to continue his Simons instructorship afterwards.”

Yichul Choi

In his time with the IAS, Yichul will study topological and global aspects of quantum field theory. In particular, his research focuses on symmetries, anomalies, and their generalizations. He is interested in applying new generalized symmetry principles to particle physics phenomenology and condensed matter physics.

“The Institute provides an ideal environment for scholars to explore ideas, focus on their research, and collaborate with world-experts coming from all over the globe,” said Yichul. “I am excited to use this opportunity to deeply investigate the physical rules behind our Nature, and to seek new understandings. I am also looking forward to sharing thoughts with leading scientists in the field.”

“I am delighted to learn that Yichul was awarded this prestigious fellowship,” said Chang Kee Jung, distinguished professor and chair of the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Last spring, Yichul, working with Stony Brook’s outstanding theoretical physicists, Shu-Heng Shao and Zohar Komargodski at C.N. Yang ITP, was one of the winners of the Stony Brook President’s Award to Distinguished Doctoral Students for his work on Generalized Symmetries in Quantum Field Theory and Particle Physics.  So, this news did not come as a big surprise.  As the chair of the Department, I am proud of Yichul’s accomplishment and the world-class faculty at C.N. Yang ITP that consistently educates and produces top-notch physicists.”

IAS

Each year, IAS welcomes more than 250 of the most promising post-doctoral researchers and distinguished scholars from around the world to advance fundamental discovery as part of an interdisciplinary and collaborative environment. Visiting scholars are selected through a highly competitive process for their bold ideas, innovative methods, and deep research questions by the permanent Faculty—each of whom are preeminent leaders in their fields. Past IAS Faculty include, Albert Einstein, Erwin Panofsky, John von Neumann, Hetty Goldman, George Kennan, and J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Located in Princeton, NJ, the Institute for Advanced Study was established in 1930. Today, research at IAS is conducted across four Schools — Historical Studies,Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social Science — to push the boundaries of human knowledge.

Among past and present scholars, there have been 35 Nobel Laureates, 44 of the 62 Fields Medalists, and 23 of the 27 Abel Prize Laureates, as well as MacArthur and Guggenheim fellows, winners of the Turing Award and the Wolf, Holberg, Kluge, and Pulitzer Prizes.

 

METRO photo

By Peter Sloniewsky

Middle Country Central School District Board of Education met Sept. 10 at a special meeting to discuss a range of agenda items centered around a food-services presentation. 

This presentation, given on behalf of the district’s food service team, began with a review of the mission statement, staff and partnership details with Whitsons Culinary Group of Islandia. The presenters then spoke about eligibility for free and reduced-price school lunches. The district is approved to serve no-charge breakfast and lunch meals daily for the upcoming school year but encourages households to fill out the Household Income Eligibility Form to qualify for such programs in the future. 

The presentation covered a recent history of financial and sales data, which reflected a recent trend of budget surplus. According to the presenters, this positive funds balance was used entirely to enhance the school lunch program, exemplified by the purchase of a large replacement oven and the completion of a freezer project during the past school year. 

The presenters then conveyed their plans for the future. The team has been pushing the Household Income Eligibility Form and plans to continue advocacy for free meals. They also listed some concerns with the rising costs of running such an operation, the continual push for grant money and issues with staff retention, before concluding with a more thorough push for universal free meals. 

After the presentation, a number of routine items were addressed. Board President Dawn Sharrock was approved to act as the voting delegate for the district at the New York State School Board Association Virtual Annual Business Meeting Oct. 10, and in New York City at the Annual Convention and Education Expo Oct. 20-22. The board also approved a major field trip to Washington, D.C. 

The next BOE meeting will be Oct. 16 at Centereach High School at 7 p.m.

Port Jefferson Village Hall. Photo by Heidi Sutton 2023

By Peter Sloniewsky

Village of Port Jefferson trustee Kyle Hill authored an open comment letter Sept. 6 to the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany expressing “our concern regarding any proposed amendments to the New York State Foundation Aid formula that may lead to reductions in funding for the Port Jefferson School District.” 

The letter was co-signed by all of the village trustees with the exception of Mayor Lauren Sheprow. 

The Foundation Aid formula, enacted in 2007,  is used by New York State to allocate a large portion of its education resources to school districts. Its calculations are based on a variety of different factors such as local contributions, student demographics and enrollment, and was used in the 2024-25 fiscal year to allocate more than $24.9 billion of the state’s $35.9 billion education funding package. 

As the current formula incorporates old data and statistics, researchers at the Rockefeller Institute are in the early stages of a study to rewrite the formula. This study was sanctioned in April’s state budget by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and legislative leaders in coordination with the state Education Department.

The existing formula contains a caveat that the state cannot provide less Foundation Aid than it did the year prior, regardless of changing factors. In practice, this means that school districts like Port Jefferson — with low or declining enrollment — would benefit. 

In the last state budget negotiations, Hochul recommended that this rule, entitled the “hold harmless” provision, be cut. As a result of this hypothetical cut, which was rejected by the Legislature, Port Jefferson schools would have suffered a massive 28% cut to their Foundation Aid. 

The Rockefeller Institute study will be presented to the governor and Legislature once completed. 

As Hill wrote in the trustees letter, “When Long Island schools like Port Jefferson School District, do not receive adequate funding from Albany, it further agitates the preexisting pressure on municipalities like ours to hold the line on taxes as the cost of living has become unmanageable for far too many of our constituents.” 

Hill also noted that the Long Island region receives less in state funding than in other areas, such as transportation and infrastructure. 

According to Port Jeff Board of Education President Ellen Boehm, “The numbers are skewed due to a few high-wealth residents in a small geographic area. … Our participation rate [in reduced lunch benefit programs] has grown. … This proves that we have residents that are facing economic hardships.” 

In Port Jefferson schools specifically, Foundation Aid makes up approximately 6 percent of the total budget — a modest but important percentage, especially considering the area’s high taxation rate, large special-education program and increasing volume of English as a New Language students. 

Boehm and Hill alike do not deny that the state’s Foundation Aid formula has flaws. 

The BOE president told TBR, “The formula the state currently uses simply needs to be reconsidered — not just the ‘hold harmless’ clause. … The overall cost of operating [on Long Island] is just far higher than in other areas of the state and should also be taken into consideration.” 

In a press release, Hill said, “Albany continues to look at Long Island like its piggy bank.” He also reminded policymakers that “Long Island sends more revenue to Albany than it gets back, and local villages and towns have to pick up the slack.” 

Hill added in the trustees letter that the discussion of equitable school funding “should be in the broader context of how resources are allocated across New York state.”