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Mallie Jane Kim

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Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano
Additional transportation costs would come from within the budget

By Mallie Jane Kim

Will Three Village secondary students get 35 minutes more sleep?

Most parents who showed up to comment publicly at school district-sponsored forums Sept. 10 and 17 believe they should.

“This is basic biology,” said one parent, who identified herself as a neurologist and pointed to scientific studies on adolescent sleep needs. She said allowing teens to sleep later impacts more than academics and test scores. “Mental health improves, physical health improves, there are less motor vehicle accidents from those seniors,” she said. “It really seems like a very small price to pay for all of those advantages.”

The school board is considering a proposal to shift Ward Melville High School’s start time to 7:40 a.m., from 7:05, and push the junior high schools back from 7:40 a.m. to 8:15. Under the plan, Minnesauke Elementary School would join the three schools that start at 9:25 a.m., and Nassakeag would stay at 8:40. 

The district is gathering feedback from all residents and employees through an online form to inform the school board’s decision. Each household in the district was sent a flier with a QR link to the form.

The proposed schedule requires nine additional buses and will add an estimated $1.4 million to the transportation budget, based on the district’s 2024-25 contract with the bus company, which is subject to change. Those funds, however, will have to come from within the existing overall budget, which for this school year is $236 million. Superintendent of Schools Kevin Scanlon has made it clear there is no will within the district to go above the state-mandated limits on increasing taxes year over year.

“We don’t have an unlimited pot of money,” Scanlon said. “We do not want to exceed the tax cap for any of these issues.”

The superintendent noted that the district has already been working to tighten its belt anywhere possible, including a $770,000 savings from restructuring the administration and about $3 million from retirements last year.

At the forums, some parents pointed out that in the context of a $236 million budget, $1.4 million amounts to about half a percent.

“I can’t think of anything we could do that is this easy for a million dollars that could benefit the kids this much,” commented one parent on Sept. 17.

District officials have publicly acknowledged they believe early school start times are a major problem for adolescents but have pointed to issues of transportation logistics and related costs in delaying a change.

Scanlon, who mentioned about 10% of high school students chronically miss first period, presented a detailed background of efforts to make secondary school start times later, as well as the rationale for trying to do so. 

“The issue for us is the way the schools are structured,” Scanlon explained, referring to the staggered school start times that allow the district to use far fewer buses than if all the schools started around the same time. “This is saving us money — if we change back to a different configuration, it’s going to cost us money.”

The current setup started in 2011, after the district adjusted start times to use fewer buses. For that effort, Three Village received a management efficiency grant from New York State paid out over three years and totaling $747,789, according to the district. 

But some commenters said these early start times highlighted an equity issue within the district: Certain parents have the ability to drive their students to school in the morning, which isn’t possible for those who have to be at work early or do not have anyone to stay home with younger sleeping children. 

“What we’re saying is the kids who have advantages — whether that be financial or their parents’ time — can sleep an extra half hour or 45 minutes and do better in school,” one woman argued. “And their mental health is more important than those kids who don’t have those advantages. That’s really troubling.”

Not all public commenters were against the early start times. 

“I thought it was disciplined,” said a woman who identified herself as Karen and said she had two Three Village graduates and current student. She added that her son couldn’t compete as a track athlete because he was up too late at night, studying. 

“If we had moved that start time up later, he would have stayed up even later,” she said. “I know in my household, it would not work.”

Others on social media and at the forums raised concerns about future transportation costs soaring due to the New York State mandate to electrify bus fleets in coming years, something Scanlon emphasized was out of the district’s control and an “unfunded mandate.”

Scanlon indicated that, as of the Sept. 17 meeting, about 200 people had participated in the online survey, and so far the opinions were varied. He encouraged every stakeholder to participate and let the school board hear their feedback.

“They read everything,” Scanlon assured audience members. “They will read every comment made by every community member, good, bad and indifferent.”

The online feedback form will be open until Sept. 30, and the board of education plans to discuss the issue in October.

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New principal, John Holownia, in front of Ward Melville High School. Courtesy John Holownia

By Mallie Jane Kim

For Ward Melville High School’s new principal John Holownia, the first week of the 2024-25 school year has been a bit surreal — he grew up attending Three Village schools and graduated from Ward Melville in 1999. 

“It has been fantastic,” he said. “It’s not something I ever imagined when I was a high school student walking around the hallways.”

Holownia returns to his old stomping grounds after serving as an assistant principal at Shoreham-Wading River High School since 2019, and before that as a special education teacher in the Comsewogue school district.

It’s not his first time returning to his home turf, he said, as he coached football at Ward Melville for a few years as a young adult in the early 2000s after earning his bachelor’s degree in English literature from Princeton University. Returning mid-career as the high school principal, though, is a whole different ball game.

“My biggest priority right now is to just learn,” Holownia said, pointing to the high school’s reputation for excellence and his desire to keep it that way. “The most important thing I can do is learn how things work here and how things have been done in the past, and get a real feel for what has made Ward Melville such a successful place.” 

Holownia replaces acting principal Paul Gold, an assistant principal who stepped in last November after the previous principal, William Bernhard, was reassigned. Gold has since retired.

Superintendent of Schools Kevin Scanlon, who was a social studies teacher at the high school during the years Holownia attended, said he looks forward to the new principal’s successful administration.

“John will be a tremendous asset to Ward Melville High School,” Scanlon said in an email.

Holownia is already thinking ahead to the structural changes the district has planned for 2025-26. The plan is for sixth grade to move up from the elementary schools into the junior high schools, and for ninth grade to move into Ward Melville, making it a four-year high school. 

District staff and administrators have been working out over the past year the adjustments and structural modifications necessary for the high school to accommodate adding an academic grade level.

“Certainly that’s going to need to be well-coordinated,” Holownia said. “We’ll be putting all those programs and things in place to make sure we’re ready for that change.”

But for now, he’s focused on acclimating to the current set of students under his purview. 

Three Village Board of Education officially appointed Holownia to his position April 3, and he’s been working in the building since July 1. He has enjoyed seeing staff and students filling the corridors after a quiet summer of preparation, he said. 

“The energy in the building really comes from the kids,” Holownia said. “It’s been exciting, and definitely a great start to the year.”

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Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano

The change would mean later mornings for secondary students

By Mallie Jane Kim

After years of advocacy and discussion over shifting secondary school start times later, Three Village Board of Education settled on a framework to put forward for community input. If adopted, Ward Melville High School and the district’s two junior high schools — P.J. Gelinas and R.C. Murphy — would each start 35 minutes later than they currently do, at 7:40 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., respectively. 

Any such adjustments would likely take place starting fall 2025, in tandem with the district’s plan to move sixth grade into junior high and ninth into the high school. To make the changes possible with the fewest added buses, the plan would mark a change for at least one elementary school. Currently, two schools start around 8:40 a.m. and three at 9:25. Under the proposed plan, only one elementary school could begin the day at the earlier time.

Three Village would have to find a bit over $1 million in other areas of the budget to accommodate the increased transportation costs incurred by a change in start times, according to district officials.

“That is the best that we came up with from both the dollar standpoint and also what seemed to work best,” said interim Deputy Superintendent Jeffrey Carlson at an Aug. 21 board meeting as he laid out the rationale for the plan. “It’s not going to make everybody thrilled, but it does a number of things that we were looking to do.”

District administrators and some board members have said for many months that they believe and agree with study results that indicate starting later is better for adolescent physical and mental health and for academic outcomes, but concerns over financial implications have kept the district from committing to make a change — as has figuring out the most efficient configuration.

Advocates were hoping to push the high school start time past the 8 a.m. mark, though Superintendent of Schools Kevin Scanlon pointed out the current proposal ends Ward Melville at 2:21 p.m., allowing time before sports begin at 3 for students to participate in a club or get extra academic help — something he said was a major concern expressed at public meetings on the topic.

“There’s no such thing as perfect,” said Scanlon, who also mentioned the later time should help the 10% of high school students who chronically miss first period. “This is getting us there a little better.”

The board had engaged a transportation consultant to help find efficient ways to change start times and possibly push the high school time to 8 a.m., but unfortunately that exercise produced results Scanlon called “lacking at best.”

The current proposal is one the board has had since at least January and came from a start time subcommittee that has been meeting over the past two years.

The district will seek community input on the change, particularly because of the over $1 million price tag, through a pair of planned public meetings in September, Scanlon announced, adding that the district planned to livestream the sessions and sort out the appropriate technology to allow people to participate and provide feedback virtually.

Board member David McKinnon, a long-time later start time advocate, emphasized that Three Village would source that $1 million by reapportioning funds within the whole budget — not tacking that amount directly onto what residents pay in taxes. Taxpayers vote each year on a budget number, not line-by-line allocations.

McKinnon also cautioned against looking at the change in terms of pure economic efficiency.

“Efficiency is making use of all our resources in an optimal way,” McKinnon said. “As students are starting school so early that they’re not learning, we’re wasting vast amounts of money on teacher salaries. It’s inefficient to be trying to teach kids when they can’t learn or when they’re learning less optimally.”

If the board decides this fall to adopt new start times for the next academic year, those changes would still be subject to the annual budget planning process.

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Town Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich and town historian Barbara Russell shake hands in front of a new historical marker, with West Meadow’s environmental educator Nicole Pocchiare. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim

By Mallie Jane Kim

Brookhaven Town officials unveiled a new historical sign at West Meadow Beach July 19, to mark the location of a summer beach community of bungalows that was removed in 2005.

The seasonal community, built along Trustees Road, had a contentious history, yet for those who enjoyed access, the string of nearly 100 beach bungalows was a place of rich memory of summer beach life.

“If you don’t tell the history, you lose it,” said Barbara Russell, Brookhaven’s town historian, who headed up the application to the Syracuse-based William G. Pomeroy Foundation, which granted the sign. Russell said growing up, she knew cottage owners and spent time visiting the unique community. 

“My grandparents, my parents, me and my children have wonderful memories of the cottages here,” she said. “My six grandchildren absolutely never knew them.”

The new marker, which sits near the entrance of what is now the Trustees Road walking trail, reads, “West Meadow beach summer colony, private cottages built here on town-owned leased land starting in 1905. All but four of 93 cottages razed in 2005.”

Some area residents who remember the divisiveness of the private cottages, especially in the last few years before most of them were razed, question the move. 

“Why memorialize the cottages?” wondered Setauket resident George Hoffman, who worked for the Town of Brookhaven during those last years, and currently sits on the West Meadow Beach Advisory Committee. “It was a very contentious thing.”

One concern is that the brief, neutral wording may gloss over the whole story.

“I hope that this new sign — that doesn’t say much — does not cause us to forget that during the almost century-long cottage era, most of the people of Brookhaven Town were denied access to their own public land, which was leased to a favored few,” said Suffolk County Legislator Steve Englebright (D-Setauket).

The sign that previously marked the spot simply acknowledged that the “West Meadow Beach Cottages Historic District” was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 — an unsuccessful last-minute effort to save the bungalows, which were already scheduled for demolition by then. 

The cottages started as tent platforms the town rented out, including to people fleeing the city due to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19, according to documents on file with the U.S. Department of the Interior. Lessors were later allowed to build structures on the lots, which they rented originally for $10-20 per year.

In the intervening years, there were questions of whether the leases were given out as political favors or in sweetheart deals to the well-connected, and the fact that private cottages were built on public parkland led to multiple lawsuits and appeals over decades, culminating in their ultimate removal. 

After a judge ruled in favor of removing the cottages in the late 1990s, Englebright, then a state assemblyman, authored legislation that solidified the timing of removal — allowing cottage residents to finish a prearranged lease term, and for the town to use that lease money to fund the removal of the structures and restoration of the parkland. He said his local office had to install security cameras and a panic button because of threats and harassment over the issue.

He added that over the years, he heard stories of cottage owners themselves being hostile to residents trying to access the area. 

Englebright himself remembers an incident from his 20s, before he got involved in politics, when he was out on the water in a dinghy and a surprise summer storm drove him into that stretch of West Meadow Beach. He said a cottage owner with two German Shepherds confronted him.

“He said, ‘Get the hell off my beach,’” Englebright recalled, adding that after he apologized, the man repeated his demands and sent his dogs after him. “They drove me into the water, which was still breaking waves over my boat and myself.”

He added, “That was before I learned that, in fact, it wasn’t his beach.”

Englebright suggested a second sign could tell a more complete version of events. “The way in which courageous civic advocacy ultimately created the magnificent park that we have today deserves to be remembered,” he said. 

Town historian Russell doesn’t see the neutral sign wording as a problem.

“You can’t ever tell the whole history in five lines,” Russell acknowledged, adding that she hopes long-stalled plans to restore one of the remaining cottages will result in an education center that can tell a more complete story. Or, perhaps one of the local historical organizations could take up the task. The Pomeroy sign, she said, is to pique interest.

“This is just to get your attention and say, ‘Oh, there were cottages here once,’” she said. “There was a whole summer community here once.”

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Sarah Lansdale updates the Three Village Civic Association on plans for the Lawrence Aviation superfund site. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim

By Mallie Jane Kim

A redevelopment plan for the Lawrence Aviation Superfund site in Port Jefferson Station is at risk due to a proposed rail yard intersecting a straight strip of property owned by the New York Department of Transportation, where the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway trail runs, according to Suffolk County Planning Commissioner Sarah Lansdale.

Lansdale, speaking at a Three Village Civic Association meeting on June 3, reviewed the existing plan to transform the former aviation factory into three parcels: a 5-megawatt solar array, space for a rail yard that the MTA will own and protected open space that is earmarked for the Town of Brookhaven.

“We’re in contract with all three parcels right now,” Lansdale said, adding that contract terms require an agreement between DOT and MTA by the end of June. “In order to get to closing, there are conditions that need to be met.”

DOT would need to agree to divert a small section of the Greenway path to make way for the planned rail yard, which would help accommodate future modernization of the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. However, this change would interrupt DOT’s solid straight line of property, which they reserve in case the need for a highway arises in the future.

“From what I understand, that would serve as a bypass for Route 25A should sea level rise or climate change impact the navigability of 25A,” Lansdale explained.

The Greenway is not currently protected parkland, though Suffolk County Legislator Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) spoke up at the meeting to announce that he had been working with state Assemblyman Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) to fast-track last minute legislation designating the Greenway as parkland. 

“The session has the potential to resolve this question,” Englebright said, though as of press time, no related bills had been yet introduced and the 2024 legislative session in Albany is scheduled to end June 6.

Civic association leaders expressed frustration at DOT even considering the possibility of tearing up the Greenway sometime in the future.

“They shouldn’t be going down that road — that’s insulting to our community,” said Herb Mones, who also heads the Three Village Community Trust which oversees the nonprofit that maintains the trail.

Mones added that the DOT had always been a vital partner in building and maintaining the Greenway. “It would be very disappointing if the DOT as an agency isn’t the most cooperative, most helpful in making sure the future of the Greenway continues without nonsense talk of putting in a highway,” he said.

The Lawrence Aviation plan has been in the works since 2022, though discussions between officials and concerned community members about what to do with the site have been going on much longer.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has already led the demolition of buildings on the site, according to Lansdale, who added that the DEC also completed an environmental investigation to remove the site from the Superfund list, which will clear the way for the solar development.

Lansdale expressed hope that the contract requirements will be ironed out on time, as she said the plan has had the benefit of community involvement and support.

“This is a federal Superfund site,” she explained. “The way that these sites are usually sold is on the auction block, with zero community input, to the highest bidder.”

Advocating for modern train technology

Though the Lawrence Aviation site plan reserves space for a rail yard, the MTA has given no indication it has imminent plans to modernize the Port Jefferson Branch of the LIRR, according to clean-train-energy advocate Bruce Miller, who said he has been talking with MTA officials and keeping tabs on the agency’s plans.

At the civic meeting, Miller urged local civic associations to lobby Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to force the MTA to follow state environmental laws by looking into new train technologies to replace the diesel trains running along Long Island’s North Shore.

“It would be very helpful to be somewhere on the [MTA’s] 20-year plan,” said Miller, who indicated one of his catchphrases when dealing with a New York City-focused MTA is, “We pay taxes, too.”

Miller, who favors hydrogen-powered or separate-car battery trains, said he’d like to get civic leaders and elected officials from both sides of the political aisle to put their heads together and figure out how to get the MTA to explore cleaner train technologies.

Englebright agreed with Miller’s assessment that the MTA is essentially a “rogue agency” not following state directives toward cleaner energy, and suggested lawsuits as a good way to rein it in. He pointed to both the 2021 state constitutional amendment that gives residents the right to clean air and water, and the State Environmental Quality Review Act as bases for lawsuits from the community to force the MTA to look into newer, cleaner trains.

“There should be a lawsuit considered by the civic community to challenge whether the actions or inactions of the MTA and the LIRR are consistent with the Constitution of the State of New York,” Englebright said, adding, “No agency of the state is immune to SEQRA.”

Civic association board member George Hoffman, who said he had listened to LIRR President Rob Free speak earlier in the year, expressed frustration that North Shore trains seem to be an afterthought with the MTA.

“We want to get a solution for the Port Jefferson line,” Hoffman said. “I don’t know if it’s electric, I don’t know if it’s hydrogen — we certainly know it shouldn’t be diesel, it’s one of the dirtiest forms of air pollution.”

Hoffman praised Miller for his leadership on the issue and indicated the civic association hoped to support his advocacy efforts. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” he said

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Shaorui Li and Stanley Bak congratulate each other after winning seats on the Three Village board of education. Photo by Mallie Kim

By Mallie Jane Kim

Three Village voters reelected the two incumbent board of education members and, in a close race for third, selected Stanley Bak to finish out a one-year term that was up for grabs.

The 3,280 residents who voted also accepted the district’s $236.1 million budget for 2024-25, with 65% approval (2,140-1,140).

As district officials tabulated results from each area of town on screen during the May 21 board meeting, it was a nail-biter for Bak and fellow candidate Amitava Das, who were neck and neck. In the end, Bak won the seat by just 5 votes — 1,688 to 1,683.

Bak said he is relieved, but also grateful the campaign was so civil. The two-week campaign saw a collegial rapport between the four candidates, all of whom spoke highly of the slate of people willing to volunteer to serve the community.

“I think that reflects very strongly on Three Village,” Bak said, adding that he’s ready to start working on the goals he stated during the campaign, including fiscal sustainability, later secondary school start times and enforcement of the district’s cell phone policy. 

“We’ve done the campaign part, and now the hard part comes because we have to do the work,” he said.

And Bak may get a chance sooner than he anticipated. At the meeting, district officials realized that since he is filling a currently vacant seat left empty by a board member who had to resign for personal reasons, his term may begin immediately. They planned to consult the district’s lawyer to seek out an answer, though one was not available by press time.

Shaorui Li, with 1,976 votes, and Susan Rosenzweig, with 1,970 votes, easily recaptured their seats for another term. 

“If I can serve and be useful to the community, I’m more than happy to continue,” Rosenzweig said after the results were certified. “I think it’s a really productive board, and we’ve done really good work.”

For her part, Li, who spoke during the campaign about protecting the extracurriculars the district provides, was excited to be reelected but already looking to the difficult job the board has ahead of it. 

“We still want to support extra programs, but with the budget, it’s always a balance,” she said. “It’s going to be tough, but with support from the community, we’re confident with it.”

2024 school budgets, propositions and candidates results:

Three Village Central School District:

Budget Vote:

Yes: 2,140

No: 1,140

Board of education election: elect three, third highest gets one-year term.

Shaorui Li – 1,976 

Susan Rosenzweig – 1,970

Stanley Bak – 1,688

Amitava Das – 1,683

 

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Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano

By Mallie Jane Kim

Three Village Central School District is attempting more advanced budget planning, but that may be easier said than done. Discussions at the May 8 Board of Education budget hearing highlighted the complications and uncertainties districts face in trying to look ahead.

After a presentation of the $236.1 million district budget for 2024-25, which is up for vote on May 21, the board returned to the recent hot topic of building out a five-year budget plan. Superintendent of Schools Kevin Scanlon indicated that he gave trustees a document looking forward to upcoming district needs considering state mandates likely coming down the pike, including electrification of school buses, mandatory universal pre-K and 3-year-old pre-K.

But projecting finances is another matter.

“There’s factors that, like this year, it’s a gamble,” Scanlon said, referring to the threat earlier in the spring of losing $9 million in state aid funds that did not happen. 

Other uncertainties include fluctuating costs in vital areas like health insurance, security and transportation, changes in salaries negotiated every few years and the new unreliability of state aid.

Trustee Karen Roughley, one of the board members who has pushed for advanced planning, noted that any such plan would be something of a guess.

“We need to understand what the financial impact is, but we also need to understand that that’s going to be generalizations,” Roughley said. “You’re never going to get down to the dollar on what our budget is going to look like, but we can have an idea of what we want to do.”

Even planning year to year has challenges, for instance, special education or English language learning services could arise at any time, as Deputy Superintendent Jeffrey Carlson noted.

“We always know there’s going to be additional needs that we don’t even know yet,” Carlson said, noting that if a family moves into the district with needs, those services are mandated. “We can’t say, ‘Well, sorry we don’t have the money budgeted.’ We have to find the money in the budget for that.”

Scanlon added that for 2024-25 school year, the district already knows of 37 students, which he said is more than 10% of the incoming kindergarten class, who will be in self-contained special education classes this fall.

Extrapolating all of that out to plan five years ahead brings in even more unknowns. Trustee Shaorui Li pointed to the fact that the tax cap changes each year, based on a state formula that doesn’t always reflect inflation accurately.

“Whenever we have high inflation, I’m sure something is being sacrificed,” she said.

Budget facts

The $236.1 million budget facing voters stays within the state’s mandated 2.84% tax levy increase and therefore requires a simple majority vote to pass. 

Carlson noted the budget includes $3 million in capital improvement projects, which will fund adjustments to the high school to accommodate adding ninth grade in 2025. Other capital projects on the docket include bathroom renovations and ongoing asbestos abatement. New York State reimburses the district for 66% of these capital improvement costs over time, according to Carlson.

He added that he expects a large number of retirements over the next few years, something that, brain drain aside, saves the district money. According to district data, this year’s number of retirements is up to 75, including 33 teachers and five administrators, and about 131 employees are coming up on their first retirement eligibility. 

“It would create tremendous financial opportunities for the district,” Carlson said of future retirements. “Whether that be to add programs, or to simply fund more reserves, start putting money in capital reserves or maybe not increase the tax levy as much, all of those are the opportunities that will be coming.”

Three open board of education seats

Voters will also select three trustees for next year’s school board. At a PTA Meet the Candidates night, May 9, candidates were asked to share something they wished the budget had accomplished.

Stanley Bak indicated he wished some slice of any extra money found through budget adjustments would go toward decreasing the tax levy, rather than getting absorbed by other areas of the budget. “I would have liked to see some acknowledgement that taxpayers exist within the district,” he said. “Our enrollment has been going down for some time, and our taxes keep going up.”

For Amitava Das, secondary school start times would’ve been his priority. “All the evidence points that school should start later,” he said. “If the budget was the only thing that stopped late start to school being implemented, I wish that weren’t the case, and that we had found the funds to do so.”

Current board member Shaorui Li acknowledged that she, too, is concerned about the budget but pointed out that Three Village is on par or better in per-student spending when compared to Syosset and Jericho school districts, which she called out as other “very good” school districts in the area. Elsewhere in the evening, she emphasized the importance of the variety of programs available for students. “If we keep under the cap, that is OK for us,” she said. “Making it lower will just lose our advantage and standing as a very good school district.”  

Susan Rosenzweig, also an incumbent, said she would have preferred rebuilding funds in accounts set aside for a rainy day. “I wish we could have repaid the money we borrowed from ourselves to stay open during COVID, and begun to really build up those reserves,” she said, adding that she believes the state should change regulations to allow districts to build reserves even higher than current limits. “If the state’s allowed to, we should be allowed to, as well.”

The two top candidates will each win three-year full terms, and the candidate who receives the third-most votes will fill the one year remaining on a term left open last year by a board member who had to resign for personal reasons. 

Residents can vote Tuesday, May 21, at Ward Melville High School from 6 a.m. through 9 p.m. Early and absentee ballots are also available through the district.

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Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano

By Mallie Jane Kim

Four candidates are vying to serve on next year’s school board in Three Village Central School District. Terms are up for incumbents Shaorui Li and Susan Rosenzweig, who are both running to stay on the board. Newcomers Stanley Bak and Amitava Das have also thrown their hats in the ring.

In addition to the two full terms up for grabs, a third partial-term seat was left open by former board member Jennifer Solomon, after she resigned last summer for personal reasons. At the time, the board opted to wait until this election to fill her seat for the term’s final year, rather than spending additional money on a special election last fall. 

Whoever earns the third highest number of votes will fill this one-year term.

The candidates, profiled below in alphabetical order, opened the two-week campaign season by introducing themselves at a May 6 Three Village Civic Association meeting.

Stanley Bak

Stanley Bak

Bak teaches computer science at Stony Brook University and runs a research lab investigating the safety of artificial intelligence, which he said involves budgeting and managing millions of dollars in funds. 

He suggested the main issue facing the district today is financial.

“We need a long-term financial plan,” he said. “One that acknowledges that taxpayers exist and one that can sustainably provide excellent programs and services for our students.”

Bak, who was a member of the district’s cellphone committee last fall, praised the district’s recently strengthened policy, but added that its success hinges on enforcement.

He also pointed out that, though elementary schools comprise more than half the grade levels in the district, the board does not currently have representation from elementary families. His oldest child has started elementary school, with two others following.

“As a parent with three young children, I have a vested interest in the long-term health of all of our schools,” he said. “Representation matters. I will help bring this perspective to our board.”

Bak published information on his priorities at the website bakforboard.com and emphasizes that he is running independently and will not accept any funding from outside groups. He has received public support from the Residents for Responsible Spending Facebook group, and is a participant in the Three Village Parents Alliance.

Amitava Das

Amitava Das

Das, a parent of a junior high student in the district, said his experience in technology management has given him a firm foundation in communication, collaboration and compromise toward a shared goal of serving clients while being fiscally responsible. 

“These are things from a business perspective that I hope I’m able to bring to this role,” said Das, who is an engineering manager at a major global technology firm. He indicated he hopes to “work with the staff, the teachers, the taxpayers, the parents — I hope to gain your input and your support and understand what your needs are.” 

Das served on this year’s Budget Advisory Committee and volunteers as a computer science teacher for sixth through ninth grades with SchoolNova. He said by email that he previously served on the technical advisory board for Per Scholas, an organization that trains a diverse workforce in technology and helps connect newly-skilled talent to businesses.

He recognized the “tireless effort” of the teachers, administration and staff, but added that he’s also a taxpayer. “There’s a need to balance that aspect of it,” he said. “Are the dollars going toward the right programs, being spent in the right way to deliver the best product for our shareholders — which is us, the taxpayers in the district?”

Das, along with Li and Rosenzweig, is endorsed by the Three Village Teachers Association. He said in a phone call that he hopes to reimburse his portion of any campaign costs — typically, TVTA pays for advertising, including lawn signs and a postcard to each union member, past and present.

TVTA president Brian Pickford confirmed to TBR that this option is open to any candidate.

Shaorui Li

Shaorui Li

Li, also a district parent, has served on the school board since her election in 2021. She is an electrical engineer with 17 years of experience, including at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and is currently heading a microchip-development startup to advance the field of quantum computing. 

She shared that she has given lectures in the elementary schools regarding NASA projects she was involved in, and has served as a mentor for Science Olympiad.

These STEM skills, she indicated, along with the leadership and management experience she’s gained throughout her career, are what she brings to the table. “I just want to contribute my analytical skills and my love of solving problems and engineering to the board,” she said.

Li praised the board’s efforts in gaining input from all stakeholders for the new cellphone policy as well as in fine tuning the Budget Advisory Committee based on feedback. “The intention is to have input from the community,” she said. “We actually keep changing how [the BAC] will be and probably going forward it will keep changing — the goal is to make it more effective.”

Li invited residents to reach out with questions about district policy to her or any board member, as she said she values understanding community concerns. “The role of the board member is not simply voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ based on personal preference,” she said. “As a board member, I would actively research … listen to our community and make decisions based on inputs from a broad range of resources.”

Susan Rosenzweig

Susan Rosenzweig

Rosenzweig, the current board president, was also elected in 2021. She said her background in radio and television news have served her well as a leader on the board. She pointed to her ability to approach situations with a neutral position — focusing on facts and data in decision making — as well as her ability to communicate thoughtfully and clearly. 

“I believe these qualities have helped usher in a new era of openness with our community,” she said, adding the board has “a renewed rigor in thoroughly analyzing all of our decisions for their impacts not only on our staff and our students, but on the district’s fiscal health and our overall well-being.”

Rosenzweig has made a full-time job of volunteer opportunities related to her children’s education, including on the board of trustees at Play Groups preschool and as PTA president at all levels. She has also been a leader for Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts.

She called the district’s new cellphone policy “a good start,” but indicated the whole community needs to chip in to help kids — especially since students involved in advising the new policy recognized the distraction and pressure that comes with the current cellphone culture. “We’ve only got them for seven hours a day,” Rosenzweig said. “The rest of the 17 hours, we need help.”

Voting details 

Voting will take place on May 21 at Ward Melville High School between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. Early voting is also available this year, and information can be found on the district’s website on the Budget Information page under the Board of Education menu. A PTA-sponsored Meet the Candidates event at the high school is scheduled for May 9, at 7 p.m., and will be livestreamed.

Link to view Meet the Candidates event: https://www.youtube.com/live/o1Tos3A4wSQ?si=nmflK9MHH57onXJs.

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Northville Industries posters offers two visions for development of their South Setauket property on March 28. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim

The company wants to hear whether neighbors prefer warehouses or rental housing

By Mallie Jane Kim

Northville Industries is ready to try again to discuss with community members the planned development of its East Setauket property, this time at Ward Melville High School’s auditorium, which can seat about 900 people — significantly more than the hotel meeting room rented for the attempted March 25 meeting, which had to be canceled when so many residents showed up they surpassed capacity, forming a fire hazard.

In a letter to residents about the new meeting, which will be Monday, April 29, at 7 p.m., Northville is clear in its determination toward development — whether warehouses, which would be within current zoning designations, or residential rental units, which would require rezoning.

“It is the intention of Northville to move forward with the development of the property,” Northville president, Peter St. Germaine, wrote in the letter. “Prior to pressing ahead for the approval of the industrial development, Northville is seeking community feedback to determine whether the residential option would be preferred by those who would be most impacted by the future development of the site.”

Any site plan for the East Setauket property, bordered by Belle Mead and Upper Sheep Pasture roads, will have to go through a planning approval process with Brookhaven Town Board. 

The current Northville plan includes addition of 220,000 square feet of industrial warehouses, 77 loading docks for tractor trailers and trucks, also 593 employee parking spaces. The alternative plan includes 140 residential rental units with a club house and pool, plus 335 parking spaces for residents and guests.

Town Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) has been clear in his opposition to rezoning the property to allow town house-style rentals, due to the proximity of the proposed residences to large fuel storage tanks, and the lack of proximity to the kinds of infrastructure that makes higher-density housing appealing: public transportation, retail and major roadways. 

“I don’t think that wrapping a rental community around the gas tanks is appropriate land use,” he said, adding that though the Three Village area needs more housing, any extra units need to go in places that make more sense logistically. “I don’t think that area over there — that intersection especially — is looking for that kind of intensification of traffic.”

Kornreich said he also does not think the kind of mega-warehouses proposed are appropriate for the area either, pointing to nearby properties on Belle Mead Road that have integrated lighter industrial uses into the community successfully.

“I would encourage Northville to explore something that is going to be a less intensive use,” he said. “I am hoping they’ll find their way to a third option.”

St. Germaine’s letter also gave residents the option of emailing written comments to: [email protected].

 

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Three Village Academy, above, is tucked behind a quiet Stony Brook neighborhood. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim
Trustees praise the budget but urge better advanced financial planning

By Mallie Jane Kim

Three Village Central School District will ask voters to decide on a $236.1 million school budget, a 2.27% increase, May 21. The 2024-25 budget, which was adopted at an April 17 school board meeting with five “yes” votes and one abstention, stays within the district’s 2.84% tax levy cap and therefore would pass with a simple majority of the vote.

Support for the budget at the meeting came alongside calls for continued improvements in planning for years ahead. 

According to Deputy Superintendent Jeffrey Carlson, the district was able to cut 15 positions through attrition, thanks to 67 staff retirements, and save $250,000 by restructuring administrative positions.

The district planned the budget as though aid from the state would remain flat — a strategy that worked out well since New York State’s budget, which passed over the weekend, walked back Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) proposal to cut funding to certain districts, including Three Village, which would have lost about $9 million in state aid. Under the finalized budget, state funding to Three Village remains essentially the same, less some expected changes in building aid the district notified residents it had already accounted for. 

District officials and board members have indicated they took the governor’s initial proposal as a warning: Cuts to state aid are likely down the pike, so budget planning should take that likelihood into account.

Budget Advisory Committee representative Shari Fontana praised the administration for making strides toward fiscal stability and prioritizing the educational, social and emotional needs of students.  

“We realize that no budget will ever be perfect,” Fontana read, in a statement from the BAC, a committee of board-appointed community members and district stakeholders. “Our district is truly doing the very best they can under the circumstances.”

Fontana added that the committee recommends the BAC convene earlier in the school year and receive an advance copy of the budget with time to ask questions. She also said the committee would prefer to have a multiyear outlook on budget planning rather than advise for a single year. 

Trustee David McKinnon abstained from the budget adoption vote, voicing similar concerns. “I remain concerned that without a clear and strict financial plan to represent everybody’s interest, we’re just kicking the can down the road,” McKinnon said. “We know our costs are increasing faster than our revenue. That’s going to be a recipe for a problem, if it’s not already here.”

 McKinnon also lamented the fact that the board has not yet committed to making secondary start times later in conjunction with the plan to restructure schools in fall 2025. If a time change is not solidified, sixth and ninth graders that year would have to start school even earlier than they would have done if those grades had not moved up to the junior high and high school, respectively.

Yet he acknowledged the 2024-25 budget plan, which increases district spending just over $5 million from the current year, is an improvement. “I agree that we’re headed in the right direction,” he said. “I know how hard everybody works here.”

Trustee Karen Roughley, who has also pushed for more advanced planning, praised the district for the budget effort, especially in light of increasing expenses that are outside of district control, such as staff contracts and vendor agreements. “To be able to present a balanced budget that takes all that into account while not excessing any staff or cutting any programs is pretty impressive to me,” she said. “Do I think things can be tweaked over the next couple years? Absolutely. But this is a great start.”

Voting takes place at Ward Melville High School on May 21 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and this is the first year voters can opt to vote early by mail. Information on early and absentee voting is located on the district’s website by clicking on the Board of Education drop-down menu and selecting Budget Information. 

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