CLOSE
Education

by -
0 1411
File photo

Comsewogue officials have finalized a budget for the next school year, days after the state came through for school districts in a big way.

The school board adopted Superintendent Joe Rella’s proposal for the 2016-17 school year during its meeting Monday night, supporting a $87.2 million budget that maintains all existing programs, thanks in large part to the state axing its Gap Elimination Adjustment.

The adjustment was enacted six years ago in an effort to close a state budget deficit, and deducted funds from each school district’s state aid allotment. Since its inception, it has cumulatively cost Comsewogue about $23 million in state aid, according to Susan Casali, the district’s assistant superintendent for business.

But the new state budget, upon which lawmakers agreed last week, eliminated that deduction, netting Comsewogue roughly an additional $1.3 million in revenue.

“I think it’s great,” Rella said. “I’m glad we got it back. It means we don’t have to make any big cuts. We’re happy about it — it’s significant.”

Rella’s initial budget proposal in January banked on a full aid restoration, despite the fact that, while state legislators had been pushing for it, the restoration was far from a done deal. Other North Shore school districts, such as Huntington and Miller Place, planned for little to no restoration of the funding during their own budget processes.

Had the state budget fallen short in restoring the funding, Comsewogue would have been faced with some difficult decisions on program cuts.

“If that doesn’t happen, then it’s a whole different world,” Rella said in an interview in March. “We’re anticipating it will happen. Albany’s been very quiet about it, and I’m taking that as ‘no news is good news.’”

Casali said the district administration’s faith in state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport), the majority leader who previously called the aid restoration a “top priority” this year, paid off during the budget process.

“From the very beginning we’ve done the budget assuming that Flanagan and everybody [else who] promised us this GEA, that they were going to make good on their promise, so we didn’t make any cuts in the budget,” Casali said.

School board President John Swenning expressed appreciation for the additional funds because the district can avoid cuts without presenting a budget to residents that would pierce the state-mandated tax levy increase cap.

The district will receive about $30 million in total state aid next year and will collect about $53.5 million from taxpayers.

“We appreciate what we get,” Swenning said on Monday. “Do we want more? Yes. Do we think we deserve more? … Yes, but we’re not going to be greedy and we’ll say thank you for all that we get.”

Residents will vote on the adopted budget on May 17. Polls at Comsewogue High School will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

by -
0 1827
Cheryl Pedisich speaks at the podium after receiving the first-ever Administrator of the Year award from the New York State School Counselor Association. Photo by Andrea Moore Paldy

As New York State lawmakers wrapped up the budget last week, they approved the end of the Gap Elimination Adjustment, a measure that took money from school aid packages to supplement the state budget.

To the relief of school districts across the state, remaining Gap Elimination Adjustment funds will be restored to 2016-17 budgets.

For Three Village, which has lost $34.7 million to the GEA since its inception in 2009-10, the district will receive a total aid package of $46.5 million — a $6.6 million bump from last year. This amount includes the $3.3 million in restored funds, as well as a $2.9 million increase in building aid for the 2014 bond.

The district’s cap on the increase to the tax levy is 2.41 percent and will not require Three Village to cut programs to meet the cap. Instead, said Jeff Carlson, assistant superintendent for business services, the district will restore a number of positions. 

Speaking at last week’s school board meeting, Carlson said that at the secondary level, the district would bring back assistant coaches for junior varsity football and lacrosse, as well as for winter and spring track. These positions will enhance safety, supervision and instruction, he said.

At an earlier meeting, Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich said administrators would reassign 3.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching positions to academic intervention services (AIS) at the elementary level and 1.6 FTEs at the secondary level to rebuild Ward Melville’s business department. There will also be a .4 FTE increase for American Sign Language. 

The board will adopt the budget for the upcoming school year at its April 13 meeting. The public vote will be on May 17. 

Also on the May ballot is a separate transportation proposition to eliminate minimum distance requirements for busing. The measure would allow the district to provide busing for all students.

Currently, all elementary students are bused. Junior high students must live at least a mile away from school and high schoolers a mile and a half away to get transportation. School administrators believe that offering transportation to all students will address safety concerns about narrow, winding streets without sidewalks and crossing busy roads like Nicolls Road. 

If the proposition passes, it would cost $160,000 to add two buses. The addition of the buses would generate $70,000 in transportation aid from the state, Carlson said. 

Taxpayers will also elect two trustees to the school board on May 17.  Following former board member Susanne Mendelson’s resignation last month, the board decided to keep the seat open until the May 17 vote.  Board president Bill Connors said the person with the highest votes would finish out Mendelson’s term, which ends June 30.   

In other financial news, district officials finalized a five-year contract with the Three Village Teachers Association. There will be no salary increase for the first year, 2016-2017, followed by a 1 percent raise each year after, as well as a 2.5 percent step increase for longevity for up to 30 years, Carlson said.

Department updates

The chairs of the foreign language departments at the three secondary schools gave an overview of the departments’ offerings, which now include American Sign Language in the ninth grade. The district also offers French, Italian and Spanish, beginning in seventh grade and continuing to the Advanced Placement level. 

The district hopes to add “one of the less commonly taught languages such as Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Farsi or Japanese” in the future, the administrators said. 

Social workers and school psychologists also outlined their roles within the school community. Each school has at least one full-time psychologist and a social worker, they said.  Dawn Mason, executive director of pupil personnel services, said district psychologists “partner with families and administrators and teachers to create safe, healthy, learning environments.”

by -
0 203
Assemblyman Steve Englebright speaks in opposition of the Gap Elimination Adjustment during a 2013 protest against the state school aid cut. File photo by Rohma Abbas

New York State is doing away with a funding cut that has kept billions of dollars out of schools, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced last week.

Legislators recently agreed on a state budget that would end the Gap Elimination Adjustment, a deduction taken out of each school district’s aid for the last several years, originally enacted to close a state budget deficit.

Parents, educators and even legislators have long been advocating for the adjustment’s finish but the push became a shove after state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport), the majority leader, sponsored legislation to get rid of it. Flanagan called axing the Gap Elimination Adjustment his “top education funding priority” earlier this year.

“We will not pass any budget that does not fully eliminate it this year,” he said. The deduction “has been hurting schools and students for way too long and it is past time that we end it once and for all.”

Over the past five years, legislators had reduced the total statewide deduction from $3 billion to $434 million. In the next school year, it will be removed all together.

“Over the years, the GEA forced many school districts to cut educational programs and reduce services,” Sen. Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) said in a statement. “This restoration of aid will greatly help local school districts, and our taxpayers, with the budget funds necessary to educate our children.”

State school aid is projected to increase to almost $25 billion overall — and Long Island is slated to get $3 billion of that.

The New York State School Boards Association noted that the additional aid comes just as the state’s almost 700 school districts are grappling with a “record low” cap on how much they can increase their tax levies, a limit mandated by the state.

“The infusion of state aid will help them preserve student programs and services while still keeping property taxes in check,” the group’s executive director, Timothy G. Kremer, said in a statement.

However, the association said the state should “make sensible adjustments” to the tax levy cap, suggesting officials no longer use the rate of inflation as the standard for setting the limit each year.

by -
0 3068
Superintendent Ken Bossert. Photo by Eric Santiago

Superintendent Ken Bossert announced on Friday that the 2015-16 school year would be his last with Port Jefferson.

According to a letter distributed to the community, he was appointed the new superintendent in Elwood, and plans to submit his letter of resignation to the Port Jefferson school board at its April meeting.

Bossert, a Port Jefferson resident, took over the helm five years ago. Financially, it has been a time of uncertainty, as the school district waits, along with the rest of the community, to learn the fate of the aging local power plant, whose property taxes fund almost half of the school district’s budget.

In addition to receiving Bossert as a new arrival, during his tenure parents and teachers have also seen changes in leadership at each school building.

At the elementary school level, the district brought in Principal Tom Meehan. When former middle and high school principal Roseann Cirnigliaro retired, the district brought in Antonio Santana at the middle school and Matthew Murphy at the high school, both of whom have since moved on to other schools.

Students now have Principal Christine Austen in the high school and Principal Robert Neidig at the middle school.

Bossert said in his farewell letter to the community on Friday, “With the current leadership team in place, I know that the district is in very capable hands.”

He called working in Port Jefferson “an honor and a privilege” and thanked the students, parents and staff for their support over the years.

Bossert will make the jump to Elwood in July. The school board there has appointed him to a five-year term as their superintendent, according to a board agenda posted on the Elwood district website.

by -
0 234
Kids relax at a previous fun run for the Royal Educational Foundation. Photo from Jill Russell

The Royal Educational Foundation is hosting its third annual Power of One Family Fun Run on Saturday, April 16, to benefit the Port Jefferson school district.

According to the event flyer, the 2-mile run is meant to “encourage physical activity and is intended to celebrate the positive influence we can have on one another within our families and community.” The course starts at 8:30 a.m. at the Port Jefferson Village Center on East Broadway and goes through the streets of the village, ending at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School on Old Post Road.

Proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward the foundation’s efforts to improve the school district. Each runner or walker is $15, while families cost $50.

People of all ages are welcome to participate, and can register between 7:30 and 8 a.m. at the Village Center. Participants should check in no later than 8:15 a.m. Everyone will get a fun run T-shirt before the start of the race.

by -
0 2302
Smithtown Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Bradshaw. File photo by Rachel Shapiro

Smithtown students have been told for a long time their personal phones, tablets and other electronic devices are not allowed in school. In April, that is going to change.

Assistant superintendent for instruction for the district, Jennifer Bradshaw, announced at a board of education meeting on March 22 Smithtown will be opening free internal Wi-Fi for students and allow access via personal electronic devices beginning next month. In addition, every student will be assigned an internal email address that will allow messages to be sent from student to student, or student to teacher. The new initiative is for students in grades six through 12.

“This is going to increase their ability to work collaboratively and communicate with teachers and other students about the work that they’re doing in school,” Bradshaw said on March 22. “Again, it’s entirely internal. There’s not going to be any access to outside email accounts. I’m pretty excited about this expansion … it’s a very logical next step.”

Bradshaw said a Google for Education application would host the email addresses. Google for Education was designed to “provide easy tools to engage students anytime, anywhere, on any device,” according to its website. Bradshaw also said the district already uses Google Classroom, which provides applications to allow teachers to assign work and for students to submit assignments as a collaborative tool.

The Wi-Fi access will be filtered, as is Internet access on existing school computers and devices. Social media sites and applications Facebook and Snapchat will be blocked, though Twitter, Instagram and YouTube will be allowed for educational use.

Bradshaw said use of this technology for educational purposes is a valuable tool for students to learn.

“It’s used in at least three-fourths of the top 20 schools that we send our students off to,” Bradshaw said about applications through Google for Education. “It’s really great preparation for them, but beyond that it’s really great for collaboration now.”

School board President Christopher Alcure expressed excitement about the possibilities technology present as a resource for education.

“It’s fantastic that we’re getting them started young,” Alcure said, and added his sixth-grader frequently has to submit assignments through Google Classroom. “I’m all for it.”

In October, about 20 students from Smithtown and Kings Park schools were suspended when explicit content involving three underage students from unspecified districts was spread electronically across the two districts. The incident, referred to as a sexting scandal, occurred off of school grounds. Two 14-year-old Smithtown High School boys were arrested and charged with disseminating indecent material to minors and promoting a sexual performance by a child as a result of the incident.

“Part of our responsibility as a school district is to teach digital citizenship — how to use electronic tools responsibly as well as productively,” Bradshaw said in an email Monday. “It is part of our greater mission to create responsible citizens. We will, of course, support this expansion with continued education about how to use the tools effectively and responsibly.”

The district already has a section in its code of conduct about the acceptable use of technology, which Bradshaw said students would be required to agree to each time they attempt to gain access to the school’s network.

by -
0 1711
The Northport Public Library. File photo from library

It’s budget season for libraries across Huntington Town, and they’re looking to keep costs low.

The Northport-East Northport Public Library has proposed an overall lower budget, but with a slight increase in the tax levy. The total budget is an approximate $160,000 decrease from last year’s; however, the board is proposing to collect $21,000 more in taxes than the year before.

Among the reasons for this is the fact that the library had $165,000 in unrestricted fund appropriation for last year’s budget, but not this year. Compared to revenues collected last year, the library expects to collect about $181,000 less.

The biggest costs for this year’s budget include employee salaries, health insurance, books and electronic resources.

Northport-East Northport 30-year-resident Margaret Hartough is running for re-election as library trustee. She is currently the head of the teen services department at the Half Hollow Hills Community Library.

“The Northport-East Northport Public Library has always been a special place for me and my family,” she said in a statement. “My children spent many hours at the library, and benefited from all the great resources and wonderful programs. I believe the library is truly the heart of the community and strong libraries build strong communities.”

Over at Huntington Public Library, the board of trustees has proposed a 0 percent increase for the budget; asking residents to approve the same approximate $8.8 million budget as last year.

The Harborfields Public Library. File photo
The Harborfields Public Library. File photo

Compared to the 2015-16 budget, building renovation costs are less than half of last year’s, with a difference of about $540,000. This contributes to the 0 percent overall increase. Costs are also going down by 80 percent for printing supplies and 100 percent for bibliographic utility, which is a service that provides record keeping.

Library trustee incumbent Charles Rosner is running unopposed for re-election. He first joined the board in 2011. Rosner received an MBA from Harvard Business School and before retiring in 2002 was a CEO at Gemcoware in Hauppauge.

Harborfields Public Library is following suit with Huntington and proposing a 0 percent increase for its 2016-17 budget, with a $4.8 million overall total. Most of the library’s costs mirror last year’s numbers, with the biggest difference in retirement and health insurance. Retirement costs decreased by $83,000, and health insurance costs increased by $50,000.

Centerport resident David Clemens is running for a seat in the Harborfields Public Library board of trustees. He previously served as a trustee for the Huntington Historical Society and the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association. Clemens is currently a trustee of the Suffolk County Historical Society and chairman of the library committee there.

Finishing out the Huntington area is Cold Spring Harbor Library, with a proposed budget of about $2 million and an overall 0 percent increase. By far the biggest item on the budget is salaries for employees, which comes in at just over $1 million.

According to the library’s website, highlights of the budget include supporting vital programs like free e-books and homework help.

Residents can cast their votes on Tuesday, April 5, at their respective libraries.

by -
0 1711

After three years, Rocky Point Board of Education President Susan Sullivan will run for re-election.

Those who are eligible to apply for the position can do so by April 18. The new term begins on July 1, and ends on June 30, 2019. Board of education candidates, including incumbents, can pick up applications from and submit them to Patricia Jones, Rocky Point’s district clerk.

Candidates must be United States citizens, be at least 18 years old, be qualified voters in the district and live in the area continuously for at least one year before the election, according to the New York State School Boards Association requirements. Although Sullivan and other board members declined to comment on her seat prior to the application deadline, board Vice President Scott Reh said Sullivan, who has lived in the district for decades, brings knowledge and experience to the board.

“It’s been wonderful,” Reh said about having Sullivan on the board. “She’s upfront, she’s honest [and] she cares about the community, the students [and] the school district.”

Sullivan’s lived in the area since 1985. She worked for the district for 32 years as a teacher and eight years as an assistant principal before she retired as an educator. She first ran for her seat on the board in 2013, against teaching aid Jessica Ward.

Once a candidate files their application, he or she must also disclose their campaign expenses in a sworn statement filed with district clerk. Once elected to the seat, new board members undergo mandatory training from the New York State School Boards Association during their first year on the board. The association was founded in 1896 in Utica and serves more than 650 boards of education.

School boards are usually composed of community volunteers. The boards oversee and manage the public school system in their respective school districts. Board members serve varying terms between three and five years to ensure that all board seats aren’t open at the same time.

Boards are tasked with creating school budgets, hiring and maintaining a superintendent and improving the institution to help students advance. Around 25 voters, or two percent of those who voted in the previous election, must sign the application.

The applications must include the candidate’s name and residence, the vacant seat, name of the incumbent, residences of those who signed the applications and the length of term the candidate seeks.

Candidates can submit applications no later than 5 p.m. on April 18. For more information, contact Jones at 631-849-7243.

by -
0 1529
Above, Chris McCrary is running for a spot on the Comsewogue library board. His opponent, Richard Evans, did not provide a photo to the library. File photo

Comsewogue and Port Jefferson readers will vote on their libraries’ budgets on April 5, as well as one board trustee.

Ali Gordon, the library board president in Comsewogue who also serves on the school board, is not running for another term and two candidates are vying for the library seat she will vacate at the end of June, following a seven-year stint on that board.

Richard Evans, 50, is running for the five-year seat because, “I would like to be of service to my community,” according to a candidate profile on the Comsewogue library website. He listed his occupation as a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service, saying that role has given him experience interacting with the public.

In addition, he said, “My experience as a computer forensic examiner gives me insight and growth of electronic media and its uses.”

He has lived in the district since 2011, and is an assistant coach with the Terryville Soccer Club.

Chris McCrary, 49, on the other hand, is running because, “Comsewogue Public Library has been a huge part of my life since I joined the summer reading club in 1971.”

According to his own candidate profile, the longtime resident and high school biology teacher wants to share his passion for reading and show kids “the tremendous resource they have in our own backyard.”

McCrary’s name may be familiar to some voters — in addition to coaching soccer and lacrosse in the area over the years, he has run a couple of times for the Comsewogue school board, albeit unsuccessfully.

Comsewogue budget

As residents vote for a trustee, they will also be asked to cast ballots for a proposed $5.4 million budget.

While that number represents a decrease from last year’s budget total, taxes would go up slightly, mainly because the library would pull less money from its reserves to fund the budget. According to a library brochure, the district is asking to collect 1 percent more in taxes in 2016-17 — a number significantly less than its state-mandated levy cap of 1.48 percent would allow.

If the budget passes, residents would pay almost $0.13 more for every $100 of their homes’ assessed values.

The library plans to spend more on its materials and programs next year and less on staffing and mandated expenses.

According to library Director Debbie Engelhardt, both library visits and overall circulation of library materials has increased since last year.

Port Jefferson budget

Over in Port Jefferson, the library is proposing a nearly $4.2 million budget, which also represents a decrease from the current year’s spending plan. In this library’s case, however, taxes would remain about the same in 2016-17.

According to a library brochure, Port Jefferson has seen savings from retirements. In addition, “a reasonable conclusion of collective bargaining negotiations also helps keep costs in line.”

One budget line that would increase is in programs, which would go up almost $18,000, while costs for books, audio and visual materials and periodicals would all decrease. The brochure said further movement toward cheaper digital formats has contributed to that shift.

If the budget is approved, each resident would pay about $12.54 for every $100 of a home’s assessed value.

Voting at the Comsewogue library on Terryville Road in Port Jefferson Station will take place on Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Polls will be open at the Port Jefferson library on Thompson Street from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

by -
0 246
Xavier Palacios file photo by Rohma Abbas

Huntington school district may soon make ramps and restrooms more accessible to people with disabilities.

The school board approved the addition of the capital reserve proposition to the May 17 ballot with a six to one vote at a meeting on March 21.

If passed, the proposition would use almost $2.5 million of the district’s building improvement fund, or capital reserve, to update eight Huntington schools and make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Superintendent Jim Polansky said the desire to become compliant with the ADA was not mandated, but it’s possible the state could block other capital improvement propositions if ADA requirements within a district are not met.

“There are some needs that really should have been addressed as far back as 20 years ago,” Polansky said at the meeting. “We’re not looking to refit the entire building. We’re looking to just put the basics in place. Those basics are ramps and at least one bathroom.”

Polansky said there are contingency plans in place for emergencies that might arise during the course of a school year which would require a ramp in or out of a Huntington district building, but this proposition would provide permanent solutions.

J. Taylor Finley Middle School, Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School and Flower Hill Primary School are among several of the buildings that would be equipped with ADA-compliant restrooms. ADA-compliant ramps would be added to a few schools, including Woodhull Intermediate School, Jefferson Primary School and Huntington High School. The high school would also get an ADA-compliant wheelchair lift and a compliant locker room restroom.

Xavier Palacios was the lone board member against adding the proposition to the ballot.

“These ADA requirements or suggestions have been around for almost two decades and we’ve submitted several capital proposals and they’ve never been stopped in the past, have they?” Palacios asked prior to the vote.

Polansky called it a roll of the dice to submit a different capital proposition to the state prior to making the ADA-compliant upgrades. “Aside from the fact that I think it’s the right thing to do,” he added.

“How do we prioritize this over needing a new roof?” Palacios asked.

Another board member, Jennifer Hebert, weighed in on the discussion.

“We don’t want to have a student showing up needing these kinds of accommodations and have to be retrofitting it as they’re in the building,” Hebert said. “We should do it now, so that if and when we have students that have these needs, we’ve already got everything equipped for them in the building.”

The state comptroller’s office released an audit report in March, which concluded Huntington exceeded the amount of money legally allowed in capital reserves for the previous three school years. By law, a district cannot have more than 4 percent of the ensuing school year’s budget saved in capital reserves, according to the report. Any money over that limit must be used to make improvements in the district. Thus, this proposition would help the district use the money currently sitting in its reserve fund.

Prev1...166167168...197Next Page 167 of 197
TBR News Media is your local news and entertainment website.
We provide you with the latest breaking news and information for your community.
Contact us: [email protected]

Most Viewed

©