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Robert Niedig, Robin Hoolahan and Sean Leister deliver bags of food to students who need it. The program is expected to continue as long as the schools remained closed. Photo by Kyle Barr

Though schools in the Port Jefferson area may be closed, districts have been working constantly to get food to the children who may need it now more than ever.

Volunteers and staff help deliver meals at both JFK Middle School and the Comsewogue High School March 19. Photo by Leigh Powell

Port Jefferson Deputy Superintendent Sean Leister and a few volunteers stood inside the high school’s cafeteria Friday, March 20. For the weekend, the district was handing out three meals, one for Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. 

The program is based on the district’s previous reduced cost lunch program, but now its being donated to anybody 18 or under free. Nobody has to sign up, and nobody at the door checks if the person lives within the district.

“The program is not restricted, it’s for any child 18 and under that feels they have a need,” Leister said.

When school was normally in session, Leister said the district had 110 students signed up for the program, where around 65 normally picked it up. In the last week or so, the district has been producing around 50 to 60 meals each day. Middle School Principal Robert Neidig has also volunteered to deliver to those resident’s houses who said they were unable to come out to pick their meals up. He said families have been really appreciative, even one young girl who comes to the door so excited to see the meals he’s brought.

“It’s like if I were delivering them candy,” Neidig said.

Each bag comes with a sandwich, bagel or wrap, along with fruit and milk. Any untaken meals are being given to Infant Jesus RC Church for them to distribute any remaining food.

Leister said the district has also applied to New York State to allow them to make breakfast and dinner meals as well. Local residents can get these meals at the Port Jefferson High school from 11 to 1 p.m. on weekdays.

Meanwhile in the Comsewogue school district, staff and a score of volunteers worked Thursday, March 19 at two separate schools to donate around 1,800 meals to children in need within the district.

Volunteers and staff help deliver meals at both JFK Middle School and the Comsewogue High School March 19. Photo by Jennifer Quinn

Comsewogue School District Superintendent Jennifer Quinn said the staff took everything from the schools cafeterias and even raided the faculty food pantry. Originally the district thought they would be able to only give out 1,100, but they went far above what they expected. 

“This is one of the toughest things we’ve ever experienced — we will do what we need to do, together,” Quinn said. “We need to make sure our families are fed and our children are educated, and we are as whole as possible by the end of all this.”

Food included in bags were cold cuts, bread, apple sauce, juice, milk, cereal, cereal bars, and frozen hamburgers and meatballs. Staff and volunteers placed the bags inside the cars of those who drove up to the high school and JFK Middle School. Volunteers also drove meals to families who said they were unable to come by the two pickup locations.

There were around 30 volunteers who came by to offer aid. Quinn said they were offered aid by over 100 residents, but she felt she had to turn most away to try and reduce the chance of any kind of contagion.

The Comsewogue district is expecting nonprofit food bank Island Harvest to donate them another 300 meals come this Monday. Quinn added the district is likely to raid the cafeterias in the other schools, and should have another 1,100 meals after they receive aid from a New York State program giving food aid to schools during the mandated shutdown.

The Comsewogue School District is expecting to host its next bagged food drive Thursday, April 2.

 

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Northport Middle School closed after contamination concerns. File photo

Remediation work is currently underway at Northport Middle School, according to a district letter sent to parents March 12. The district also detailed that no toxic chemicals had reached the groundwater at the building.

Robert Banzer, superintendent of Northport-East Northport school district, said in the letter that an investigative data report from P.W. Grosser Consulting, of Bohemia, has been received and reviewed by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.

Banzer said in order to receive a “notice to remediate,” which would allow for remediation work to start from SCDHS, PWGC had to send investigative data directly to the county agency.

“The full comprehensive study [from PWGC] is expected to be completed and reported to the community in the next few weeks,” the superintendent added.

According to the letter, the remediation work will consist of pumping out the “contaminated” sludge or liquid from the septic tanks and leaching pools. An industrial waste transporter, licensed and approved by the state, will remove the waste. SCDHS will be on site during what is called “end point sampling” which is a confirmatory sampling test conducted after remediation is performed to ensure that all waste has been removed. PWGC will then prepare an “underground injection control” remediation report documenting the results and, if acceptable, the county will indicate that remediation is complete, and no further action is required. District officials expect remediation work to take approximately one to three weeks.

Previously, PWGC found elevated levels of mercury in cesspools outside the building and high levels of benzene in two septic tanks. The middle school has been closed since January. 

At a March 5 board meeting, district officials said that reopening the school could be an option depending on what comes back from the ongoing remediation work as well future sampling and testing at the grounds. 

Rich Rowehl, a Northport parent of a seventh-grader in the district, said his daughter and other students have been resilient during the transition. Though he said they do feel “homesick.” 

“They feel like they don’t have a home,” he said. 

The status of the middle school has been a divisive topic in the community. Some want the school to remain closed, while others believe the school shouldn’t have been closed to begin with. 

“We don’t want a quick fix, we should wait for the results to come out,” the Northport parent said. “If they feel like it is safe to go back, then I’m sure the district will have those discussions.”  

Rowehl is confident the board can make the right decision with the information it is given, once the full report comes out.

“Let’s just play things out and see what happens,” he reiterated. 

Rowehl also brought up the ongoing demographic study in the district. He said they should wait on those results to determine what steps needed to be taken going forward. 

“Declining enrollment at the district could be a factor,” he said. “Do we need two middle schools, or could we be better off combining schools, or moving students to another building?” he said. “It’s something to think about.”

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Centereach High School

Suffolk County schools closed for two weeks starting Monday, March 16, in response to concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

After recommendation of the Suffolk County Health Commissioner and consulting with the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) March 15 issued a Local Emergency Order to close all schools in the Suffolk for two weeks.

In a statement, Bellone said discussions with state officials and the Superintendents Association included issues involving student meal programs and childcare.

“There is evidence that the virus is already present in many communities we serve, and our efforts now must be aimed at preventing its spread,”  Bellone said in a statement. “As part of our larger social distancing efforts, we believe that closing schools is the right thing to do at this time.”

Bellone said the county asks parents to encourage children to practice social distancing and hand washing frequently to help to contain the coronavirus. The county also suggests that anyone who is symptomatic to stay home and quarantine themselves as a precautionary measure.

Administrators and teachers will have access to school buildings during the closures. This will enable them to conduct district planning, distance-based learning, set up temporary grab-and-go meals and address childcare issues.

 

 

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Smithtown school district's administrative Joseph M. Barton building on New York Avenue. Photo by Kyle Barr

Editor’s note: On Saturday, March, 14, Russell Stewart, Smithtown’s interim superintendent, in an email to those in the Smithtown district, said a household relative of a Great Hollow Middle School staff member has tested positive for COVID-19. There are still no confirmed cases of the coronavirus among staff members and students.

The Smithtown Central School District sent an email March 12 to notify the school community that all schools in the district would be closed Monday, March 16, through Sunday, March 22.

The district said the closure was “in the interest of the health and safety of our students, their families, our staff, and the greater community at large.”

Even though there are no cases of the coronavirus in the schools, according to the district, the week off will allow them to monitor the public health situation. The time will also be used to determine if the closure should be extended.

In addition to classes, all activities and building-use will be canceled during the week.

Essential personnel such as custodians, maintenance and assigned security staff will be required to work. Other personnel needed to maintain essential administrative functions will also be on hand.

 

 

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Last year’s first-place winners Nicole Xiao and Juliet Weschke pose with their books. Photo from Emma S. Clark Memorial Library

Emma S. Clark Memorial Library announced the winners for the Helen Stein Shack Picture Book Award. The annual contest invites junior high and high school students in the Three Village Central School District to create a children’s picture book.

First Prize (Grades 7–9 category): “Oliver’s Walk” by Celia Gordon (eighth grade, homeschooler)

First Prize (Grades 10–12 category): “Your Part” by Rebecca Blumenthal (11th grader at Ward Melville High School)

Second Prize (Grades 7–9 category): “The Knight and the Monster” written by Ricky Herling and illustrated by Ashton Hopkins (both 8th graders at P.J. Gelinas Junior High School)

Second Prize (Grades 10–12 category): “How Tom Talks” by Riley Meckley (10th grader at Ward Melville High School)

For “Oliver’s Walk,” Celia Gordon used watercolors to illustrate the story of a baby bird and mother bird taking a stroll together. The bird uses his imagination and pretends that the puddle is really a river or that a single pink flower turns into a big bouquet for his mom. “Your Part” by Rebecca Blumenthal gives examples of what one can do to be a good person for the earth and for others. It’s told in a sing-song voice, which makes it a perfect read aloud book.

The winners will be celebrated at a private awards ceremony at Emma S. Clark Memorial Library Monday, April 27, at 7:00 p.m. At the reception, each first-prize award recipient will receive a $400 scholarship, and each second-prize award recipient will receive a $100 scholarship. The newly bound books — made into hardcover by the library — will be presented to the winners and copies will be added to the library’s Local Focus Collection. Light refreshments will be served at the reception, and The Bite Size Bake Shop, a local Three Village business, will donate desserts.

Each entry in the contest could be the work of a single author/illustrator or a collaborative effort of an author and an illustrator. The contest was divided into two grade categories, grades 7 through 9 and grades 10 through 12, with one first-prize winner and one second-prize winner selected from each group.

This award is given in memory of Helen Stein Shack by her family. As a teacher, Shack was committed to the education of children, and she especially loved literature written for them. She was a frequent visitor to Emma Clark library where, even in retirement, she kept current with the latest children’s books. The library is grateful to the children of the late Shack who have established a substantial endowment with the library to cover the cost of the prizes.

Past ceremonies have had library trustees, teachers and top school district administrators, as well as elected officials from New York State, Suffolk County and the Town of Brookhaven, all in attendance to honor the winners and present them with certificates.

The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library is located at 120 Main St., Setauket.

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File photo

The Shoreham-Wading River School, Rocky Point and Miller Place school districts announced they would be keeping their schools closed early next week. Rocky Point, Miller Place and Mount Sinai will be closed Monday March 16, while SWR is shutting down both Monday and Tuesday, March 17.

All districts are closing just to students, while staff will still be made to report to school in preparation for the possibility of all educating going online.

Rocky Point Superintendent Scott O’Brien said in a statement that while they do not have any cases in the district, the possibility of a longer term shutdown where students will have to learn online is real.

“While learning in our district primarily occurs inside classrooms with face-to-face teaching by certified instructors, please be assured that our district has been planning viable options should a long-term school closure be necessary,” the Rocky Point superintendent said. “Students were asked to bring materials home or travel to and from school over the next several weeks with textbooks, workbooks, and work packets so that needed materials for online learning may be facilitated by our teachers should a long-term closure be necessary.

Earlier in the week, SWR Superintendent Gerard Poole said they were still working out their plans for potentially bringing all learning online. The SWR board of education held an emergency meeting earlier today.

Miller Place Superintendent Marianne Cartisano said the time will also allow them to perform a “deep cleaning” of school buildings.

In terms of sports, Section XI has notified districts it has suspended all athletic games and scrimmages until April 3.

 

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Ward Melville High School. Photo by Greg Catalano

The Three Village Central School District has decided to follow the lead of neighboring school districts and close schools for a five-day period from Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 20.

In a letter to school district families and staff members, dated March 13, Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich announced the district would take a proactive step in temporary closing the schools.

“As I have continued to communicate, the district has been closely monitoring the rapidly evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,” Pedisich said in the letter. “While there is no confirmed case of an individual with COVID19 in our area, there are cases within our surrounding communities and the overall numbers in the county continue to rise.”

In addition to classes, all after-school activities were canceled as of March 13, and Pedisich added that Section XI had notified the district that it has suspended all athletic games and scrimmages in Suffolk County until April 3.

Pedisich said the district will perform a deep cleaning of all buildings and wait for further guidance from health organizations and the New York State Education Department.

Elementary school teachers sent home learning packets with students Friday, according to Pedisich, and secondary students will receive individual direction from their teachers.

“Please know that this decision was not made lightly, and we recognize the impact such a closure will have on our families,” Pedisich said, adding the closure will not affect the remainder of planned vacation days as the district had five unused snow days.

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Ward Melville High School. Photo by Greg Catalano

Editor’s note: On March 13, Three Village Central School District made the decision to close schools March 16 through March 20.

By Andrea Paldy

Utmost on people’s minds these days is the steady approach of COVID-19. Even as school districts try to conduct business as usual, behind the scenes, they are at work on contingency plans.

Tuesday, Three Village parents received a robocall and email from district superintendent Cheryl Pedisich, who assured them that the district is “taking extra precautionary steps to safeguard our students and staff.”

She said the district is getting advice from the New York State and Suffolk County departments of health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York State Education Department and that it will continue to update protocols as it receives new guidance. Additionally, Three Village is planning for “viable options should a long-term school closure be necessary” as advised by the Department of Health or “other trusted agencies.”

As of Wednesday, field trips, out-of-district staff conferences and unnecessary travel for students and staff have been suspended, she said.

In a telephone interview, Pedisich said district administration continues to meet regularly as information changes. She added that she does not want to “build anxiety” and wants to “keep a positive atmosphere” for students and will continue to keep the community informed.

Every Student Succeeds Act

Last week, amid growing concerns about the coronavirus, Three Village held its regular board meeting, where Laura Pimentel, chief information officer and assistant director of instructional technology, discussed the district’s federal report card. The district schools are all in good standing, though there were some concerns about the system of measure. 

In her report, Pimentel explained the criteria used to measure New York State school districts under the Every Student Succeeds Act, passed in 2015 to replace No Child Left Behind.

For elementary and middle schools, criteria include student growth levels, English language proficiency for English language learners, academic progress in English language arts and math, chronic absenteeism and a composite of state assessment scores in ELA, math and science.

High school progress is measured with the same criteria — using Regents scores from math, English, science and social studies, she explained. The ratings also measure graduation rate and college and career readiness, as well as the still-to-be-determined criteria for civic readiness. Student growth is not measured.

To see how a district compares to others, the district receives a composite score, comprised of a “weighted average achievement measure” and a “core subject performance measure,” Pimentel said. Student test scores are allotted a set number of points. The weighted average divides the points for the students who took the state tests by the total number of students enrolled in the district. The core subject performance measure divides students’ allotted points by the number of students who actually took the test.

As a result of the robust opt-out movement on Long Island, only about 36 percent of the district’s students took the tests. While this brought down the weighted average achievement measure considerably, the core subject performance measure raised the composite scores to an achievement rank of level 3 for all schools except for Arrowhead Elementary, Pimentel said. 

Because high school students don’t opt out of the Regents exams — they need them to graduate — the high school measures only include the weighted score. Ward Melville was ranked a level 4 for academic achievement.

Pimentel said student growth at the elementary school and junior high levels is measured by following students for three years and ranking them against similarly scoring students over the three-year period. Composite scoring showed that Three Village elementary students fell within a level 3 mean growth percentile and that students at Nassakeag Elementary School, which had the highest percentage of students taking the state tests, scored a level 4 mean growth percentile. Both junior high schools fell within lower levels of the growth percentile because most eighth-graders take the Regents exam instead of the state math assessment, Pimentel said.

English language learners in Three Village are well above the state index for success, she said.

Measures of interim progress are set by the state and require districts to close the gap between the district’s baseline and the state’s end goal by 20 percent every five years, she said. These scores included only the weighted average achievement measure, which brought down the district’s elementary school and junior high progress rankings. Ward Melville, however, exceeded the state’s long-term goals for both English and math and met the state’s end goal for English.

All district schools exceeded the state’s long-term goal for absenteeism, and the high school exceeded its end goal for graduation with an above 98 percent graduation rate. Ward Melville also exceeded the state’s long-term goal and is quite close to its end goal for college and career readiness.

Though all district schools received a distinction of being in good standing, two received the distinction after an appeal. Nassakeag Elementary School and R.C. Murphy Junior High were flagged because there were two subgroups of students with low scores in multiple areas, Pimentel said.

A closer look at the scores showed that while there were enough students to make up a subgroup, there were not enough students from the group who tested. As a result, a core subject performance score couldn’t be tabulated. Only a weighted average achievement score was used in the ranking, which skewed the results, Pimental said. But the distinction for the schools was changed after a successful appeal.

“We should be concerned because this report card is public information that is reflecting poorly on our district at the elementary and middle school level, and it’s not even an accurate picture of what’s going on in Three Village schools,” Pimentel said.

She added that “not having test information makes it really challenging for all of us to make the decisions to allocate resources, train our staff and maintain our curriculum so that students have the most growth possible during their time in Three Village Schools.”

2020-21 Budget

Jeff Carlson, deputy superintendent for business services, announced that the cap on the tax levy increase would be 1.96 percent. He also said that there would be an increase in payments to the employee retirement system and health insurance, estimating that the overall budget increase would be around 1.7 percent.

“We do not anticipate having to make any reductions in any programs or services or staffing in order to comply with that, other than what we would do anyway because of changes in enrollment or course requests,” Carlson said.

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SWR Assistant Superintendent Glen Arcuri talks to the school board about precautions the district has made toward COVID-19. Photo by Kyle Barr

Two local school districts have closed up shop two separate days this week over concerns staff had been in contact with people with coronavirus.

Parents on social media confirmed receiving a call the evening of Tuesday, March 10, that all schools would be closed Wednesday due to a district member having had “third-party” contact with somebody who was confirmed to have the virus. The district website said schools would return to normal Thursday, March 12.

Despite the closing, the planned senior trip to Disney World in Florida went along as scheduled. Students left on nonstop planes early Wednesday morning, according to district parents.

School district officials were out of office and did not respond to repeated requests for comment by press time. 

Earlier in the week, Shoreham-Wading River school district closed all schools early Monday morning over coronavirus fears. The call went out to parents as some students were on buses on their way to class.

While SWR students were back in class by Tuesday, the event paints a picture of the decisions schools are having to make as all look to manage public places during the spread of COVID-19.

Residents in the Shoreham-Wading River school district reported receiving a robocall from Superintendent Gerard Poole in the early morning of Monday, March 9. Students that were on the bus by a little after 7 a.m. were being kept on the bus, then being turned around to be dropped off at home.

Poole said Tuesday the decision to close Monday was made shortly after they received information about one of their staff just before 7 a.m. Instead of reaching out to the New York State Department of Health and awaiting any of their recommendations, the superintendent said they made the call based on information they had at the time. According to district statements, a member of the high school security team might have been exposed to an individual with the coronavirus. The district said the DOH has said no individual in the district has tested positive for the new virus.

“School districts don’t have the luxury of waiting two or three hours for a conference committee call for officials to make those decisions,” he said. “We have to make those decisions immediately.”

The district received further guidelines from the DOH and Department of Education late on Monday, though the superintendent said there were still holes in those guidelines he wished they could fill, specifically any recommendations about students going on field trips. The district has already canceled two that were to happen this month. They will be rescheduled for later in the school year.

“They leave it as an initial 24-hour closure in consultation with state health officials and county health officials,” he said.

Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Glen Arcuri said the district is well stocked on cleaning supplies at least for the next two months. The district has also invested in doing additional cleanings of commonly touched surfaces throughout the day and additional cleanings at night.

In fact, every district now has on its website a link or notice about precautions districts have taken toward the coronavirus. Most speak about additional sanitary measures.

Events, at least in SWR, have calmed since that Monday morning, split-second decision making, though the threat remains real. SWR simply has become one of the first few test cases for the kinds of decisions districts all across Long Island may have to make in the future, especially as the coronavirus story develops.

SWR officials have said that any days the district is closed after that would impact the school calendar, including spring break, which runs April 6-14; superintendent’s conference day, April 28; and the Friday before Memorial Day, May 22. The lack of snow days this past winter has been a boon for the district, at least in this regard.

“Fortunately, this year we have had it very easy with the weather,” Poole said.

If the school were to close for any amount of time past a threshold of days that it could stay closed, then the district would have to consider moving all education online. 

The options include using Google Classroom and learning platforms such as i-Ready. The district encouraged parents to confirm the log-ins for i-Ready and ALEKS are functioning on home computers. Those log-ins can be found in the Parent briefcase in the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. 

Schools in Seattle have already made the decision to close schools and host all learning online. The New York Times has reported how the sudden shift has impacted schools in and around the city that has been an epicenter for the outbreak of COVID-19. Instead of crowding around desks in a classroom, teachers and students hover over individual screens, though educators found they were spending many more hours working to reach students.

Poole said they have been working on those plans for potentially going online in the case of school closure, though they were still working out details, including giving access to students who may not have that technology at home.

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Stony Brook University has changed its class policy during the coronavirus outbreak. File photo

As colleges across the nation have done, Stony Brook University will go to remote instruction for the remainder of the semester, starting on March 23rd. Classes and finals will meet remotely at their regularly scheduled times.

While students will take classes remotely, they can access services on campus, including academic advising, dining services, residence halls, library services, recreation programs, athletic facilities, and hospital and clinical services. Students who live on campus may continue to stay in their residence halls and will receive the same services.

Transitioning to remote learning was something the school did to “curtail large group gatherings and reduce time spent in close proximity with one another in classrooms, lecture halls, dining facilities, and campus residences,” Interim President Michael Bernstein said in a statement. “Our actions are consistent with the guidance of public health agencies on how to limit the spread of Covid-19 and it is also similar to decisions made by peer institutions.”

The school’s business and administrative operations will also be open and athletic events will continue as scheduled until further notice.

The only remaining indoor event is Friday’s America East women’s basketball game. Tickets will remain available through Friday at noon and will be capped to ensure space for fans who would like to watch the game. Outdoor sporting events are unaffected by the changes.

Most non-classroom events and large gatherings will be canceled or postponed starting this week through at least the end of the month.

The school awaits guidance from local and regional public health agencies to determine when to reopen classrooms for face-to-face teaching.

As for the hospital, Stony Brook has developed a revised visitor policy. All visitors have to fill out a health declaration form before entering the hospital. Visitors who are sick will be asked to leave. Stony Brook is also restricting the number of ways people can enter the building. Visitation rules vary depending on the department and are as follows:

  • Adult patients can have one visitor at a time. Visitors have to be 18 and over.
  • Pediatric and NICU patients can have two visitors per patient. The visitors must also be 18 or older. Parents, guardians and support persons only.
  • Labor and Delivery/ Postpartum can have two visitors per patient. Visitors must be 18 and older and are restricted to partners or support persons.
  • Emergency Department will not permit visitors for adult emergency department patient areas. Patients requiring assistance can have one visitor. One visitor per pediatric patient is allowed in the pediatric emergency department and that visitor must be a parent or caregiver.
  • Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Center Locations can have one person at the time of visit. The ambulatory care center will make exceptions for pediatric patients and others requiring an aide or additional assistance.
  • Patients who cough or show other signs of illness will be asked to leave.
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