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Harborfields High School. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Full-day kindergarten is one of the several new programs featured on the adopted 2016-17 budget for the Harborfields Central School District.

The board of education presented a cap-piercing $82.8 million budget last night, with a 1.52 percent increase to the tax levy cap.

Francesco Ianni, assistant superintendent for administration and human resources, speaks during the budget presentation. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Francesco Ianni, assistant superintendent for administration and human resources, speaks during the budget presentation. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

The district has been looking at several options for a budget this year, some that stay within the .37 percent state-mandated tax levy cap and maintain current programs, and others that go above the cap but add new programs and features to the district.

The adopted budget included a new music elective at the high school, third grade string, a teacher’s aide testing room at Oldfield Middle School and a BOCES cultural arts program.

Since this proposed budget is higher than the tax levy cap, the budget will require a 60 percent supermajority of voter approval, and taxpayers in the area will not be eligible for the $130 state tax rebate, which is part of a state incentive program that encourages municipalities to comply with the cap in exchange for the tax rebates.

Board member Hansen Lee said he thinks the community will get behind this budget.

“I’m really optimistic that this budget will pass,” Lee said at the meeting. “We’re Harborfields, we always come together for the success of our kids and the greater good. Most of all I want to say thank you to the community for your continued input in the entire process.”

Many residents have said they will stand behind the budget due to the inclusion of full-day kindergarten, which the district said would cost about $600,000.

Members of the group Fair Start: Harborfields Residents for Full-Day Kindergarten, traveled to Albany in March, hoping to spread awareness of their efforts to support full-day kindergarten on a state stage.

Board member Suzie Lustig said it is time for full-day kindergarten.

“[Full-day kindergarten] is part of a 21st century education,” she said at the meeting. “It’s part of what our future is. The time is now to be progressive.”

Board member Donald W. Mastroianni recorded the only vote against the adopted budget.

“In my opinion, a budget that stays within the cap this year would absolutely be an educationally sounds and fiscally responsible budget,” he said. “And it will continue to fully support the excellence of Harborfields. I cannot support the budget proposed that would pierce the cap this year and I will be voting no.”

This year, the district received nearly $16 million in state aid, which will make up about 19 percent of the budget, according to the district. The 2016-17 tax levy of $62.1 million will make up 75 percent of the budget, and the final 6 percent will come from reserves and fund balance.

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Huntington High School. File photo.

Huntington is investing in their students with a $123.1 million budget that the school board adopted at its meeting on Monday night.

The 2016-17 budget total is 2.25 percent higher than the current year’s budget, with the most significant cost increases coming from instruction and curriculum-related programs.

Superintendent Jim Polansky said the district is dedicated to offering the most effective tools it can for students.

“[Members of the board and community] don’t get a chance to compare what we have here and what is available in other districts, but I’ve had the privilege of working in, [for] over 26 years, more than one school district and I can tell you, what we do here is we pay for student interests and needs,” Polansky added. “We try to put something in place that will appeal to every student that goes to school in Huntington.”

Some of the expenses being added for 2016-17 include improvements to computer-assisted instruction, through equipment upgrades and repairs; programs for students with disabilities; additional funding for the district’s robotics program; and a new Advanced Placement research course.

“This works more like a process-oriented course,” Polansky said of the program. “We feel that this … program is going to add a dimension that we have not touched upon until now.”

Some of the budget increase can also be attributed to contracted salary raises and additional social security and health care costs.

However, even with those cost increases, the district will stay within the state-imposed cap on tax levy increases — the schools will only collect 1.61 percent more in taxes next year.

Polansky said throughout the budget process that the administration’s goal was to adopt a budget below that cap, and as a result residents will again receive a rebate check from New York State — if voters approve the adopted budget — under a state incentive program that encourages municipalities to comply with the cap in exchange for the tax rebates.

Apart from taxes, the district is funding its additional expenditures through additional state aid.

After years of deducting aid funds from school districts around New York through a cut called the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which was designed to balance the state budget, legislators this year restored the aid dollars — giving Long Island school districts a $3 billion boost, when added to other increases in state aid. Huntington received nearly $2 million in additional state funding for the upcoming school year thanks to that restoration.

Residents will vote on the budget on May 17, as well as a second proposition that would release money from the district’s capital reserves to fund upgrades across the district to make buildings compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

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A new school policy regarding transgender students includes information about bathroom accommodations. File photo

By Elana Glowatz

One school district is standardizing the way it serves transgender students.

A new school policy regarding transgender students includes information about bathroom accommodations. File photo
A new school policy regarding transgender students includes information about bathroom accommodations. File photo

Port Jefferson school board members approved a policy at their meeting a week ago that puts rules on the books for how district officials should interact with and accommodate transgender students, including on the way those students are referenced in school records and what bathroom and locker room facilities they can use.

The Gay-Straight Alliance student club helped the board of education’s policy committee craft the policy proposal, which was first introduced to the public in March before being approved on April 12.

For students who want to be identified by a gender other than the one associated with their sex at birth now have a right, under the new school district rules, to meet with their principal to discuss names, pronouns and designations in their school records; restroom and locker room access; and participation in sports, among other topics. They could change those gender designations in their records if they provide two official forms of identification indicating the new gender and legal proof of a change in name or gender.

Other school districts on the North Shore have attempted to make rules for transgender students in recent years, but faced backlash from the community. In Port Jefferson, however, the policy was presented and approved at two meetings without much fanfare and with no dissent. Superintendent Ken Bossert said in March that he attributed the quiet to Port Jefferson officials using community input to create the policy and to the policy committee starting the effort on its own, rather than as a response to the needs of a specific student.

“That can be very sensitive when the community is fully aware of children who are involved in the discussion and that’s what I really wanted to avoid here,” he said.

The new policy, in fact, dictates that a student’s transgender status should be kept as private as possible, apart from necessary communication to staffers “so they may respond effectively and appropriately to issues arising in the school.”

What’s changing with new transgender policy

• Transgender or gender nonconforming students can request a meeting with their principal to talk about their needs
• Gender designations can be changed in school records if documentation is provided
• Port Jefferson school officials must accept the gender identity of any student
• Students’ transgender status must be kept as private as possible

It also requires the district to accept any student’s gender identity.

“There is no medical or mental health diagnosis or treatment threshold that students must meet in order to have their gender identity recognized and respected,” the policy reads. “Every effort should be made to use the preferred names and pronouns consistent with a student’s gender identity. While inadvertent slips or honest mistakes may occur, the intentional and persistent refusal to respect a student’s gender identity is a violation of school district policy.”

When the policy was proposed in March, Gay-Straight Alliance President Emma Martin said the policy “could be the difference between whether a student feels safe in the school, whether their learning is hindered or it’s enriched, whether they graduate high school or even if their life could be saved.”

The high school senior expressed appreciation that the policy would be in place after she graduates and school board Trustee Adam DeWitt, head of the policy committee, called her club’s help crucial to the process.

“Your contributions and the students’ contributions as well as the staff were critical in the wording … so your legacy and the legacy of the students and the staff that helped us create this will live on for a long time.”

Accommodation for transgender people has been an issue on the national stage in recent days, as North Carolina faces backlash for its own new set of rules that, among other provisions, blocks people from using a public restroom designated for a different sex, regardless of their gender identity.

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A scene at the 52nd Cold Spring Harbor High School commencement on Sunday, June 14. Photo by Karen Spehler
Robert Fenter, left, is welcomed as the new Superintendent of the Cold Spring Harbor Central School District by board of education President Robert C. Hughes. Photo from Cold Spring Harbor Central School District
Robert Fenter, left, is welcomed as the new Superintendent of the Cold Spring Harbor Central School District by board of education President Robert C. Hughes. Photo from Cold Spring Harbor Central School District

By Victoria Espinoza

Cold Spring Harbor schools have a new superintendent.

Robert Fenter, who comes from Oceanside School District as assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and research, was appointed at a meeting on April 14 to take over for current Superintendent Dr. Judith Wilansky starting July 1.

In a statement, Fenter said his past dealings with various district officials made him happy to be coming aboard.

“The Cold Spring Harbor Central School District is one that is well known for its commitment to excellence,” Fenter. “My interactions with the school leaders, teachers, staff, and parents whom I have met thus far have provided me with a glimpse into the very special place that I will officially become part of in just a few short months. I am grateful to the board of education for providing me with the opportunity to serve in the capacity of superintendent of schools as I will work closely with the entire community to continue the tradition of quality programs, all for the benefit of our students.”

Wilansky will be retiring from her post after eight years as superintendent. She was the first female superintendent Cold Spring Harbor appointed, and served for the second-longest term in the district since her 2000 appointment as a central office administrator.

“I have been most impressed by the board’s efforts to ensure a comprehensive and rigorous search process,” she said in a statement. “I congratulate Mr. Fenter on his successful candidacy and am confident that our schools will continue to flourish under his leadership.”

Cold Spring Harbor Superintendent Judith Wilansky is leaving her position next school year. Photo from Karen Spehler
Cold Spring Harbor Superintendent Judith Wilansky is leaving her position next school year. Photo from Karen Spehler

Board of Education President Robert C. Hughes said Fenter was the obvious choice to replace Wilansky, during the board’s months-long search.

“Throughout the interview process, it was clear that Mr. Fenter possesses those qualifications,” he said in a statement. “Mr. Fenter joins us as an extremely well-respected educator.”

Fenter will be the 10th superintendent for the district. He currently serves as president of the Nassau County Assistant Superintendent’s Organization and has served as the New York State Education Department’s liaison for middle level education, students ages 10 to 15, from 2001 through 2009. He is also a past president of the Nassau County Middle Level Principal’s Association and was a state education department representative for the Schools-to-Watch Visitation team.In a previous interview, Wilansky said she would miss the students the most.

“I’ve been here long enough to see children go through their entire school career,” she said. “I was at the middle school’s winter concert recently and it dawned one me that I would miss their graduation, and that’s what I’ll miss the most — seeing these kids graduate and having the opportunity to watch them grow up.”

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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

Bolstered by a $6.6 million bump in aid from the state, Three Village adopted April 13 a $198.8 million budget for the upcoming school year that school administrators say will enhance the district’s programs. There is also a plan to add transportation options for students not previously not included.

Included in the $46.5 million aid package is a $2.9 million increase in building aid to defray costs for payments on the bond, which are due in the coming year. The aid contributes to the tax levy increase — 2.3 percent — being lower than the budget increase, 4.85 percent, said Jeff Carlson, assistant superintendent for business services.

The end of the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which took money from school aid to supplement the state budget, has brought a $3.3 million windfall to the district. Since its inception during the 2009-10 school year, Three Village has lost $32.4 million, Carlson said.

Carlson said the district will not need to reduce services to stay within the 2.41 percent tax cap — the allowable amount by which the tax levy can increase.

Residents, though, will vote on a separate proposition that could raise the tax levy to the cap. The proposal is to eliminate the minimum distance students must live to get bus transportation. If the measure passes, all junior high and high school students, who currently live too close to their schools to be eligible, will get transportation. The cost will be $160,000 for two additional buses, which will raise the tax levy increase to 2.41 percent.

While the overall budget would increase to $198.9 million, the district will get an additional $70,000 from the state for transportation. Carlson said that providing bus transportation for all students would address safety concerns about crossing busy streets such as Nicolls Road and walking along narrow, sidewalk-less roads, such as Christian Avenue and Quaker Path.

Not only will the district not need to cut programs to remain within the cap, the administration is recommending that positions be added — or reinstated — to enhance existing programs. In addition to the increased aid from the state, a decrease in payments to the employee retirement systems by $1.1 million, as well as declining enrollment, will help to make this feasible.

Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich said there will be a decrease in the number of elementary students in the district by about 120 to 125 children next year. She recommended the reassignment of 3.0 full-time equivalent teaching positions to academic intervention services at the elementary level instead of laying off staff. Additionally, some of the restored GEA money would go toward two more positions so that each of the five elementary schools would have its own AIS specialist. This would put the district in compliance with AIS and response to intervention mandates, as well as provide the “kind of support that our students need in terms of their mathematical studies,” Pedisich said.

The superintendent’s recommendations also include adding 1.6 FTEs at the secondary level to rebuild Ward Melville’s business department into a “robust” program, with offerings such as virtual enterprise and web and app design; a 0.4 FTE increase to American Sign Language, which has been extended to the junior highs; and a 0.8 FTE increase to expand the high school writing center and to start writing centers at both junior high schools.

Pedisich also noted that there would be a new computer science course at the two junior highs to bridge the elementary STEM program and the reinstated AP computer science class offered at the high school. No additional staff will be needed for this program, she said.

The new budget also covers a second technology lead to provide professional development to faculty and a mentor/behavioral consultant for special education, the largest department in the district, Pedisich said.

Three Village will also bring back assistant coaches for safety, supervision and instruction and will add a “floating” nurse, an assistant director of facilities and an additional 2.0 FTEs for clerical staff in the music and instructional technology departments.

Pedisich assured the school board that all positions are sustainable. “The last thing we want to do is add something and then pull it away two years later,” she said.

The district, which is reimbursed for 66 percent of the cost of its capital projects, has planned a number of upgrades. The projects include reconfiguring the Setauket Elementary School bus loop for better traffic flow, adding air conditioners to the elementary school auditoriums and junior high cafeterias, and adding a generator at W.S. Mount Elementary School. Also proposed are a career and technology education classroom at the North Country administration building, and plumbing repairs and asbestos abatement throughout the district.

The public will vote on the budget and two board seats on May 17. Voting will take place at local elementary schools. This year, for security reasons, people who usually vote at Arrowhead Elementary will go to Ward Melville High School, and those who normally vote at W.S. Mount Elementary will do so at Murphy Junior High. The change comes because the layout of the schools requires voters to walk through the buildings to get to the polling stations, and security is not allowed to ask for identification.

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Port Jefferson High School. File photo by Elana Glowatz

School officials in Port Jefferson have finalized a budget that carries a slight increase in taxes and maintains the status quo in classrooms.

The board of education adopted a $41.4 million spending plan during its meeting on April 12, a number that represents a small decrease from the current year’s budget total — nearly $1 million — despite the opposite trajectory of taxes.

That divergence stems from a change in spending next year. In a presentation to the board, Assistant Superintendent for Business Sean Leister said the district would not spend as much on capital projects next year and should see a drop in its debt repayments. The new high school elevator, which has yet to be completed after being funded in the current year’s budget, was one big-ticket item that would not be repeated in 2016-17, Leister said.

Those expense decreases will help offset increases in other areas, such as health insurance payments, utilities and transportation costs, the district said.

Also helping out in the budget, which will maintain academic programs and staffing levels, is an increase in state aid, which Leister estimated at 4.68 percent for Port Jefferson.

After years of deducting aid funds from school districts around New York through a cut called the Gap Elimination Adjustment to balance the state budget, legislators this year restored the aid dollars — giving Long Island school districts a $3 billion boost, when added to other increases in state aid.

With the adjustment eliminated, Leister said the district is able to put its share of the money toward online professional development, special education integration in the elementary school and updating its voting system.

Taxes will increase $0.81 next year for every $100 of assessed value on a property within the school district.

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Superintendent James Grossane file photo

District administration fears financial “doom and gloom” might be on the horizon for the Smithtown school district.

The Smithtown board of education voted unanimously to adopt Superintendent James Grossane’s proposed $236,027,619 budget for the 2016-17 school year at a meeting Tuesday.

Thanks to a full restoration of the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which was enacted six years ago in an effort to close a state budget deficit by deducting funds from each school district’s state aid allotment, the budget includes some additional expenditures for 2016-17, despite what could be a perfect storm of financial stress for the district.

That decision added approximately $3.2 million in revenue to Smithtown’s budget for the upcoming school year. However, both Grossane and Andrew Tobin, the district’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations, said they are concerned that will be the final increase in state aid they will receive for the foreseeable future.

“The reality is, where is the future aid going to come from?” Tobin said during the board of education meeting Tuesday. “We know foundation aid historically has been directed to high-need districts, not to districts such as Smithtown. So we’re concerned, just like we were with the [Gap Elimination Adjustment] that we’ll be last in line to get future foundation aid increases. That’s the general concern going forward, that we might be solely reliant on tax levy revenue to help out our budgets going forward.”

In addition, the district benefitted during this budget season from a relatively low pension payment requirement, a perk that can’t be counted on every year. Grossane said he’s bracing for the possibility of a negative tax levy increase cap at some point in the coming years, because the district has a $2 million bond from the early 2000s coming off the books. That will result in an equal reduction to both expenses and revenue, though it will impact the tax levy increase cap. The district will look to rebuild their depleted capital reserve funds to address building repairs at multiple schools that have been neglected.

“These are all realities, and when they’re going to happen, we’re not sure,” Grossane said. “Hopefully never, but they are happening [to other districts in the state]. We can’t say that they’re not. It is very important, as we plan for the future, that we keep those things in mind.”

School board trustee Grace Plourde spoke Tuesday about the years leading up to the enactment of the state-mandated cap on tax levy increases in 2011.

“In the years running up to the tax cap, we had members of the board of education, who are no longer here, whose view was basically that anytime a school district put a little money in the bank, that was akin to theft,” Plourde said. “So they turned the district’s piggy bank upside down and shook it.”

Plourde also spoke about state laws that incentivize school district residents to vote against budgets that pierce the tax levy increase cap as well as limits on unassigned fund balance.

“It’s a little frustrating that every place we try to look to head off a problem, to prevent the day where we are going to have to make deep and painful cuts in program — like we’ve had to do in the past when we’ve had budget crises — every time we try to put a little money away or to do something to head off a crisis like that, we are thwarted by the state of New York,” she said.

The adopted budget will distribute money received from the restoration of the Gap Elimination Adjustment to one-time expenditures for 2016-17, rather than using it on programs that require yearly funding. Those expenditures include elementary and secondary staff development for teachers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) curriculum and investment in materials to help that development.

The board of education voted to close one of the district’s eight elementary schools for the 2017-18 school year as a cost-saving method in February. Parents against the closure spoke during the meeting in the hopes of convincing the board of education to reverse that decision in light of the unexpected spike in state aid for 2016-17. District administration and members of the board of education gave no indication that they would reconsider the closure.

The vote to approve the 2016-17 adopted budget is on May 17.

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Minnie the cow. File photo

An East Setauket farm’s way of life has been under attack, and its owners are fighting back.

An online petition with more than 2,000 digital signatures spurred protestors to take to Benner’s Farm in East Setauket this week with hopes of convincing its ownership to save 2-year-old Minnie the cow from slaughter to feed the Benner family, which has lived there for 40 years. But Bob Benner said the outcry was misled and not in-step with the sentiments of those actually living in the Three Village community.

“There have been literally thousands of people who have supported us and a majority of them live right here in the community,” he said. “The people that are trying to impose their values on us do not live here. We’re talking about a national group of people who have a direction — they’re trying to tell us how to live.”

The group Benner mentioned included names from all over the United States that made up the online petition calling for Benner’s to keep Minnie as a pet. A private Facebook page, “Save Minnie from Slaughter,” was also launched and collected more than 700 followers within days.

The entire debate started on April 2, when Jean Benner was taking a birthday party group on a common educational tour around Benner’s Farm, answering questions about what it is like to live on a farm. One mother, Kimberly Sherriton of Commack, asked about the fate of the cow, and was told it would be used to feed the Benner family. Sherriton offered to help Minnie find sanctuary where she can live out her life.

“Jean tried to explain the difference between an animal on a farm and a pet, explaining that our farm was a homestead where we raise animals for meat, as it has been since 1751,” Bob Benner said. “We grow and produce food for our family on our property.”

The next day, Sherriton and Bob Benner continued the conversation via telephone, ending in disagreement, the farmer said. Since then, the Benner family has been “inundated and harassed with phone calls, Facebook posts, bad reviews and threats all aiming to change our mind,” Bob Benner said.

“She is used as the face of the farm for all their educational programs, birthday parties and festivals…the events are too numerous to name,” the Change.org petition said. “She is quite personable and has been a wonderful animal ambassador for the ‘farm.’ The public was led to believe that this was a resident cow.”

Protestors with signs setup at the farm over the weekend, drawing attention to the East Setauket spot more commonly known for its peaceful landscape. But the Benner family said that while it was saddened by the public outcry, it was also touched by the support coming from Three Village natives.

“They understand that we care for the animals we raise, and also understand that some of them are being raised for meat,” Bob Benner said. “In part because of our farm, the families who spend time with us are able to have this connection to where food comes from. We are sympathetic that many people today do not have a direct connection to their food source. We get it. There is a disconnect for people, and that is hard. But we are farmers, and we do have that connection to our food.”

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P.J. Gelinas Junior High School. File photo

The Three Village School District is leaning on its counseling staff this week as it mourns a seventh-grader who collapsed in school last week and died, officials said.

Schools Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich took to the district’s website this week to commemorate student Gabriella Beals-Reid, who died at P..J. Gelinas Junior High School last Monday afternoon. Suffolk County police said they responded to calls from the school around 2 p.m. about a student in need of medical assistance.

Beals-Reid was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital soon after, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

In a statement, Pedisich said the district immediately implemented its crisis intervention plan and grief counselors to assist students and staff throughout the Three Village schools community.

“We are extremely saddened by this heartbreaking news,” she said. “A young person’s death is always tragic and a sudden loss like this can have a profound effect on the entire school community.”

In a letter penned to parents, students and staff throughout the Gelinas community, Pedisich and Principal William Bernhard described the seventh-grader as an aspiring writer and musician who exemplified hard work and dedication.

“Gabriella was a talented and avid creative writer, whose passion for the craft was inspiring to her classmates and teachers,” the letter said. “She was also a gifted musician who played the French horn with style and talent. A well-rounded young adult, Gabriella was respected among students and staff members alike and will be greatly missed.”

Upon Beals-Reid’s family’s approval, Bernhard said the district would keep the community updated with funeral arrangements and memorial services.

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Caroline Woo, above, plays with therapy dog Beau. She named her black Labrador stuffed animal after her regular reading companion, Malibu. Photo by Giselle Barkley

A book and a calm canine companion are all Caroline Woo needs to practice reading.

Every Thursday afternoon, this 11-year-old from Setauket visits the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library for its Books Are Read to K-9s program. Caroline joined the program and fell in love with it last November, after her mother, Eydie Woo, learned of the club. But BARK didn’t just allow her to interact with a calm canine, it also improved her reading skills.

Last month for her birthday, Caroline asked her friends and family to make a donation to the program instead of buying presents. The $270 she received went toward training more dogs for the club and other therapy dog-related programs. For Caroline, reading to Patchogue Rotary Animal Assisted Therapy certified dog Malibu, a black Labrador, helped her tackle the big words she struggled to say when reading out loud.

“Malibu, she’ll … just sit down and they’ll kind of listen and it is better because the dogs, they mostly maintain one expression,” Caroline said. “It’s easier since she’s less judgmental than people”

According to Malibu’s handler and owner Fred Dietrich, the program hasn’t only helped her reading skills, but it’s also boosted her confidence. He added that he’s seen Caroline become more outspoken since she joined BARK.

Her mother agreed with Dietrich, saying Caroline “feels comfortable with Malibu and it’s translating into other settings.” The fifth-grader met Malibu when she started the program and they’ve been regular reading partners since. Malibu, like all eight dogs involved in the reading program, is PRAAT certified.

Stony Brook resident Jo-Ann Goldwasser established the Doggie Reading Club program, which is called BARK at the library, three years ago after learning about a similar program in Chicago. The Windy City’s Sit Stay Read program has served kids in Chicago’s inner-city schools for several years. Goldwasser wanted to help children overcome their reading difficulties with this program. Her club started with Rocky Point Middle School’s sixth-grade students and has expanded to the Comsewogue school district, two schools in Brentwood as well as the library. She plans to establish the program in Hauppauge school district.

Goldwasser said the school and library programs are somewhat different.

“Children who generally like to read, who go to the library, think it’s kind of a fun thing to come to the library and read to a dog,” Goldwasser said. “In the schools however, we go into … the same classes … every other week. It’s more academic in that we listen to the same children read week after week; we know what they’re reading [and] we know how to help them.”

Fellow therapy dog handler Linda Devin-Sheehan said it’s hard to track the program’s success in the library because the club is only three-years-old. A lack of regulars like Caroline also makes it difficult to monitor a student’s improvement.

Parents must register their children to participate in the library’s program, which is held every Wednesday and Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the library’s kids’ section.

According to the handlers, a dog’s patience and calm demeanor are helpful to students like Caroline. While the program has helped Caroline in the past few months, she simply enjoys being around dogs as they come in various shapes, sizes and dispositions.

“You can see [a dog] on the street and pet it and get to know it for a short minute but … you can already tell that they’re such a sweet dog and it’s nice getting to meet a ton of different dogs,” Caroline said.

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