Long Island

Education

ny-liskul2010-sg

For the first time, all public-school teachers in New York State - in subjects ranging from art and physical education to physics and world history - would be evaluated partly on their students' performance under sweeping proposals unveiled Tuesday by state education officials and union representatives. 
The breakthrough agreement on an issue formerly opposed by teachers unions settled a two-year battle and was aimed largely at making New York State more competitive in a high-stakes national race for up to $700 million in federal school-improvement grants. Formerly, unions had balked at the idea of judging teachers on the basis of student test scores and other performance criteria. 
Under the new plan, music teachers, for example, could find themselves rated in part on the strength of a student choral production, while kindergarten teachers could be judged on their success in preparing students to read. The ambitious vision was outlined at an Albany news conference by leaders of the state Department of Education and a statewide teachers' union. 
"We believe this new process is a major step in the right direction, and will be good for students and fair to teachers," said Richard Iannuzzi, a former <a href="/topics/Central_Islip%2C_NY">Central Islip</a> elementary teacher who now heads the politically influential <a href="/topics/New_York_State_United_Teachers">New York State United Teachers</a> union. 
The agreement prompted some Albany insiders to speculate that the state may be close to resolving another bitter controversy: increasing the number of public charter schools allowed to operate statewide. 
On Long Island alone, the proposed evaluation system would eventually extend to more than 44,000 teachers, including 13,000 in the "core" academic subjects of English, social studies, science and math. 
The proposed teacher-evaluation system, which requires state lawmakers' approval, would be launched in the 2011-12 school year. Federal authorities earlier this year chided the state because it has a law barring use of student test scores in deciding teachers' qualifications for job tenure. 
U.S. Education Secretary Arne <a href="/topics/Arne_Duncan">Duncan</a>, whose agency has prodded New York State on both issues, Tuesday saluted the new agreement. 
"We all know that teacher evaluation systems around the country aren't working," Duncan said. "We have to be willing to think differently. I commend them for having the courage to work on this." 
The evaluation system would start with teachers in grades 4 to 8 and their school principals. Teachers' ratings would be based on students' achievement on state English and math tests as well as on classroom tests and supervisors' evaluations. In subsequent years, the system would extend to other teachers. 
Union endorsement is expected to smooth passage through the State Legislature, where the plan won praise Tuesday from both sides of the aisle. Assembly Speaker <a href="/topics/Sheldon_Silver">Sheldon Silver</a> (D-<a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>) said he wanted to review the plan before endorsing it, but acknowledged the agreement "would be difficult to upset." 
A spokesman for state Sen. <a href="/topics/Dean_Skelos">Dean Skelos</a> (R-<a href="/topics/Rockville_Centre%2C_NY">Rockville Centre</a>), the Senate minority leader, said Skelos believes in doing everything possible to win federal grant money, "including using student performance as a tool to evaluate teachers." The spokesman, Scott Reif, added that the Assembly should approve another measure, already passed by the Senate, to raise the number of charter schools statewide from 200 to 460 and require more accountability from them.

LISKUL12

Plan to evaluate teachers based on student performance

Regents

A <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> team named Ecotrash that helped come up with ways for schools and businesses to recycle has been named the <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a> finalist in a national science competition. 
The Siemens Foundation, Discovery Education and the National Science Teachers Association announced the middle school state finalists of the second annual "Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge" on Thursday. 
Laurence Caradonna, 13, of The <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook%2C_NY">Stony Brook</a> School, Conor Ryan, 13, of The <a href="/topics/Laurel%2C_NY">Laurel</a> Hill School in East <a href="/topics/Setauket%2C_NY">Setauket</a> and Eric Wong, 13, of Gelinas Junior High School, in <a href="/topics/Setauket%2C_NY">Setauket</a>, are on the team. Their mentor is Caradonna's mother, Ana Topolovec, who works at <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a> as an architect. 
Teams were asked to address an environmental issue in their community. Ecotrash team members discovered that many small businesses and schools were not recycling. 
They contacted them, brought the issue to their attention, helped do research on how to recycle and even did a public service announcement through <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook%2C_NY">Stony Brook</a>. 
"My husband is a small-business owner, and every week he would come home with all the recycling. Finally, my son said, 'Why do you do that? Can't you recycle at work?' " Topolovec said. 
Students have been working on this competition since September. "When we heard about the competition, it fit, the timing fit, the topic fit and if anything, it kind of pushed the boys to get a conclusion and to really focus on analyzing the data. It's been a wonderful thing for them," Topolovec said. 
More than 6,500 students competed on the middle school level and were judged by a panel of environmental advocates and science educators. 
"It was truly interesting how I am just in eighth grade and basically, people are actually listening to me. I find it very interesting because usually I'm either listening to my teachers or my coaches," Caradonna said. 
National winners will be announced on May 24. The grand prize is a $10,000 savings bond per student; an appearance on Planet Green, an eco-lifestyle television network; a chance for the team to present its program at the <a href="/topics/United_Nations">United Nations</a> and a trip to <a href="/topics/Yellowstone_National_Park">Yellowstone National Park</a>. 
"Our students from <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook%2C_NY">Stony Brook</a> looked at something as simple as recycling, but looked at it in a unique way," said Jeniffer Harper-Taylor, president of the Siemens Foundation.

Things to Do

LISIEM10

LI team finalist in national science contest

Team Ecotrashd

They're cute, rubbery and come in all shapes and colors from penguins to baseball bats. But some educators on Long Island are telling students to keep their Silly Bandz bracelets out of the classroom. 
"Silly Bandz are here!" Lisa Farrell, principal of Duffield Elementary School in Ronkonkoma, wrote in a recent letter sent home to parents. "They are very cute and the kids love them. I like them too. At times they are distracting and teachers have asked that students not play with them, trade them or show them during class time." 
They've become so distracting, in fact, that some schools have prohibited them from the classroom, and others have outright banned them from buildings. Silly Bandz are one brand, but the popular rubber bracelets are also sold under other brand names. 
Their appeal appears universal. They're popular with boys and girls of a wide variety of ages, said Lisa Hodes, owner of Sweeties Candy Cottage in Huntington, which started selling them earlier this year. A typical pack contains 12 bands and sells for between $2.50 and $2.99 at her store. 
"It's unbelievable, I never had this much traffic in my five years of owning this store," Hodes said. 
Quinn Blackburn, 9, a fourth-grader at Jack Abrams Intermediate School in Huntington, has at least 80 bracelets. "I like how the bracelets go back into shape when you take them off," he said. 
The bands are not banned at his school, but his brother, Cole, who goes to the same school and is in sixth grade, said there are restrictions on when you can play with them. 
Bandz fan Jeremy King, 9, of Huntington, said he thinks it's unfair some schools are banning the bracelets. "I wouldn't like that to be in our school because I really like them," he said. 
His mother, Donna King, said the Bandz appeal to her children, ages 15, 12 and 9. "They really are harmless," she said. 
A representative for Brainchild Productions, the maker of Silly Bandz, did not return a request for comment. 
The principal at Birch Lane Elementary in Massapequa recently sent a letter to parents recommending they refrain from allowing their children to wear the bands to school because they were becoming a distraction. 
The Deer Park School District has banned Silly Bandz at the John F. Kennedy Intermediate School, which serves grades three to five, Superintendent Eva Demyen said in a recent statement. 
"These popular rubber bracelets are being prohibited because they are a distraction to instruction and a safety concern. This decision enforces our goal to provide and maintain a safe atmosphere of academic integrity," she said. 
Several schools in the Commack district have banned the bands, with educators saying they can be a distraction in class where students want to trade them and sometimes they flick them at one another. 
"Anything with trading becomes an issue and an area of concern," said Katherine M. Rihm, principal of North Ridge Primary School in Commack. She sent a note home to parents last month asking them to not send children to school with the bands.Parents and students had complied. 
Farrell, whose school is in the Connetquot district, wrote in her letter to parents that students were wearing too many of the bracelets and complaining of finger cramping when showing up at the school nurse and "often their fingers are white due to poor circulation." 
She asked parents to speak to children about not sharing or trading the bands and to monitor how many they wear. "Beyond the wrist is causing a problem," she wrote.

LISILL06

Schools want a ban on Silly Bandz bracelets

Silly Bandz/jb

In the season's most substantial contract concession yet, <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>'s biggest teacher union has agreed to give up next year's raises as well as take temporary pay cuts. 
The $11 million in givebacks by Brentwood teachers come as school districts across <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> prepare to release budget proposals Tuesday amid growing signs of taxpayer resistance. Brentwood is the Island's fifth district this year to win contract concessions - a phenomenon affecting 3,300 teachers and last seen in the region during the early 1990s. 
Concessions by the 1,400-member Brentwood Teachers Association will save more than 200 jobs, and preserve student services ranging from music classes to sports. The vote taken by union members Thursday was virtually unanimous, according to representatives who spoke to Newsday Monday. 
"It shows the teachers care about the community, and they care about each other," said Joe Hogan, president of Brentwood's union. 
Taxpayer groups note, on the other hand, that the great majority of the Island's more than 120 teacher unions have not yet agreed to give up any raises. The issue of teacher pay recently made headlines in <a href="/topics/New_Jersey%2C_NY">New Jersey</a>, where newly elected Gov. <a href="/topics/Christopher_J._Christie">Chris Christie</a> urged voters to reject any school budgets that didn't include concessions. 
In <a href="/topics/New_Jersey%2C_NY">New Jersey</a>, 315 of 537 budgets went down to defeat last week - the biggest "no" vote there since 1976. 
"Do you think these people deserve a raise more than you deserve a tax break?" said Fred Gorman of <a href="/topics/Nesconset%2C_NY">Nesconset</a>, an organizer of the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>ers for Educational Reform taxpayer group. 
In recent weeks, the LIFER organization has plastered communities across the Island with fliers listing teachers' salaries in local school districts and demanding wage freezes. 
The Islandwide impact of salaries and other expenses will become clearer Tuesday with the scheduled release of the state's annual Property Tax Report Cards, listing spending and tax proposals in all districts. 
So far, one-year freezes or other substantial givebacks have been made by teacher unions in Brentwood, Half Hollow Hills, <a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a>, <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> and <a href="/topics/Sayville%2C_NY">Sayville</a>. Those unions represent about 3,300 teachers and other professional school workers, out of a regional total of more than 40,000. 
Brentwood's agreement calls for teachers there to take pay freezes next year, including contractual raises and annual "steps" built into the salary schedule. In addition, teachers will take $900 individual pay cuts, which will be repaid without interest when they resign or retire. 
In exchange, Brentwood, the Island's largest district, would extend the teachers' contract for three years, to June 2015. The contract originally was to expire in 2012. Raises received during that period will be based on the average of those received elsewhere by teachers in <a href="/topics/Islip%2C_NY">Islip</a> Town. 
The new agreement has been signed by Hogan and the district superintendent, Donna Jones, and is scheduled for a ratification vote by Brentwood's school board Wednesday. 
Despite concessions, Jones says economic pressures could force the district to lay off as many as 60 teachers in June, and to leave unfilled another 30 positions vacated by resignation or retirement. The reason: Gov. <a href="/topics/David_A_Paterson">David A. Paterson</a> has proposed cutting more than $3 million in Brentwood's state operating aid, as part of efforts to close a state budget deficit. 
Any aid restored to Brentwood by the State Legislature would be used, first, to curb property taxes and then to save jobs. But both district and union leaders warn their agreement might become void, if local residents reject next year's proposed $304.8-million budget. 
"We still have a very challenging year ahead, but it certainly could have been much worse had we not come to an agreement," Jones said. 
&nbsp; 
<h3>Where teachers' pay has been frozen</h3> 
&nbsp; 
<a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> teacher unions that have accepted pay freezes this year: 
Brentwood: No raises of any type next year, plus a $900-per-person pay cut to be repaid without interest at retirement. 
Half Hollow Hills: A freeze on contractual raises in 2011-12. Step increases will not be impacted. 
<a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a>: A freeze on contractual raises in the current year. Step increases will not be impacted. 
<a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a>: A freeze on contractual raises and a six-month freeze on annual step increases, both for 2010-11. 
<a href="/topics/Sayville%2C_NY">Sayville</a>: A half-year freeze on both contractual raises and step increases for each of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years.

LITEAC27

Brentwood's teacher union, LI's biggest, OKs pay cuts

Brentwood

A controversial plan by the Huntington school board to turn the Jack Abrams Intermediate School into a districtwide sixth-grade center was defended Tuesday by the board president as a solution that will unify the district - even as it drew a mix of criticism and cautious approval from parents. 
After safety concerns drove a wedge through the district, the board voted 4-3 Monday night to send all fourth- and fifth-graders in September to the district's other intermediate school, Woodhull, with all sixth-graders attending Jack Abrams. 
"I think you are going to find a lot more people getting more involved," board president Bill Dwyer said, "being much more interested now that they have a stake in that community." 
Michele Paton, the mother of a fifth-grader at Woodhull, said she is looking for other options for her son next year because she is not happy with the plan. 
"I walked into the meeting with the Board of Education talking about safety of the children," Paton said Tuesday. "Three hours later, I left the meeting with Jack Abrams Intermediate as a sixth-grade center for over 300 students. Did I miss something?" 
Rebecca Sanin, a parent at Jack Abrams who proposed the idea, said it was a compromise. 
"Crime has occurred across the community and not just at Jack Abrams," she said. "Now we can all work toward a goal of safety for all children and the community." 
The district has two options. The first is to include in its proposed budget the use of $355,000 in capital reserve funds to lease and install three modular classrooms at Woodhull for special education, art and music. 
If that budget were to be voted down next month, the district would have to go to Plan B: Allow parents of Jack Abrams fourth-graders a one-time opportunity to keep their children there for fifth grade. That would have no budget impact. 
In either case, all sixth-graders would attend Jack Abrams. 
Before Monday's vote, Town Supervisor <a href="/topics/Frank_Petrone">Frank Petrone</a> spoke about ongoing efforts to improve Huntington Station. 
"I think the town is working with us and I want them to keep it up," school board member Christine Bene said Tuesday. "Uniting the district is a wonderful idea. It's a short-term solution." 
Lyndia Agrillo, the mother of a fourth-grader at Woodhull, said the decision defies logic: "The whole reason that the town and the board of ed were engaged in a dialogue to begin with was because Jack Abrams was deemed to be an unsafe area for a school. If the reason we wanted to move students out [was to make them safe], why are we keeping any students there?" 
School board member Rich McGrath, who voted against the move, said he thinks the majority of parents do not want their children at Jack Abrams. 
"They don't want to abandon the school but they want the kids out," he said. "Ultimately, you can't make people go to a place they don't want to go to."

LIHUNT21

Huntington parents unhappy with sixth-grade center idea

New Jersey's stunning rejection of school budgets is sending shock waves through Long Island, where educators warn that any such setbacks here could produce massive teacher layoffs and program cuts. 
Local school officials add that <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a> State's zero percent cap on "contingency" budgets for 2010-11 threatens to aggravate the situation. Under that cap, many districts where budgets fail could be barred from any increased spending at all next year. 
On Tuesday, New Jersey voters turned down 315 of 537 school budgets statewide - the biggest "no" vote since 1976. <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a> State holds its budget votes May 18. 
"Certainly, anything like what's happening in New Jersey sends shivers up our spines," said Wendell Chu, superintendent of <a href="/topics/East_Islip%2C_NY">East Islip</a> schools and president of <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County's School Superintendents Association. 
Like many Island districts, <a href="/topics/East_Islip%2C_NY">East Islip</a> is still putting together a budget, which is to be approved by the school board Thursday night before being submitted to voters. Already, Chu says, the district has decided to cut 10 teaching jobs next year - a figure that could rise to close to 30 if residents vote "no" on the budget. 
Dozens of local districts that held tax increases low this year have predicted higher raises next year, according to a recent survey by the State Council of School Superintendents. The biggest reason: a threatened $172.6 million cut in the region's school aid by Gov. <a href="/topics/David_A_Paterson">David A. Paterson</a>, who is struggling to close a state budget deficit. 
<a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a>, for example, is calling for a $108.7 million budget for next year with a 3.6 percent spending increase and a 3.54 percent hike in taxes. This year's increases were 1.16 percent and 1.42 percent, respectively. Even with higher spending, <a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a> plans to cut more than two dozen jobs next year for teachers and other staffers. 
<a href="/topics/Garden_City%2C_NY">Garden City</a>, meanwhile, proposes a $98.2 million budget with spending and tax increases of 3.21 percent and 4.52 percent, respectively. This year's increases were 0.75 percent and 1.57 percent. The proposed budget cuts 10 percent of student clubs at the secondary level, along with four junior-varsity "B" teams and half the district's summer remedial tutoring. 
<a href="/topics/Garden_City%2C_NY">Garden City</a>'s superintendent Robert Feirsen notes that local residents approved a $36.5 million bond issue for school remodeling just five months ago. He's hopeful voters there will maintain their traditional support for schools, regardless of what happened in New Jersey. 
"Who was it who said, 'All politics is local?' " Feirsen quipped. 
Taxpayer representatives hope, on the other hand, that New Jersey's vote - and <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a>'s tight spending cap - will convince Island residents that their ballots can make a difference. Typically, less than 20 percent of Island voters participate in school elections. 
One Island activist who watched New Jersey returns is Frank Russo of <a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a>, a founder of the regional Long <a href="/topics/New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a> for Educational Reform taxpayer group. "I'm hoping it motivates voters to turn out," he said.

LIBUDG22

LI schools stunned by budget rejections in NJ

liAIDS24

<a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> school superintendents generally expect a faster rise next year in the taxes that constitute more than 60 percent of homeowners' tax bills - and many say this will happen even if state lawmakers restore school-aid cuts proposed by Gov. David A. <a href="/topics/David_A_Paterson">Paterson</a>. 
Forty percent of the region's school chiefs project tax-levy hikes in their districts between 4 and 10 percent, according to a survey released Monday by the State Council of School Superintendents. 
In contrast, only 14 percent of the Island's districts raised taxes that much during the current school year. The average hike this year was 2.72 percent - the lowest in more than a decade. 
"I think it would be a challenge to keep the tax levies that low two years in a row," said Henry Grishman, superintendent of <a href="/topics/Jericho%2C_NY">Jericho</a> schools and president of the <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County Council of School Superintendents. 
<a href="/topics/Jericho%2C_NY">Jericho</a> is projecting a 3.92 percent rise in its tax levy next year, about the same increase as this year's. 
The new statewide survey also finds that 57.5 percent of local superintendents expect rate hikes of 4 percent or less. And 2.5 percent predict increases of more than 10 percent. 
All those projections assume that Paterson will somehow push through $1.1 billion in statewide aid cuts, which he has proposed to help close a state budget deficit. Most political observers in Albany consider such cuts unrealistic - especially in an election year. 
But even if aid money is restored, local school administrators still expect higher rate increases next year. 
One big reason cited is a jump in contributions districts must make next year to cover employees' pension benefits. For example, the state Teachers Retirement System is requiring a contribution equal to 8.62 percent of teacher salaries, up from 6.19 percent this year. 
Moreover, districts that used temporary measures - such as postponing purchases or shifting interest income from one year to another - to hold down taxes at the height of the economic meltdown in 2009 are finding it difficult to repeat that performance this year. 
In <a href="/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a>, Superintendent Edward Ehmann says his system is trying to hold next year's tax increase below 3 percent. Last year and the year before, the district saw no tax increase at all. "It was two zeros in a row, but you can't go on doing that forever," Ehmann said. 
The statewide superintendents' survey was conducted in cooperation with the State School Boards Association. On Long Island, the survey collected responses from 38 school executives, out of a total of 122.

Nassau

LISKUL23

LI school offices expect fast-rising taxes next year

teacher

Eric Brooks, a senior at Hewlett High School who embarked on a university-level anti-cancer research project at age 14, was recognized Tuesday with a $30,000 award from the national Intel science contest. 
Prizes for Brooks and nine other top winners capped a week's visit to Washington, D.C., where competitors schmoozed with congressional representatives and fielded judges' questions testing their ability to think like scientists. 
Samples: Why do soap bubbles form spherically rather than in random shapes? If the force of gravity were reduced to one-half, how would life on Earth change? 
"Oh, it's awesome - the best thing that's ever happened in my life," said Brooks, 16, minutes after winning his prize at a black-tie dinner. 
Brooks captured fifth place in the competition - the 12th <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> student to win a top Intel prize since 2001. This year's first-place $100,000 award went to Erika DeBenedictis, 18, of <a href="/topics/Albuquerque">Albuquerque</a>, N.M., who developed a navigation system for space travel. 
For his project, Brooks joined a medical research team at <a href="/topics/New_York_University">New York University</a> in its quest for an accurate tool to diagnose whether a prostate cancer is likely to turn lethal. 
The teen started in the summer of his junior year as a volunteer, then was placed on the team's part-time payroll in recognition of his precocious grasp of biostatistical concepts. 
"I'd put him on a level with postdoctoral researchers," said Dr. Alexander Pearlman, an NYU research fellow. Pearlman added that the teen also has captured attention for his ability to subsist on lunches consisting solely of chocolate-chip cookies. 
Besides his cancer studies, Brooks has competed in national history and economics contests and has produced a 10-minute documentary on the evolutionary research of Charles Darwin. Patricia Nardi, a social-science research adviser at George W. Hewlett High, describes him as "a true renaissance man." 
<a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> fielded nine finalists this year, out of 40 nationwide. Brooks was the only local teen placing in the top 10, but others found the experience rewarding as well. 
"I actually had fun being challenged intellectually," said Ruoyi Jiang, 17, of Ward <a href="/topics/Melville%2C_NY">Melville</a> High School in <a href="/topics/Setauket%2C_NY">Setauket</a>. Like other finalists, he won $7,500 from Intel. 
He also took first place in another national contest, funded by the Siemens Corp., in December. He won $100,000.

ny- Intel final - 0317

Hewlett High teen wins $30G Intel science prize

Eric Brooks

After more than 20 months without a contract, one of <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>'s highest-paid teacher unions has acknowledged "tough" financial times and accepted a temporary pay freeze - a rarity for the region. 
Next year, Roslyn's 316 unionized teachers will go without a contractual raise for 12 months and also forgo their usual annual "step" increase for six months. The district's administrators estimate that the concession - which reflects a general slowdown in teacher raises across the Island - will save $1 million. Roslyn's total budget is $94.7 million. 
The freeze is the Island's first for a teachers' union in more than four years, according to labor leaders and past news coverage. <a href="/topics/Brentwood%2C_NY">Brentwood</a> and <a href="/topics/Lindenhurst%2C_NY">Lindenhurst</a> now are pressing their teachers for future freezes or raise deferments, and <a href="/topics/Plainedge%2C_NY">Plainedge</a> teachers recently signed a five-year contract with 1 percent raises in each of the first two years. 
"Obviously, the zero is going to stick out for everyone," said Eleanor Russell, president of the Roslyn Teachers Association. She noted, however, that the new agreement boosts salaries by a total of 6.1 percent over four years, and called it "overall a fair agreement." 
Salaries this year range from $54,567 for a first-year instructor with a bachelor's degree, to $132,312 for a 30-year veteran with a doctorate. 
However, the agreement signed last week eliminates a clause that formerly guaranteed Roslyn would always rank within the top three districts in <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County in terms of salaries. In addition, teachers will gradually up their contributions for health insurance from 12 percent of costs to 20 percent. 
District officials say higher contributions will save about $600,000 annually. 
Dan Brenner, Roslyn's superintendent for the past year, acknowledged that negotiations that began under his predecessor, John Richman, were difficult at times. Brenner added that the new contract was cobbled together "with awareness of the difficult economic times we're involved in, and I think that benefits everyone, including the taxpayers." 
Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy, the school board president, added that the agreement would help Roslyn maintain "an excellent, quality educational environment." As part of the package, teachers agreed to extend the elementary school day by 20 minutes - to six hours, 25 minutes. 
Teacher contracts have a significant impact on the Island's economy, because they constitute the largest share of school expenses and account for more than 60 percent of property taxes. 
Even after the 2008 stock market meltdown, teacher salaries have continued to climb across the Island, but at a slower pace than in the past.

LIROSL21

Roslyn teachers agree to temporary pay freeze

Can he take the double gold? 
At Ward Melville High School, admirers of Ruoyi (Roy) Jiang think the 17-year-old has a good shot at becoming only the second student in history to win top place $100,000 prizes in two national science contests. 
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/photos-2010-li-intel-science-competition-finalists-1.1700030">&gt;&gt;&gt;PHOTOS: The nine Long Island finalists and 52 other area semifinalists</a> 
MORE: <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/9-li-students-named-intel-science-finalists-1.1728591">Click here to meet all nine finalists</a> 
Wednesday, Jiang, of East Setauket, emerged as one of nine Long Island finalists - out of 40 nationwide - in the Intel science competition. As usual, Long Island produced more finalists than any state in the nation including <a href="/topics/California">California</a>, which had eight. 
In March, Jiang and his fellow finalists will compete in Washington, D.C. for $630,000 in awards, including a first- place $100,000 scholarship. 
Jiang has already captured $100,000 from the Siemens science contest, which held its national finals last month in <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>. For his research, he used a supercomputer to learn why resistance often develops to a commonly used cancer drug. 
"Well, it certainly is intimidating," Jiang said in a phone interview Wednesday. "It's sort of unreal, but I also think it's an indication of how rewarding research can be." 
Since becoming an academic celebrity, the 12th-grader has been forced to juggle his school schedule. Wednesday, he took a chemistry midterm exam that had originally been scheduled for Thursday, so he would be free to ring the closing bell on the <a href="/topics/NYSE">New York Stock Exchange</a> this afternoon in recognition of his Siemens prize. 
Jiang's advancement to the finals was familiar news for Ward Melville High in East Setauket, which is part of the Three Village district and a perennial research powerhouse. The school Wednesday boasted two finalists - more than any high school in the country, except the <a href="/topics/Texas">Texas</a> Academy of Mathematics &amp; Science in Denton, <a href="/topics/Texas">Texas</a>, which specializes in those subjects and also produced two finalists. 
George Baldo, a former <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a> researcher who now directs Ward Melville's program, thinks Jiang stands a good chance of going all the way in the Intel finals, because of his prior experience of dealing with contest judges and crowds of spectators. 
"Given that, I think he'll be quite comfortable," Baldo said. 
In 2000, Mariangela Lisanti, a senior from Westport, Conn., won both individual $100,000 scholarships in the Siemens and Intel competitions. 
As usual, medical research won frequent honors this year. In addition to Jiang's work, Eric Brooks of Hewlett High School produced a finalist project that dealt with prostate cancer, while finalist Kevin Xu of Roslyn High School examined the quality of health care received by inner-city victims of <a href="/topics/Breast_Cancer">breast cancer</a>. 
Like other finalists, Xu received advanced notification Tuesday evening in a phone call from contest officials. 
"When I realized the call was from Intel, my heart basically stopped," Xu said. 
For his research project, Xu surveyed 105 breast-cancer patients in Brooklyn and Staten Island, to check on the quality of their health care. Among his findings: only 44 percent of those patients received follow-up treatment, such as chemotherapy, once their cancer was confirmed. 
Xu started his research as a 10th grader, calling dozens of inner-city cancer clinics before finally finding a few agencies willing to help with his survey. 
"He is the person I would pick to win a <a href="/topics/Nobel_Prize">Nobel Prize</a> in medicine someday," said Allyson Weseley, coordinator of secondary research in the Roslyn school district. 
Established in 1942, the Intel contest is the nation's oldest student research competition and is funded by a <a href="/topics/California">California</a>-based maker of computer chips. 
This year's Long Island Intel finalists and their projects 
LEVENT ALPOGE, 17 
Half Hollow Hills High School West, Dix Hills 
PROJECT: "A Non-Parametric, Massively Parallelized Multiscale Vessel Detection Method for Complex Vascular Structures" 
DESCRIPTION: Researched an improved method of detecting stenosis, a narrowing of blood vessels underlying many health problems. 
TEACHER: Michael Lake 
SUPERVISING SCIENTIST: Xenophon Papademetris, <a href="/topics/Yale_University">Yale University</a> 
&nbsp; 
ERIC BROOKS, 16 
George W. Hewlett High School, Hewlett 
PROJECT: "Transition from Indolent to Metastatic Prostate <a href="/topics/Cancer">Cancer</a> Characterized through the Health Disparity between African American and Caucasian American Men" 
DESCRIPTION: Studied prostate cancer genomics to begin identifying why the disease sometimes metastasizes or spreads, to help scientists decide whether uncomfortable treatments are necessary early on. 
TEACHER: Patricia Nardi 
SUPERVISING SCIENTIST: Alex Pearlman, <a href="/topics/New_York_University">New York University</a> Lanson Medical Center 
&nbsp; 
YUVAL CALEV, 17 
Ward Melville High School, East Setauket 
PROJECT: "Language Perception, Production and Memory: A Comparison of Older and Younger Adults" 
DESCRIPTION: Studied relationships between memory, speech process and perception, which may help in research of memory deterioration and its effects. 
TEACHER: George Baldo 
SUPERVISING SCIENTIST: Arthur Samuel, <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a> 
&nbsp; 
MICHAEL COMUNIELLO, 17 
Division Avenue High School, Levittown 
PROJECT: "Science Fair, Science Unfair: Analysis of Equity in High School Science Research Education" 
DESCRIPTION: Looked at factors that help some high schools succeed in national science competitions year after year, while other high schools succeed only rarely. 
TEACHER: Gerard Marzigliano 
SUPERVISING SCIENTIST: None 
&nbsp; 
RUOYI JIANG, 17 
Ward Melville High School, East Setauket 
PROJECT: "Targeting Loop Dynamics in BetaI/BetaIII Isotype Turbulin: The Application of In Silico Techniques in Combating Chemotherapy Drug Resistance" 
DESCRIPTION: Used a supercomputer to learn why resistance often develops with the cancer drug Paclitaxel, and how resistance can be overcome. 
TEACHER: George Baldo 
SUPERVISING SCIENTIST: Carlos Simmerling, <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a> 
&nbsp; 
PAUL MASIH DAS, 17 
Lawrence High School, Cedarhurst 
PROJECT: "A Novel Chemical Synthesis for &gt;1 Mu2 Graphene Sheets" 
DESCRIPTION: Developed a new and innovative synthesis method for graphene, a sheet of densely packed carbon atoms. 
TEACHER: Rebecca Isseroff 
SUPERVISING SCIENTIST: Miriam Rafailovich, <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a> 
&nbsp; 
JOSHUA PFEFFER, 17 
North Shore Hebrew Academy, Great Neck 
PROJECT: "Super Kahler-Ricci Flow" 
DESCRIPTION: Generalized a geometric flow equation called "Super Kahler-Ricci Flow" to spaces known as supermanifolds, which are part of string theory. The theory is a concept in physics that treats subatomic particles as one-dimensional strings. 
TEACHER: Carlos Marques 
SUPERVISING SCIENTIST: Martin Rocek, <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a> 
&nbsp; 
KEVIN XU, 17 
Roslyn High School, Roslyn Heights 
PROJECT: "Relationships between Oncologist Gender, Participatory Decision Making, Anxiety and <a href="/topics/Breast_Cancer">Breast Cancer</a> Cure" 
DESCRIPTION: Investigated effects of doctor-patient relationships on <a href="/topics/Breast_Cancer">breast cancer</a> treatment in urban settings - a study that underlined the need for both parties to be informed about benefits of radiotherapy. 
TEACHER: Allyson Weseley 
SUPERVISING SCIENTIST: None 
&nbsp; 
LORI YING, 17 
South Side High School, Rockville Centre 
PROJECT: "Female Mating Patterns and Mate Quality in the Dengue Vector Mosquito, Aedes aegypti" 
DESCRIPTION: Studied the application of genetic control strategy in reducing cases of dengue fever. 
TEACHER: Herb Weiss 
SUPERVISING SCIENTIST: Laura Harrington, <a href="/topics/Cornell_University">Cornell University</a> 
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/photos-2010-li-intel-science-competition-finalists-1.1700030">&gt;&gt;&gt;PHOTOS: The nine Long Island finalists and 52 other area semifinalists</a>

LIINTE28

9 LI students named Intel science finalists

Concerned parents of students at Jack Abrams Intermediate School in Huntington Station mobilized Friday, hosting two rallies in front of town hall. 
Just after 4 p.m. hundreds of parents, students, teachers, and community and civic leaders marched from the ballfields of Heckscher Park to Veterans Plaza at Huntington Town Hall demanding to know from the town board what is being done to make Huntington Station safe for kids. Gunshots were fired less than two blocks from the school March 11 and a man was shot in the neck Wednesday about a mile from the school. 
On Monday the Huntington School Board asked the district superintendent to consider moving students out of Jack Abrams. 
Marching into the plaza, many held signs that read "Stop the Violence Now" and "Safety is First." Most spoken to in the group hoped the school remains where it is, but said children's safety comes first. 
"Whatever is happening is not enough," said parent Rebecca Sanin, a member of a community task force and the Abrams PTA. "And it's not quick enough." 
Huntington Town board members Susan Berland, <a href="/topics/Glenda_Jackson">Glenda Jackson</a> and Mark Mayoka addressed the crowd. Berland said Town Supervisor <a href="/topics/Frank_Petrone">Frank Petrone</a> and board member Mark Cuthbertson were out of town. 
Berland said the town is "working with all levels of government to explore realistic measures to address this serious situation." Town officials are reaching out to federal agencies such as the <a href="/topics/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation">FBI</a> and Immigration and Naturalization Service to stem gang violence in Huntington Station, Berland said. "The key is to get the gangs out of Huntington Station," she said. 
At a late morning rally, parents who are mostly in favor of immediately relocating students to another facility, also gathered with signs in front of town hall. 
"Our first goal is to get our children in a safe environment," said Nicole Gerberg, who has helped organize a parent group to address issues surrounding the Jack Abrams building. "Many of us think at this point the children should be moved." 
Berland and Mayoka told the parents they would support moving classes to town hall, a former school, but Berland said voters would have to pass a school board referendum to get it done.

Suffolk

LIHUNT20

Safety fears at Huntington Station school prompt rallies

Contending that upcoming state tests could exhaust young students, some <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> school districts have threatened to boycott newly scheduled May 4 trial testing of questions intended to be used in the state's future assessments in English and math. 
In response to the uproar, state education officials said late Friday that the trials requiring about an hour of students' time might be switched to alternate dates that they did not specify. 
Some Island school superintendents expressed relief over Albany's potential concession, saying they seemed to be catching the ear of state officials who have not always heeded their concerns in the past. 
Others said that rescheduling dates will not change the fact that students are over-tested. For example, eighth-graders who are academically advanced face state testing on a dozen days between April 26 and the end of the school year, assuming the trials are included. 
"The amount of pressure on kids as young as 8 is absolutely ridiculous," said Henry Grishman, superintendent of <a href="/topics/Jericho%2C_NY">Jericho</a> schools and president of the <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County Council of School Superintendents. 
The flap began with the circulation last week of a memo from David Abrams, the state's assistant commissioner for assessment. The memo announced that all of the state's approximately 1.3 million students in grades 3-8 were to participate in May 4 trial tests. 
Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the state Education Department, said Friday that the trials were part of Education Commissioner David Steiner's plan to strengthen test questions - a move that could also boost the state's chances of winning hundreds of millions of dollars in federal "race to the top" grants. Dunn added that this would be the first time that test questions were tried out in advance in every school, rather than on a sample basis. 
Many school district administrators statewide contend it's impossible to test so many students on a single day, according to Robert Lowry, deputy director of the State Council of School Superintendents. Many also note that May 4 falls between three days of state testing in English and another three days of math testing, all previously scheduled. 
Wendell Chu, superintendent of <a href="/topics/East_Islip%2C_NY">East Islip</a> schools and president of the <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County Association of School Superintendents, said he received e-mailed objections from more than two dozen colleagues in other districts. Chu added that school boards in some districts were considering a boycott if trials were held May 4, but that trials held later and spread over several days might work. 
<a href="/topics/Bay_Shore%2C_NY">Bay Shore</a> officials are among those who have discussed a possible boycott. 
"We have teachers who are basically teaching to tests," said Andrew Arcuri, a board member and father of four, including a sixth-grader. "I think all the testing just runs counter to what teachers try to accomplish in educating children." 
Many superintendents said Friday the state's scheduling of trials was reminiscent of a decision announced abruptly last spring to switch this year's grade 3-8 testing from winter to spring. The change required most districts to rewrite their entire calendars for this school year. 
<h3>Testing schedule</h3> 
Here is a typical state testing schedule this spring for eighth-graders who are academically advanced. This includes trial tests - originally scheduled for May 4, but subject to possible change - of questions intended for use in future assessments. 
&nbsp; 
April 26-28: English (two days required) 
May 4: trial testing in English and math 
May 5-7: math (two days) 
May 24-June 3: science lab (one day) 
June 7: written science 
June 14-15: social studies (both days) 
June 18: accelerated Regents algebra 
June 21: world language proficiency 
June 22: accelerated Regents earth science

LITEST14

School districts slam state's plan for trial testing

liTEST

Thirty students from Huntington High School became Washington VIPs this week, complete with a behind-the-scenes tour of a Smithsonian exhibit and a private meeting with first lady Michelle Obama. 
The fashion students were invited to Washington as a reward for their class project last year, a book of designs of formal gowns for Obama to wear to the Inaugural Ball. 
Their teachers sent the book to the <a href="/topics/White_House">White House</a> last March. Not only did they receive a signed letter - "I would be proud to wear any of your creations," Obama wrote in part - but almost a year later, they were invited to see the first lady's gown, unveiled Tuesday at the Smithsonian <a href="/topics/National_Museum_of_American_History">National Museum of American History</a>. 
In her remarks at the museum, Obama asked the Huntington students to stand and thanked them for their work. 
"I had so much fun looking through all the designs," she said, according to a transcript. "You all are obviously a very talented and beautiful and handsome group of people. And I am so pleased to be able to share this special day with you." 
And after her speech, the students got to meet the first lady. 
"She shook every one of the students' hands, took pictures," said Joan Fretz, the Huntington school district director of fine and performing arts. "She was hopeful that one day, they would be wearing their own dress designs." 
Fretz called the two-day trip "the most extraordinary experience I've ever had" in more than 30 years of teaching. 
"It was a recognition of creative teaching," she said. "I'd like to say that if the first lady was checking your homework, you'd be working harder." 
A copy of their work will go into the Smithsonian's resource collection, Fretz said. The students also met <a href="/topics/Jason_Wu">Jason Wu</a>, who designed Obama's Inaugural Ball gown, and Clare Brown, who designed the expansion of the museum's First Ladies exhibition. 
Obama's words of encouragement made an impression on the students, some of whom want to pursue careers in the fashion business. 
"I didn't even think we'd get a letter, and that was good enough," said Sabina Schneider, 17, who had designed a light blue dress with a long train. 
"But a year later, she still remembered us. That was pretty amazing." 
&nbsp; 
<h3>What the first lady said to them</h3> 
&nbsp; 
"She definitely said thank you for all the designs. She was so glad to see us. She said you have so much opportunity, and go for your dreams." 
- SABINA SCHNEIDER, 17, Huntington High School junior 
"She told us how amazing our creativity was, and how great our designs were. She also wished us the best of luck...on our progression in the fashion industry." 
- JENNY ASARO, 15, Huntington High School sophomore 
"She said she hopes one day, she'll be wearing something we designed." 
- MELEIKA AMOS, 17, Huntington High School junior

LIHUNT10

Huntington fashion students meet Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama students

It is 2:15 p.m. on a Friday in late February. Four <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a> admissions officers stare at a high-school transcript displayed on a screen on the wall of a conference room. 
The summary is intriguing: A 97 average at a competitive public high school, and a combined 1130 score on the critical reading and math sections of the SAT. 
The student is a "gray" case - an applicant who was neither accepted nor rejected during the first round of decision-making. The next part of the transcript shows the student hasn't gone beyond basic classes. No calculus, no physics, no Advanced Placement courses; no math or science during senior year. 
Then the screen shows recommendation letters from teachers and a guidance counselor, the student's essay, a list of extracurriculars: No one in the room is dazzled. 
There's an oddity, too: The student wants to study a major Stony Brook doesn't offer. 
Robert Pertusati, the associate dean of admissions, votes to turn down the applicant, as do two other admissions officers. A fourth, Chris D'Orso, votes to admit, saying the student shows promise. "Also, a lot of undergrads change their majors," D'Orso adds. 
The decision has taken three minutes. A rejection letter will be mailed in a few days. 
Pertusati shakes his head. "That's the kind of student who probably would've been admitted five years ago." 
The admissions committee moves on. They still have dozens of applications to consider this day, at the height of what is the most competitive year for admissions in the university's 53-year history. 
Increase in applicants 
This is the time of year when colleges across the country scramble to review the final wave of applications, while 12th-graders anxiously await the verdicts. The recession has made Stony Brook especially popular because it is a major research institution where in-state students pay less than $5,000 in tuition. 
Stony Brook expects more than 29,000 undergraduate applicants this year, a 60 percent increase from five years ago. The school will admit close to 10,000, about 35 percent (that compares to an acceptance rate of 58 percent in 1999). Less than one-third of the accepted students will enroll, filling the 2,700 spots in next fall's freshman class. 
The increased attention has put more pressure than ever on Stony Brook's 18 admissions officers. "It's heartbreaking to tell solid students that unfortunately we're not able to find a place for them," said Matthew Whelan, the assistant provost in charge of admissions. 
The admissions office the public sees is a bland reception room on the first floor of the administration building. The room had been scheduled for a makeover, with amphitheater seating around a large screen showing videos, but that plan was scuttled during a recent round of cutbacks. 
The real work takes place behind an unmarked door across the way, in a warren of small offices where admissions officers peer into computers for hours on end. The silence is interrupted by the occasional laugh booming from Pertusati's office. 
On a recent morning, Pertusati started his workday by glancing at two side-by-side computer monitors. They showed he had 44 applications to read by day's end. He also had to respond to a stack of phone messages from guidance counselors eager to make cases for students bent on attending Stony Brook. 
'Amazing students' 
One of the first applicants was a <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> boy with a 94 average and a full load of honors and AP courses, including AP calculus, AP physics and AP literature. The transcript showed the student had already earned six college credits by taking courses at a local campus. The guidance counselor's recommendation letter praised the boy's volunteer work at a hospital. In his essay, the student wrote about his desire to be a doctor. 
"This one is a slacker," Pertusati said sarcastically. He clicked a box that said "admit." 
During the next six hours, Pertusati marveled as he read applications from class presidents, three-sport varsity athletes and would-be scientists who do research in their free time. In the past decade, the mean verbal-math SAT score of admitted freshmen rose 73 points, to 1232 last fall. In 2000, the middle 50 percent of those admitted freshmen had an SAT range of 1050 to 1260; by last fall, the range was 1130 to 1310. 
"We have some amazing students applying - this is quite humbling," said Pertusati, 48, who graduated from what was then called Commack South High School and earned his bachelor's degree in psychology at Stony Brook in 1984. He spent six years at <a href="/topics/Hofstra_University">Hofstra University</a>'s admissions office, then moved to Stony Brook 18 years ago. 
Pertusati's wall is decorated with Stony Brook pennants as well as a button that says, "I am more than a test score." He admits that's ironic, because scores often play a significant role in SUNY admissions. Pertusati agrees with national and Stony Brook research that indicates a student's grades in demanding high school math courses are a better predictor of college success than the SAT. 
Like Stony Brook's other admissions officers, Pertusati works alone as he gives applications an initial read. By habit, he looks first at the transcript to see the rigor of courses the student has taken since ninth grade. He then looks at the grades and standardized scores. Next he reads recommendations and, finally, students' essays and activity lists. 
Pertusati can suggest admitting or denying; then the file goes to another officer for a second read and confirmation. Pertusati also can "hold" a student who is on the cusp. For some students on hold, Pertusati asks guidance counselors to send updated grades; others, the gray cases, are referred to the admissions committee for discussion. 
Painful decisions 
Pertusati admits to agonizing over many applications. On another morning, he read the file of a student who wanted to study engineering. The student had a 1040 combined SAT score and a GPA just below 80, along with grades in the 70s in Algebra II and trigonometry. The student's essay was a poignant account of fleeing a war-torn country as a child, but it couldn't compensate for the grades. "It pains me to do this," Pertusati said as he rejected the student. 
He scours transcripts for what he calls "hiccups." A girl who wants to be a nursing major has avoided biology and chemistry classes. Rejected. A boy who plans to go into computer science got a C in calculus. Rejected. 
While many admissions can be predicted by grades and test scores, Stony Brook makes dozens of exceptions. A persuasive recommendation or an exceptionally well-written or thoughtful essay can tip the decision for an applicant. In a couple of weeks, Pertusati, Whelan and the admissions dean will meet to discuss applicants who have special circumstances. For example, one has a disease that makes bones brittle, and for that reason had trouble finishing the SAT. Another got dismal grades for the first two years of high school, but recommendations explain that the student is a "late bloomer" who embraced academics by junior year. 
This year, several applicants have disastrous transcripts, but their essays and recommendations explain they had to work long hours to help with expenses after their parents were laid off. Judging by past years, Stony Brook will admit some of those applicants. 
Last year, a boy was admitted despite disappointing grades when the admissions committee learned his mother had died of cancer. Before that, the boy had frequently missed school to take her to chemotherapy. 
Every few minutes, Pertusati is cheered by something he likes. A student who wants to be an engineer has a 1240 SAT and a 91 average, is active in a robotics club and is close to becoming an Eagle Scout. He's also a member of his school's wind ensemble and a jazz band. 
"The engineer has musical talent - very interesting." He lets out a hearty laugh. 
Admitted. 
Who gets in? 
<a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a>'s admissions officers say they try to look beyond test scores when making decisions. In the two sets of cases here, the admissions office denied applicants with very strong SAT scores while accepting applicants with significantly weaker SAT scores who showed more effort in the classroom, had better grades and overcame some type of hardship. 
COMPARISON No. 1 
STUDENT 1 
More driven, SAT scores: 590 critical reading, 580 math, 590 writing 
Academic average: 94. Very good student, most Regents exam scores in 90s, two in high 80s, AP courses in senior year, 22 academic units, strong math through pre-calculus 
Letters of recommendation: Strong, attesting to student's persistence and character 
Essay: Well-written, about overcoming significant life change to persist and do well 
Assessment: Student continued to take challenging courses and performed well through senior year while attending to family needs 
DECISION: ADMIT 
STUDENT 2 
Higher scores, SAT scores: 630 critical reading, 750 math, 660 writing 
Academic average: 75. Below average to very weak Regents exam scores, two failures junior year, poor performance all four years, weak math scores in classroom despite high SAT 
Letter of recommendation: Unremarkable, with little new information 
Essay: About wanting to attend Stony Brook, but not strong enough to make up for poor performance 
Assessment: Student might be bright but is unmotivated and continues to perform poorly 
DECISION: DENY 
COMPARISON No. 2 
STUDENT 3 
'One-of-a-kind' SAT scores: 490 critical reading, 650 math, 490 writing 
Academic average: 98. Excellent student, very challenging coursework, strong math through calculus 
Letters of recommendation: All five indicate this is a 'once-in-a-lifetime,' 'one-of-a-kind' student 
Essay: Excellent, about leaving all that was familiar to come to a new country even though she/he had an opportunity to stay 
Assessment: Student a U.S. citizen but schooled in another country in a different language, recently arrived back in U.S. for high school; English is second language but did well in writing and English in regular, non-ESL classroom; indicates a thirst for exploration and curiosity; phenomenal leadership experiences 
DECISION: ADMIT 
STUDENT 4 
'Underachiever' SAT scores: 690 critical reading, 770 math, 710 writing 
Academic average: 73. Very poor performance all four years despite very high SAT scores, no improvement in either junior or senior year; student did win an academic competition in chosen field 
Letters of recommendation: Use phrases such as 'late bloomer,' 'underachiever' and 'not working to potential' throughout; all indicate student is very strong in areas she/he likes 
Essay: Flowery but not well-constructed 
Assessment: Student likes to study things she/he enjoys; student needs to be able to pursue learning on his/her own terms without dealing with required curriculum, and would do quite well in that type of environment 
DECISION: DENY

News

LIADMI28

Admissions officers at Stony Brook often look beyond grades

liADMI28-A

TIPS for high school students thinking about college: 
1) Challenge yourself in school. Take the most demanding curriculum you are capable of handling, including Advanced Placement and honors courses if they are offered. 
2) Take a math and science class during 12th grade even if they are not required. Stick with a foreign language, too. 
3) Try different extracurricular activities early in high school, then make a commitment to a couple of them in 11th and 12th grade. Show that you have perseverance. 
4) Get to know your teachers. You'll learn more and you'll have the added benefit of mentors when it's time to ask for recommendations. 
5) Embrace your uniqueness and communicate that to the college admissions office through your essays and interview. This is not the time to blend or be a wallflower. 
6) If an application states that an essay or something else is optional, do it anyway. Don't settle for the minimum. 
7) If you are very interested in a particular college, make the admissions office aware. Many colleges track a student's "demonstrated interest," such as campus visits, e-mails and participation in online chats. 
SOURCE: ROBERT PERTUSATI, ASSOCIATE DEAN OF UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS, STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY

LITIPS28

Tips for high-schoolers considering college

LIWAIT28

Profiles of 3 LI students waiting for word

A Duke-educated psychologist contends in a federal lawsuit that he lost his $140,000-a-year guidance director's job in the Lawrence school district because he was viewed as "anti-Orthodox" by board members who are mostly Orthodox Jews. 
District officials declined to comment on the lawsuit, but noted the board under Orthodox leadership has provided high-quality education to students, most of whom are non-Orthodox. 
In legal papers filed Friday in U.S. District Court, the former school administrator, Jay Silverstein, says he was advised by his superintendent that he could boost his chances of obtaining job tenure by becoming friendlier with board members and with a fellow administrator who was said to be Orthodox and influential. 
Silverstein, 47, never received tenure and was terminated by the district in November, despite strong job performance ratings. He now works as a consultant for two private special education schools and does private counseling. 
Silverstein still lives in the Lawrence district where his two children attend classes. He plans to run for the Lawrence school board in May. 
"I'm sad and angry that a board of education would sacrifice good employees and harm children and families in the district to achieve a political purpose," he said. 
Silverstein, who was born Jewish but is nonpracticing, said he harbors no negative feelings toward any religious group. 
Superintendent John Fitzsimons voiced disappointment over Silverstein's lawsuit, pointing out that he had offered Silverstein another job at equal pay, after realizing Silverstein would not be granted tenure as guidance director. "I thought in light of the political climate here, it would be a lifesaver for the guy," Fitzsimons said. 
Silverstein's lawsuit is the latest episode in a running battle between Lawrence's non-Orthodox residents and the Orthodox majority, who took over the school board in 2006. 
About 3,190 students attend district public schools; about 4,000 attend private schools, mostly Orthodox yeshivas. 
Lawrence spends $29,300 per student - 30 percent more than the Long Island average - and academic performance has improved in recent years. 
But in March 2009, the board with virtually no discussion closed the district's School Number 6. It was the second local school closed in the past six years, and was attended by many children from Atlantic Beach, where Silverstein and residents have spoken out against the board's approach. 
In August, a federal court dismissed a parents' lawsuit to block sale of the school; an appeal is pending. Silverstein's attorney, Rick Ostrove of Carle Place, contends his client's job loss violated his constitutional right to free speech. 
Board president Murray Forman dismissed Silverstein's case as appearing to be "another frivolous lawsuit" but declined to comment on any specifics of the case. 
"It's kind of a shame, because all this will do is sap more resources that are better off spent on children," he said. 
Co-workers praise Silverstein's job performance, especially an electronic databank that he built to help students apply to colleges and seek financial aid. 
"He certainly was a wonderful director of guidance," said Vicki Karant, district assistant superintendent for curriculum.

LILAWR05

Counselor sues Lawrence school district over dismissal

liLAWRjp002

The cause of the fire that ripped through a West Babylon elementary school Thursday night remained under investigation Saturday, as firefighters pinpointed the origin of the blaze to a custodial and maintenance room. 
West Babylon First Assistant Fire Chief Jim Campbell said the fire started in a room that houses the school's boiler, but that investigators have not concluded that the boiler was involved in sparking the fire. 
"It was a shop," Campbell said of the work area. "Just a maintenance area." 
There was no one inside South Bay Elementary when flames were reported just after 10:30 Thursday night. Firefighters were on the scene within five minutes, Campbell said. 
The fire moved upward and entered the wood construction at the top of the 1950s-era school. 
"The roof structure was wood plank and wood joist," Campbell said. "Wood sitting there since 1951 is dry. The fire got in there and just took off." 
The blaze gutted the building, leaving very little that was salvageable. The fire does not appear to be suspicious, officials have said. 
Meanwhile, West Babylon school officials have secured learning space for the more than 300 students displaced from the K-5 school. 
Superintendent Anthony Cacciola announced in a statement that the district had made final its plans to use Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church on Albin Avenue in West Babylon as temporary classroom space. 
Teachers and administrators are scheduled to report to the building tomorrow morning to set up classrooms. Students are to return to class Tuesday, Cacciola said in a statement. 
Students will be offered transportation to the temporary school, including students who walked to South Bay Elementary, Cacciola said. 
The district will hold a forum for parents Sunday at 1 p.m. at West Babylon High School. 
With Joie Tyrrell

LIFIRE21

Probe: Fire that ruined LI school began in maintenance room

liSKUL20

A fire that raced through a wood-framed West Babylon elementary school Thursday night is stirring debate over whether sprinklers could have prevented the building's destruction. 
Like most <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> schools, South Bay Elementary had no water sprinklers - a fact well known to educators that surprised some parents. 
Some local officials speculate that sprinklers - however expensive - might have prevented many of the school's more than 300 children from losing their classrooms. 
"It would have helped confine the fire and control the fire," said Jim Campbell, West Babylon's first assistant fire chief. "Sprinklers are advantageous in any fire scenario." 
Gil Hanse, Town of Babylon fire marshal, is less certain that sprinklers would have prevented the school's gutting. "The fire service always recommends sprinkler systems, but would it have helped in this situation? I don't know," he said. 
The blaze spread quickly through the K-5 school, officials said, and did not appear to be suspicious. 
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Hanse said. The blaze started in the middle of the school and spread to a section between the rafters and the ceiling and then throughout the school's corridors. 
"The fire alarm apparently went off at 10 p.m. and the head custodian responded," West Babylon Superintendent Anthony Cacciola said. "By the time he got there, the fire department was already on the scene." 
The fire was under control around 2:30 to 3 a.m., Hanse said. 
South Bay Elementary School was built in the early 1950s, before sprinklers became common. Since then, updated building codes in New York, as in many other states, have required sprinklers in school spaces of more than 20,000 square feet. Schools built before the code was changed to include sprinklers don't have to have the devices. 
New York State's code is administered by the Department of State in Albany. However, the state Education Department is responsible for enforcing the code in regard to schools. That agency reviews all school building plans to determine if they meet the code. 
State Education Department officials said the school had all of its inspection reports in order and had a valid certificate of occupancy. The school's last fire inspection was in April 2009 and it was due for another in April, said state Education Department spokesman Tom Dunn. 
Experts say it's common in school construction to enclose spaces smaller than 20,000 square feet within fire-resistant walls, thus avoiding the sprinkler requirement. 
"You could have a nearly 100,000-square-foot school, and architects will divide it into five sections of less than 20,000 each," said John A. Viniello, president of the National Fire Sprinkler Association, a trade group based in upstate Patterson that represents manufacturers, contractors and others. 
Viniello, whose group lobbies for stricter sprinkler requirements, says the trend is toward installing the safety devices in new buildings. He estimates that sprinkler systems cost between $2 and $3 per square foot. 
But when it comes to fire safety in schools, education officials and architects alike say the emphasis must be placed on equipment and training that clears buildings as rapidly as possible. This means fire alarms - a requirement in every school - as well as increasing numbers of smoke alarms and strobe lights that can help children evacuate smoke-filled buildings. 
Henry Grishman, superintendent of <a href="/topics/Jericho%2C_NY">Jericho</a> schools and a former president of the State Council of School Superintendents, does not recall ever seeing a school building equipped with sprinklers. 
Some local authorities see less expensive ways of preventing fires - for example, through use of heat-detecting systems. In the Sachem school system, officials are seeking state permission to install electronic monitors that can detect sudden changes in building temperatures. 
Bruce H. Singer, the district's associate superintendent for business, said the monitors would prevent energy waste and provide early warning of potential fires.With Joie Tyrrell

LIWHY20

School blaze ignites debate over use of sprinklers

South Bay Elementary School Fire

A West Babylon school was ravaged by a fire that erupted Thursday night at about 10 p.m., officials said. 
Firefighters at several local departments fought the blaze all through the night at South Bay Elementary School, at 160 Great East Neck Rd. 
"It's pretty bad," said West Babylon school Superintendent Anthony Cacciola, who was at the scene of the blaze Thursday night, along with several parents and school officials. 
PHOTOS: <a href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/west-babylong-fire-engulfs-elementary-school-1.1769904">Fire engulfs South Bay Elementary School in West Babylon</a> 
"The fire alarm apparently went off at 10 p.m. and the head custodian responded," he said. "By the time he got there, the fire department was already on the scene." 
South Bay, which opened in 1953, is one of five elementary schools in the West Babylon school district. It has an enrollment of approximately 400 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, according to its Web site. 
There was no information Thursday night about any injuries, but the school was reported to be unoccupied at the time. The school is closed this week for winter break. 
The blaze was fought by firefighters from the West Babylon Fire Department, who were quickly joined by volunteers from Babylon, <a href="/topics/Copiague%2C_NY">Copiague</a>, <a href="/topics/East_Farmingdale%2C_NY">East Farmingdale</a>, <a href="/topics/North_Babylon%2C_NY">North Babylon</a>, Lindenhurst and <a href="/topics/North_Lindenhurst%2C_NY">North Lindenhurst</a>. 
Just past midnight, the building was fully engulfed in flames, fire officials said.

LISKUL19

West Babylon elementary school engulfed in flames

<a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>'s biggest and best-performing charter school has banked $7 million toward building a new high school - expansion that would be a regional first. 
But the swelling cash balance at Roosevelt Children's Academy Charter School is under fire from a state teachers union involved in contract talks at the school. The union says the school should devote more public funding to instruction and other student services. 
The clash reflects a statewide battle over the twin questions of whether charter schools should be allowed to expand in numbers, and whether their finances should be more closely monitored by the state. Such schools operate independently, but receive funding from public school districts, based on numbers of students attracted. 
"These are public dollars that should be spent on kids, and we're not seeing that," said Richard Iannuzzi, president of the <a href="/topics/New_York_State_United_Teachers">New York State United Teachers</a> union. 
Academy officials insist that instructional spending is well-targeted. As evidence, they cite students' test performance. 
&nbsp; 
Ranks 4th statewide 
Children's Academy ranks fourth among charter schools statewide on the latest state English tests, and well above traditional schools in Roosevelt, Nassau County and the state. 
"We keep raising the bar, you know," said Robert Francis, the academy's board chairman and one of its founders. 
Children's Academy opened in 2000 as the Island's first charter school. It has 536 students in grades 3-8. About 90 percent are African-American, with 79 percent eligible for subsidized lunches due to low family incomes. 
Academy officials hope within the next year or two to obtain state and town permission to build a high school on a lot across from their headquarters. That school would enroll 200 to 300 students, and cost an estimated $6 million to $7 million to build. It would be the Island's first charter high school - 29 schools elsewhere in the state include some or all high school grades. 
Many area parents seek such a school, so their teens won't have to attend struggling traditional high schools. The state last month listed Roosevelt High as one of 57 "persistently lowest achieving" schools. 
Financial statements filed with the state show the academy's revenue totaled $9.2 million last year, while spending totaled $6.1 million. Meanwhile, the school's cash balance grew to $7.7 million, from $5.6 million in 2008 and $1.9 million in 2007. 
&nbsp; 
Reserves called essential 
<a href="/topics/State_University_of_New_York">State University of New York</a> officials in Albany, who monitor Children's Academy finances, say its cash reserves are essential for physical expansion, and also as a cushion against state financing freezes. Those officials note the school had a waiting list of nearly 300 applicants last year. Students are chosen by lottery, as in other charter schools. 
"It's a strong model that they plan to expand into high school grades," said Jonas Chartock, executive director of SUNY's Charter Schools Institute. 
Under state law, charter schools hire private accounting firms to conduct audits that are filed with the state. School districts do the same. 
But in 2005, the state comptroller's office launched its own audits of districts, in the wake of revelations that <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> school officials had embezzled $11.2 million. 
Initially, this extra scrutiny was aimed at charter schools as well. But the state's Court of Appeals ruled that unconstitutional in June, after charter schools sued. 
Last month, Albany lawmakers failed to reach a compromise on proposed legislation that would have resumed state audits of charter schools while expanding their number from 200 to at least 400. The fight is expected to resume this spring.

LICHAR11

Roosevelt charter school's $7M raises controversy

Roosevelt Children's Academy Charter School

Public schools from <a href="/topics/Bridgehampton%2C_NY">Bridgehampton</a> to Hewlett-Woodmere and around the state have braced for tough economic times by amassing $615 million in excess funds, according to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who wants to channel more of the money to tax relief. 
At an Albany news conference Tuesday, the state's chief fiscal watchdog called on lawmakers to authorize new "tax stabilization reserves" that could be applied to budgets each year so that property taxes would be raised no more than 2.5 percent. 
The recommendation for tax stabilization - along with dozens of other proposals - follows completion last week of a monumental audit that covered 733 school districts and BOCES statewide. 
Nearly 40 percent of those districts had excess reserves, the comptroller reported. The $615 million is slightly more than half of the $1.1 billion that Gov. David A. Paterson has proposed cutting in school aid to help close a state budget deficit. 
The audits were launched in 2005, following revelations that <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> school officials embezzled $11.2 million. 
DiNapoli, whose parents grew up in <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a>, said his office would follow up this year with another 150 district audits - less than last year's 200, but more focused on combating financial waste. 
"Trust me, if this could happen in <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a>, it could happen anywhere," he said. 
DiNapoli added, however, that the great majority of school officials were honest. Tuesday's report was accompanied by a list of 39 districts that got clean marks from state auditors, 12 on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, including Half Hollow Hills. 
"Not that people didn't always trust us, because I think they do, but to some extent, I think this helps restore public confidence," said Sheldon Karnilow, the Half Hollow Hills superintendent. 
Under state law, districts can allot no more than 4 percent of their budgets to reserve funds that don't have specific purposes - a restriction many financial experts consider too narrow. 
Last year, DiNapoli criticized Middle Country for such a reserve fund that in 2008 was equal to 6 percent of its budget. <a href="/topics/Valley_Stream%2C_NY">Valley Stream</a> 24 maintained a reserve of $3.09 million, he said, three times that allowed. School officials disagreed with DiNapoli's assessment; Middle Country district leaders accused the state of disregarding their need to prepare for unforeseen financial emergencies. 
Among the comptroller's recommendations Tuesday: 
Districts should start preparing now through multiyear planning for the end of federal stimulus aid in 2011-12 - the "financial cliff." 
State lawmakers should help districts weather difficult times by authorizing new types of reserves for stabilizing taxes and for covering bonded debt, pensions and health benefits. 
The state Education Department should design a model contract for school superintendents - one school boards could draw upon to avoid awarding inappropriate perks. 
Legislative representatives were noncommittal Tuesday, saying DiNapoli's recommendations were under review. 
Robert Lowry, deputy director of the State Council of School Superintendents, who attended Tuesday's news conference, said in an interview that any state move to authorize tax-stabilization reserves could help districts build adequate "rainy day" funds. 
Lowry noted, however, that state lawmakers have failed to act on another DiNapoli recommendation to authorize reserve funds covering retirees' health benefits. The comptroller first urged this two years ago, repeating the proposal Tuesday. 
Lowry blamed inaction partly on the state's precarious fiscal condition, partly on inertia. 
"It's sort of like fixing your roof," Lowry said. "When it's sunny, you don't need to, and when it's raining, nobody wants to be outdoors." 
* * * 
Some local districts where audits found potential fraud: 
<a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> 
Findings: After reviewing 57,000 checks over eight years and tens of thousands of computer records, auditors identified $11.2 million used by school employees, their friends and families for personal benefit, according to the 2005 audit. 
Outcome: Six people, four of whom worked for the district, pleaded guilty. Former superintendent Frank Tassone was released earlier this month from prison, eight months earlier than his minimum sentence of 4 to 12 years. 
<a href="/topics/William_Floyd">William Floyd</a> 
Findings: In 2006, auditors identified $6.4 million in inappropriate and unapproved spending, including $1.1 million in apparent misappropriations by district managers for their own personal benefit; $2.1 million of questionable or poorly controlled payments, including no-bid contracts and payments made without contracts; and $3.2 million for seven administrators’ contracts and salaries that were not approved in advance by the board. 
Outcome: Before the audit, five top officials were arrested for theft or malfeasance. Auditors noted that after wrongdoing surfaced, district officials made several improvements to strengthen controls, such as segregating duties in the business office, ensuring the board receives regular financial reports, and ensuring the board reviews all payroll increases before they become effective. District officials said yesterday “the Comptroller conducted a follow-up audit of the William Floyd School District in July of 2009. We are awaiting the results of that report before commenting.” 
Central Islip 
Findings: The district racked up more than $130,000 in expenses that were excessive, questionable or paid out with little oversight, according to a 2005 audit which criticized the district’s spending on travel, meals, phone and Internet service for board members and school officials. 
Outcome: School officials acknowledged many lapses but blanched at the audit’s severe language, noting the district had reformed many spending policies. The board approved policies governing travel, cell phone and credit card use where none had existed before. It also has discontinued reimbursing board members and school officials for Internet service, mileage and phone expenses. — COMPILED BY JOIE TYRRELL

LIAUDI10

Many schools have amassed excess funds, state says

liAUDI05

<a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a> and <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>'s four other state college campuses face the prospect of drastic cuts later this year that probably will lead to crowded classes, fewer chances for students to do science research, and reduced services in everything from residence halls to business partnerships, the SUNY chancellor said in an interview Thursday. 
Referring to Gov. David A. <a href="/topics/David_A_Paterson">Paterson</a>'s proposed budget, Chancellor Nancy <a href="/topics/Nancy_Zimpher">Zimpher</a> said, "This is extremely threatening to our ability to continue to provide a quality educational experience to students." 
Facing a projected $8.2-billion budget shortfall, Paterson called for cutting $157 million from SUNY in 2010-11, including $95 million from the system's flagship campuses - Stony Brook, Binghamton, Albany and Buffalo. 
The State Legislature's Democratic leaders said they will fight the proposed SUNY cuts. "As if subtracting from the greatest investment the state can make in its future makes sense," Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-<a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>) said last week. 
Zimpher said she would like to make up for the possible cuts by charging higher tuition. Since the legislature must sign off on any tuition increase, Zimpher said that she is frustrated because it has resisted giving campuses more autonomy in everything from setting tuitions to purchasing materials. 
"We have new leadership at SUNY, we have new ways of doing business," said Zimpher, who took the top job at the 64-campus system last summer. "Isn't it time the legislature behaved in a new . . . way?" 
The budget crisis comes as applications to local SUNY campuses - Stony Brook, <a href="/topics/SUNY_Old_Westbury">SUNY Old Westbury</a> and <a href="/topics/Farmingdale_State_College">Farmingdale State College</a> - are soaring because parents and students are increasingly looking for cheaper higher education alternatives. In addition, <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> community colleges are reeling from record enrollments. 
"Our community colleges are really, really chafing" from the potential loss of millions of dollars in state aid, Zimpher said. 
Assemb. James Conte (R-<a href="/topics/Huntington_Station%2C_NY">Huntington Station</a>), a Higher Education Committee member, said he agreed that SUNY campuses should be allowed to set their own tuitions, with the research universities charging more. "I've called over the years for a rational tuition policy," he said. 
Elizabeth Lynam, deputy research director at the nonpartisan <a href="/topics/Citizens_Budget_Commission">Citizens Budget Commission</a>, said Zimpher is doing her best to stave off the potential cuts. "The legislature is negotiating right now over what it's going to restore . . . So, it would be very unusual for SUNY to say, 'Yes, cut me.' Everybody is taking the position that the cuts are going to be too hard to withstand." 
The proposed cuts could hit <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a> especially hard, said its president, Dr. Samuel L. Stanley Jr. He estimated they would amount to a loss to the university of $55 million in 2 1/2 years. That, he said, is about 18 percent of the money provided by Albany. 
"I will have to make some tough decisions about what we can afford," Stanley said. 
Fearing increased class sizes and reductions in services and student research opportunities, Zimpher said she will "take a serious look" at increasing tuition for out-of-state students if she's allowed to by the legislature, but she doesn't want SUNY schools to be more expensive than other public colleges. 
Zimpher and Stanley, who appeared at a Stony Brook forum on sustainability Thursday, urged the legislature to see SUNY as a key to revitalizing the state's economy through research, small-business incubators and partnerships with companies. 
With James T. Madore

LISUNY05

SUNY Chancellor: LI campuses face cuts, crowding

Stony Brook

Six years after an outcry over an $11.2-million embezzlement of public funds in <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a>, the state comptroller's office has wrapped up a monumental auditing of all 733 school districts and BOCES statewide that found many instances of lax controls and wasteful spending. 
The effort was capped Thursday with release of a report on cyber thieves who made off with more than $100,000 in <a href="/topics/Lindenhurst%2C_NY">Lindenhurst</a> because of poor security. 
At a <a href="/topics/Hauppauge%2C_NY">Hauppauge</a> news conference, Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli vowed his office would continue its watchdog role, but with fewer audits focused more intently on preventing wasteful spending. He added that auditors also would look for positive examples of schools that manage to save money in tough economic times. 
"Educating our children - and stretching every taxpayer dollar to do it - is the prime objective for our schools," said DiNapoli, 55, who began his public career as a <a href="/topics/Mineola%2C_NY">Mineola</a> school board trustee at age 18. 
DiNapoli's aides contend the $7-million-a-year auditing effort has proved highly successful in forcing schools to tighten financial controls and train board trustees to exercise fiscal oversight. One recent review of operations in 15 school districts, including five on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, concluded that those districts had implemented 82 percent of state auditors' recommendations for improvement. 
Others are more skeptical. In Jericho, one of the first districts audited, local administrators acknowledge state recommendations were helpful in keeping closer track of fuel usage in district vehicles. But some question whether resulting savings come anywhere close to matching the cost of extra auditing. 
"How much taxpayer money has been recovered with the expenditure of $7 [million] to $9 million a year?" asked Henry Grishman, Jericho schools superintendent and president of the Nassau Council of School Superintendents. 
DiNapoli aides provided no overall answer Thursday, though they noted a Middle Country audit resulted in recovery of $42,500 from three teachers who were overpaid retirement incentives. His office plans to lay out its accomplishments and recommendations for improved school management in Albany next week. 
The statewide monitoring effort was launched by a new state law in 2005, following the <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> revelations. Since then, one audit after another has stressed some common themes: 
Many districts are accumulating excessive cash reserves, and should spend down those reserves to curb taxes. 
Districts are giving too many employees access to financial accounts and other resources, and need to tighten controls. 
Districts should require better documentation of employee expenses and eligibility for vacation and sick leave. 
DiNapoli, appointed in 2007, will seek election in November. His hammering away at districts' reserve funds has proved a hit with taxpayer groups. 
"He's been aware of the hundreds of millions of dollars - maybe billions - that are sitting in school districts' accounts without educating a single child," said Fred Gorman, a regional taxpayer advocate and Nesconset/Sachem Civic Association president. "The guy has really done a good job." 
Thursday, DiNapoli raised another issue: the need for improved cybersecurity. An audit released at the news conference reported six unauthorized wire transfers from July 2-5, 2007, from a bank account held by the <a href="/topics/Lindenhurst%2C_NY">Lindenhurst</a> school district. Transfers totaled $601,577. 
Auditors found the bank was able to block $496,590 in transfers and retrieve the money, but that $104,987 was lost. District officials said the missing money was reimbursed by an insurance company. 
"We were very fortunate," said Richard Nathan, the superintendent of <a href="/topics/Lindenhurst%2C_NY">Lindenhurst</a> schools since July, who attended Thursday's conference and noted adequate controls had been put in place. 
The FBI investigated the <a href="/topics/Lindenhurst%2C_NY">Lindenhurst</a> thefts but wasn't able to find the culprits, state officials said. 
<a href="/topics/Wantagh%2C_NY">Wantagh</a> 
Findings: Two school board trustees failed to disclose they ran nonprofit <a href="/topics/Wantagh%2C_NY">Wantagh</a> Foundation for Educational Excellence, which received more than $500,000 from the district over two years. Allowed staffers to carry over year-to-year more sick days than allowed under labor contracts. 
Action: Only current school board trustee with a <a href="/topics/Wantagh%2C_NY">Wantagh</a> Foundation position gave it up this year. Another no longer on the board. Sick day policy now conforms to labor contracts. 
&nbsp; 
<a href="/topics/Bay_Shore%2C_NY">Bay Shore</a> 
Findings: District held $14 million in excess reserves. 
Action: District officials said yesterday their "reserves were carefully built and designed to avoid dramatic tax rate increases that might otherwise occur in the absence of available resources . . ." Officials also noted <a href="/topics/Bay_Shore%2C_NY">Bay Shore</a> has reduced its unappropriated, unreserved fund balance to below 1 percent - 4 percent being the maximum allowed. 
&nbsp; 
Comsewogue 
Findings: A former school superintendent collected unusual $739,000 "golden parachute" when he retired in 2006, boosting administrator's annual pension nearly $100,000 beyond his pay while working. Contract allowed Richard Brande to cash in unused vacation and sick days at daily rates of $1,304 and $2,784, respectively, when he retired. 
Action: School officials said in response to 2009 audit that district no longer grants contract terms as generous as those given Brande. 
&nbsp; 
<a href="/topics/Levittown%2C_NY">Levittown</a> 
Findings: Repeated annual operating deficits, including $2.8 million in 2005-06 and $6 million in 06-07. Routine use of cash reserves to pay operating expenses. More than $7 million in cost overruns in 2006-07. 
Action: Installed new acting assistant superintendent for business. Requires three managers to sign off on monthly spending reports. 
&nbsp; 
<a href="/topics/South_Huntington%2C_NY">South Huntington</a> 
Findings: Two school board trustees failed to complete financial oversight training required by state law. District overpaid for life insurance for five top administrators. 
Action: District officials said Thursday most state auditors' recommendations were put in place by district prior to auditors' arrival. Recommendations not already in place were corrected and in place prior to auditors' departure. 
&nbsp; 
<a href="/topics/West_Babylon%2C_NY">West Babylon</a> 
Findings: Paid some retiring workers for more unused leave time and granted others more holidays than owed under contract. Used 27 percent more fuel than employees reported. 
Action: Overpayments and holidays - longtime district policy - were incorporated into labor contracts. Workers using district gasoline must keep records down to 1/10th of a gallon. 
&nbsp; 
<a href="/topics/West_Islip%2C_NY">West Islip</a> 
Findings: School board president and a former board member violated law and district's ethics code by failing to publicly disclose their spouses had taken jobs with district. Assistant superintendent for business received payment in lieu of health insurance, which her original contract did not stipulate could be done. 
Action: District said it was no secret to those in audience that two board members' wives were being hired by district. However, the fact it was not recorded in minutes has been corrected since receiving auditors' report. Now, when a board member abstains from voting on a personnel matter, explanation for abstention - such as person is a spouse - is recorded in minutes. 
Board move to give payment to assistant superintendent for business in lieu of health insurance had been approved previously. Since audit, district determined new contracts would be written if and when employees receive change from original agreements.

LIAUDI05

Statewide audit of 733 school districts, BOCES wraps up

school districts

A Glen Cove elementary school principal, Julio V. Delgado, has been abruptly replaced after 31/2 years on the job. 
School district officials described the administrative switch Tuesday at Deasy Elementary School as a personnel matter they could not legally comment on, but said that a longtime administrator and teacher, Joseph Hinton, would serve as acting principal for the rest of the year.
In a letter to parents, Hinton said Delgado had "some serious personal problems" and could not continue.
Last week, Delgado reported he had lost $200 in parent donations earmarked to buy gift cards for the needy, according to Glen Cove City police who were asked by the district to investigate. Police added that the principal had returned to the district another $800 collected last year for a kindergarten class trip but never used, because the trip was rained out.
Police said the probe followed parents' demands that the district account for the kindergarten trip money, after parents were asked to contribute to another trip. The district's superintendent, Laurence Aronstein, said through a spokesman Wednesday that the recovered $800 would be used later this year for a class trip to a theatrical production at <a href="/topics/Hofstra_University">Hofstra University</a>. 
Lt. Thomas Fitzpatrick, a police spokesman, said his department closed the case after questioning Delgado last week. Delgado could not be reached for comment.

LIGLEN04

Glen Cove replaces principal; questions over lost cash

Frank Tassone felt he was entitled. 
That's how the former Roslyn schools chief, released from prison Tuesday for his part in an $11-million embezzlement of the district, rationalized his role in one of the state's biggest public fraud cases. 
"I lost my way. At that time, I took advantage of my position. I think part of it had to do with my thinking I had a sense of entitlement. I was very successful," Tassone said in a parole board hearing transcript released Tuesday by the New York State Division of Parole. 
"I knew at one point that what I was doing was wrong. I absolutely did." 
PHOTOS: <a href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/photos-frank-tassone-in-and-out-of-court-1.1738123">Frank Tassone in and out of court</a> 
Tassone, 63, left the medium security Hale Creek Correctional Facility in upstate Johnstown at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in a private vehicle, according to state Department of Correctional Services officials. He was sentenced in October 2006, to 4 to 12 years, but was let out more than 8 months early for good behavior and completing rehabilitative programs. 
In the transcript from the Oct. 14 hearing, Tassone said he never committed a crime before. Prosecutors say he took more than $2 million in Roslyn, which he has paid back. 
"Every day I go back and say why. This is the last place I ever thought I would find myself in my life," Tassone said. 
But some in Roslyn were not swayed. Eleanor Russell, president of the Roslyn Teachers Association, said, "It really almost leaves me speechless to see that Frank Tassone, the former superintendent, still does not understand the devastation that he caused to the Roslyn community and its teachers." 
Tassone will continue to receive his annual state pension of $173,495.04 in monthly installments, as he did in prison. 
Parole officials said he has an approved residence in the Bronx. He told the board he would like to educate former inmates and had taught inmates while in prison. Tassone pleaded guilty to first- and second-degree grand larceny. 
In the transcript, Tassone admitted misappropriating school funds and using his credit card inappropriately. Six people, four of whom worked for the district, pleaded guilty in connection to the theft in Roslyn. 
Tassone said the scam, which ran for six years, started out "very small," with a lunch that was not business-related. 
He laid some of the blame on the former assistant superintendent for business, whose name is redacted in the transcript. Prosecutors say Pamela Gluckin, who held that position, stole $4.3 million from the district. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 3 to 9 years and remains in prison. 
In the transcript, Tassone said he was told by the assistant superintendent for business and the auditor, whose name was redacted, that he was entitled to a "great many advantages" because of his contract and he said he was told by the auditor that spending $10,000 a month "was appropriate." 
An attorney for Gluckin did not return a call Tuesday. 
But an attorney for former Roslyn school district auditor Andrew Miller, who was sentenced in 2006 to 4 months in jail for falsifying school records, said Tassone was lying. Miller was never charged with stealing any money. 
"Obviously Mr. Tassone's time in prison has not taught him how to speak the truth," said attorney William Petrillo, of <a href="/topics/Rockville_Centre%2C_NY">Rockville Centre</a>. "He continually lies about Mr. Miller - the only person in this case who never stole one penny." 
With Pervaiz Shallwani 
Tassone's parole restrictions 
Tassone will be on parole until 2018, and cannot work in any job that has fiduciary responsibilities. 
He will be subject to substance abuse testing, cannot drink, go to a bar, gamble or have contact with certain people. 
He will have a curfew and cannot have a credit card or a checking account. 
He will continue to receive his annual state pension of $173,495.04 in monthly installments, as he did in prison. 
PHOTOS: <a href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/photos-frank-tassone-in-and-out-of-court-1.1738123">Frank Tassone in and out of court</a> 
VIDEO: <a href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/roslyn-residents-react-to-tassone-release-1.1732007"> Roslyn residents react to Tassone's release</a>

LITASS03

Ex-Roslyn school chief felt 'entitled' to district money

Frank Tassone

A resident physician at <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a> Medical Center who posted a photograph of a former classmate giving two thumbs up next to a cadaver apologized to faculty members over the weekend for the "uproar" her acts caused as state health officials said they would be looking into the matter. 
In three separate e-mails, Erica Katz of <a href="/topics/Port_Jefferson%2C_NY">Port Jefferson</a>, who works in the emergency medicine unit at the medical center, told faculty members that posting the photo on her <a href="/topics/Facebook_Inc.">Facebook</a> page was a mistake. 
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/erica-katz-s-letter-apologizing-to-anatomy-department-1.1737166">&gt;&gt;&gt;LETTER: Click here to read Erica Katz’s apology</a> 
"It was absolutely and unquestionably egregious, idiotic, disrespectful, and thoughtless for me to ever have taken that picture, and exponentially worse to have posted in on <a href="/topics/Facebook_Inc.">Facebook</a>," she wrote in one of the letters referring to the photograph she said she took several years ago. 
In the same note, she said, "I had not planned to take pictures of the cadaver, it was a spur of the moment act of idiocy, and I can assure you that no other pictures were ever taken. I had honestly forgotten it existed, let alone that I had posted it online and that it was still there, and I am horrified to think how much trouble and embarrassment I have caused all of you." 
Reached at his home in <a href="/topics/St._James%2C_NY">St. James</a> last night, Aaron Hartman, 27, the student in the photograph, said he did not know the picture existed and he did not give consent for Katz to post it on her <a href="/topics/Facebook_Inc.">Facebook</a> page. 
In an e-mail he sent to the university and provided to Newsday, Hartman wrote that he regretted "the insensitivity shown by the picture toward the deceased. I'm deeply respectful of the dead and grateful for the opportunity which we in the health care field are given by those deceased who have donated their bodies to our trust." 
Monday, Dean Richard Fine met with faculty members, who referred the matter to the committee on academic standards. That panel will recommend to Fine what, if any, disciplinary action will be taken against Katz. The medical school will develop a social media policy, guidelines for students on what is appropriate and inappropriate to post on social networking sites. 
Further, the school will formalize and put into writing what has been an unofficial policy that prohibits students from taking pictures in anatomy class. 
The incident was noticed by the state <a href="/topics/Department_of_Health">Department of Health</a>, which regulates the handling of cadavers. "We expect that they will be taking appropriate steps to ensure this does not happen again," said <a href="/topics/Health_Department">Health Department</a> spokeswoman Claire Pospisil. 
The photo, which features Hartman wearing purple gloves and smiling over a cadaver with both thumbs up, was taken during an anatomy class. The course is typically taken during a medical student's first year. 
Hartman has graduated, said Sheprow. 
Observers said the incident was a rare ethical breach committed by physicians in training, who are reminded to treat the human body with dignity. 
Josephine Johnston, research scholar at the Hastings Center in Garrison, N.Y., a nonprofit bioethics research institute, said it's not common for medical students to fail to show proper respect for a cadaver, but that it happens. "Maybe it's a coping mechanism, because it's potentially quite difficult to deal with the fact that you're cutting up a dead body," Johnston said. 
Dr. Todd R. Olson, professor of anatomy at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and president of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists, said the incident speaks to a lack of professionalism and judgment by both students. 
Photography is not banned in dissection laboratories at Einstein, Olson said, and each medical school can create its own policy regarding photography. 
But cadavers should be treated respectfully, he said, and students need to acknowledge that the cadaver is there as a gift to further their education. 
"Don't you think as a result that one has every reasonable expectation that you're not going to show up with somebody holding two thumbs up over Uncle Dick on <a href="/topics/Facebook_Inc.">Facebook</a>?" Olson asked. 
With Zachary R. Dowdy 
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/erica-katz-s-letter-apologizing-to-anatomy-department-1.1737166">&gt;&gt;&gt;LETTER: Click here to read Erica Katz’s apology</a>

LICADA02

State officials look into Stony Brook cadaver case

Aaron Hartman

They called him their hometown Madoff. And now that former <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> schools chief Frank Tassone is just days from his release from prison for embezzlement, local residents say he got off easy. 
"For what he did to the children of <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a>, he should be put right next to Madoff," Michael Lukas Jr., owner of Garden Cleaners in <a href="/topics/Roslyn_Heights%2C_NY">Roslyn Heights</a>, said Friday. "This is a slap on the wrist." 
Tassone, 63, sentenced in October 2006 to 4 to 12 years for his part in an $11-million embezzlement of school district funds, will be released from a state prison Tuesday - more than eight months short of his minimum sentence. 
Tassone pleaded guilty to first- and second-degree grand larceny. His attorney did not return a call for comment Friday. 
"Holy smokes," said <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> resident Michael Hilton, 55, reacting to Tassone's early release. "You have got to be kidding me. It's an injustice . . . He took money from children." 
Tassone is scheduled to leave the medium security Hale Creek Correctional Facility in upstate Johnstown so soon thanks to good behavior and completing rehabilitative programs while incarcerated. 
Authorities say the former superintendent fleeced <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> of more than $2 million, which he has repaid, part of about $5.5 million from the scam that has been recovered. Six people, four of whom worked for the district, pleaded guilty in connection with the theft. 
What really set blood boiling in <a href="/topics/Roslyn%2C_NY">Roslyn</a> on Friday was knowing that Tassone will continue to receive his annual state pension of $173,495 in monthly installments, as he did while in prison. 
"I personally find it unconscionable this excuse for a human being is going to be let out of jail early, get his pension for life and health benefits while people in Roslyn are struggling to work two jobs," said former board member Jeffrey Borowick, whose three children attended Roslyn public schools. 
Kira Cerny, 21, was a student in Roslyn's public schools while Tassone was in charge and when the sweeping scandal unfolded. 
"The reason why my parents moved here was for me to go to this school," she said. But when she was a student, "We didn't have the budget we seemed to be having and then we find out all these people were stealing millions of dollars . . . Why is he getting out?" 
And Miles Corn, 18, a Roslyn High School senior, said his school had to make cuts in the wake of the scandal. School officials have declined to comment on Tassone's release. 
"It's ridiculous," Corn said. "He took stuff away that we were supposed to have."

LIROSL30

Residents: Tassone, about to be released, got off easy

Former Roslyn schools chief Frank Tassone, sentenced in 2006 for his part in an $11-million embezzlement of the school district, will be released from a state prison Tuesday - eight months and four days earlier than his minimum sentence. 
The news sparked outrage in the Roslyn community he betrayed and in the Nassau district attorney's office. 
Tassone, 63, is scheduled to leave medium security Hale Creek Correctional Facility in upstate Johnstown, thanks to good behavior and completing rehabilitative programs while incarcerated. He was sentenced in October 2006 to 4 to 12 years. 
He will continue to receive his annual state pension of $173,495.04 in monthly installments, as he did while in prison. 
Tassone pleaded guilty to first- and second-degree grand larceny and tearfully apologized at his sentencing. Authorities say he fleeced Roslyn of more than $2 million, which has been repaid. The case prompted numerous criminal investigations and state audits of all other school districts in New York as well as new state laws requiring that school board members get financial training before they serve. 
Six people, four of whom worked for the district, pleaded guilty in connection to the theft in Roslyn. 
"We really don't understand the system of justice that would let Frank Tassone out after all the damage he has done to the Roslyn public schools, including the teachers and the community," said Eleanor Russell, Roslyn teachers' union president. 
Nassau District Attorney <a href="/topics/Kathleen_Rice">Kathleen Rice</a> wrote to the parole board opposing Tassone's release. 
"It sends the wrong message to a community that was betrayed in the most sinister way," Rice said in a statement. 
Tassone will be on parole until 2018 and cannot work in any job with fiduciary responsibility, said Heather R. Groll, spokeswoman for the state Division of Parole. 
While in prison, Tassone had one disciplinary ticket in 2007 for using or possessing an article in an area where its use or possession was prohibited, according to state Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Linda Foglia. 
He also completed programs to earn a release under merit time allowance. The program started in 1997 and 33,007 nonviolent inmates have been released before their court-set parole eligibility date through 2009, Foglia said. The average release was six months before original parole eligibility date. 
But release is not automatic and Tassone still required approval by the parole board. He had to submit a residence for approval by parole officials and will live in the Bronx, Groll said. Parole officials declined to comment on his exact address. 
Under parole, Tassone will be subject to substance abuse testing, Groll said. He cannot drink, go to a bar, gamble or have contact with certain people. He will have a curfew and cannot have a credit card or a checking account. 
His lawyer, Ed Jenks, declined to comment Thursday, as did officials from the Roslyn school district. 
Former Assistant Superintendent for Business Pamela Gluckin, who prosecutors say stole $4.3 million from the district, pleaded guilty to first-degree grand larceny and was sentenced to 3 to 9 years. She remains incarcerated in Bayview Correctional Facility in <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>. 
Gluckin was denied parole in 2009, with the board citing her "disturbing pattern of criminal conduct" and misuse of her position of authority. 
She returns before the parole board in May 2011. As part of her plea agreement, she sends half of her $54,998 annual pension directly to Roslyn toward her restitution. 
Rice's office said the district has recovered about $5.5 million in all. 
Stealing from Roslyn 
Frank Tassone&nbsp; 
WHAT HE DID 
Investigators say Tassone used multiple district-issued credit cards for cash advances, Botox treatments, mortgage payments and purchases at Tourneau, among other things. 
&nbsp;Tassone and a friend took two trips to <a href="/topics/London">London</a> charged to the Roslyn school district during his tenure as superintendent, flying on the Concorde and first class aboard <a href="/topics/British_Airways">British Airways</a>. 
THE CHARGES 
Tassone pleaded guilty to first- and second-degree grand larceny in exchange for a reduced prison term of no more than 4 to 12 years. 
He agreed to repay the more than $2 million authorities say he stole from Roslyn. He made full restitution by March 2007. 
&nbsp;HOW IT CHANGED THE LAW 
In 2005, then-Gov. <a href="/topics/George_Pataki">George Pataki</a> signed into law the School Fiscal Accountability legislation, which tightens fiscal oversight of local school districts, requires financial training for all board members and mandates that the state comptroller audit all school districts at least once by 2010. Those audits are ongoing.

LIROSL29

Roslyn's Tassone to be released from prison early

Faced with what its school superintendent calls "a perfect storm" squeezing school financing, the Mineola district is considering closing two elementary schools.
The proposal is meant to cope with expected losses of state aid and federal stimulus money along with other financial hits, as payroll-related costs rise.
"We have an option - we have small elementary schools," Superintendent Michael Nagler said. "We are asking the board and community to grapple with: Is it better to try and preserve our program and reconfigure, or do we want to gamble to pay for the programs we have?"
Mineola has four elementary schools for grades 1-5 and one pre-K-to-kindergarten building. Three buildings house fewer than 200 students each. At Thursday's board meeting, district officials presented a plan to close two schools - which ones have not been determined - and cluster grades in the remaining schools.
Many experts say schools statewide will face similar tough decisions and financial hardships in the wake of the anticipated loss of federal stimulus money over the next two years and proposed cuts in state aid for 2010-11 by Gov. <a href="/topics/David_A_Paterson">David A. Paterson</a>.
Paterson's budget proposal calls for a $467,583 reduction in aid to Mineola schools, and the district expects to earn $200,000 less than projected on interest. This year's budget is $79,239,241.
To maintain for the next three years the 2.5 percent tax levy increase of last spring, the district would need to make $8 million in cuts over that time, digging significantly into current programs if all schools remain open, Nagler said in the presentation. 
Closing two schools would save $5 million within two years, he said, plus reductions in utilities and other operating costs, as well as long-term savings due to staff reductions.
"That is the dilemma we have: If you excess teachers without closing buildings, you are hitting programs," Nagler said. "If you close a building and condense classes, you are eliminating positions you don't need."
The district has about 650 employees, including 300 teachers. There are 2,700 students from grades pre-K to 12.
But closing schools and converting others to handle more students also requires money, said Nagler, noting current facilities would need expansion and renovation. The Board of Education would have to start planning now to establish a capital reserve fund to pay for future construction, he said.
The first closing would be in September 2011; the second in 2012.
Matt Miller, co-PTA president for Cross Street Elementary and a parent of three daughters, ages 9, 8 and 6, said Nagler's proposal "is a good plan."
"By clustering the students, the district will be able to deliver to our diverse community programs and services that will be equally beneficial to all of our students," he said.
But Patricia Whitlock, parent of a second-grader and another child entering pre-K in the fall, recommended closing the Willis Avenue school, which houses pre-K and kindergarten, and dispersing those classes among the other schools.
She questioned why the district should spend millions for renovations "if we don't have the money to keep the schools we have." 
With Tim Robertson

LIMINE24

Facing cuts, Mineola considers closing two schools

A Commack school district teacher has been reassigned following an investigation of an alleged incident at a sporting event, the district superintendent said in a statement Friday. 
The investigation into what Superintendent James A. Feltman described as "allegations of an incident that took place at a sporting event" comes days after an assistant Commack High School track coach was arrested on charges he sexually abused a 15-year-old student. 
Feltman did not explain the nature of the alleged incident - or explain the reassignment in his letter published on the Commack Union Free School District Web site Thursday. 
The teacher was not identified. Feltman called the investigation confidential and said only that it was conducted "in accordance with Education Law requirements." 
The "publicity surrounding these events has impacted our community," Feltman said in the statement. "As educators, we are devastated by these matters. The repercussions of these situations reach much further than just the individuals involved, and affect us all." 
"Please do not let these situations overshadow the work of the hundreds of employees and teachers in our district who are dedicated to being leaders and role models," the statement said. 
Calls to Feltman on Friday were not immediately returned. 
<a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> police could not immediately say Friday if they were investigating any other alleged incidents in the school district or any incidents involving employees. 
On Tuesday, <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County police arrested Bryan Tornee, 26, of Commack, an assistant boys track coach who had been an assistant coach with the girls team last season, officials said. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of sexually abusing a female student, 15, according to police. He had been suspended because of an alleged incident involving the girl in a <a href="/topics/Deer_Park%2C_NY">Deer Park</a> motel on Dec. 26. 
After Tornee's arraignment, Russo said, "This is a fine young man. We'll give him our best representation." Tornee's father declined to comment. 
Tornee, who played football at Commack, is the son of Commack Board of Education trustee Thomas Tornee and also worked as a part-time night custodian.

LITEAC23

Commack teacher reassigned after alleged incident

The West Babylon school district overpaid retiring workers $64,215 for unused leave time - 20 percent more than what they were owed - according to state auditors who term the overpayments a disservice to taxpayers. 
In a stinging review of the district's management practices, the state comptroller's office also found that West Babylon granted seven chief and head custodians 58 days of holiday time to which they were not contractually entitled. 
Auditors reported one case of a chief custodian cashing in 10 unused holidays that were not then deducted from his vacation balance. Auditors noted that this could potentially have resulted in an extra, unjustified payout of $2,165.
"Being very careful with tax dollars means not paying people money they're not supposed to get," said state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
The audit covered district operations from July 2007 through December 2008.
In response, West Babylon school officials conceded that not all the leave time granted custodians, clerical workers and other nonprofessional employees was specifically covered by contract. Those officials added, however, that the vacation time in question was allotted under district policies dating back a half-century. 
Superintendent Anthony Cacciola said in a phone interview that he had taken steps since becoming chief executive in 2007 to make sure that leave time granted was formally included in union contracts.
Cacciola added, however, that he disagreed with a comptroller's recommendation that the district should try to recover alleged overpayments.
"We're definitely not in agreement that a mistake was made," the superintendent said. "We definitely had a rationale, and it was a 50-year practice." 
Cacciola himself began his career as a custodian before working his way up through a series of managerial positions, including 14 years as assistant superintendent for finance.
State auditors also blasted West Babylon for what they described as lax controls over fuel used in district vehicles.
For example, auditors said district records for July 2008 showed 2,325 gallons of fuel used during that month. However, stick readings showed an actual consumption was 2,960 gallons - 27 percent more than reported.
Auditors further reported that locks on gates protecting district fuel pumps had not been changed in more than 20 years, and that district authorities could not determine exactly how many people might have keys to those locks. 
Based on these findings, auditors concluded that West Babylon ran the risk of undetected leaks in its fuel tanks, or of employee misuse of gasoline and diesel oil. In response, the district said it had improved recording of fuel transactions.

LIAUDI22

Audit slams West Babylon schools for overpaying staff

Wyandanch's embattled school superintendent, Mary Jones, was ousted Wednesday night in a surprise move by the school board's majority and replaced by Pless Dickerson, a district administrator in charge of curriculum. 
The school board president, Denise Baines, said that the ouster vote was 4 to 3, with the board's minority protesting that the move had not been placed on the agenda in advance of the meeting. 
In recent months, the board had met twice in attempts to oust Jones, but had failed to come up with a majority consensus. 
"I am thrilled with this decision," Baines said. "Change is a good thing." 
Jones' status remained uncertain Wednesday night. 
She had previously served as middle school principal in the district. There was speculation she might return to that position. 
But Baines said Wednesday night that the final decision would be Dickerson's. 
In recent months, Baines and her allies have offered several reasons for their efforts to oust Jones, including her recent request for a raise and the district administration's failure to file state aid forms on time. 
Jones, on the other hand, had blamed much of the tardiness on a previous administration. 
Jones' supporters had charged that Baines was trying to give Dickerson the superintendent's post because Baines herself has done work for the <a href="/topics/Westbury%2C_NY">Westbury</a> school district, where Dickerson is board president. 
Those supporters add that the move flies in the face of Wyandanch's recent attempts to curb favoritism in hiring, which has been a chronic problem in the past. 
Baines has responded that she has never worked for the <a href="/topics/Westbury%2C_NY">Westbury</a> district directly, but rather for a contractor who provides services for that district. 
State education officials have taken an interest in Wyandanch's administration because the district is on a short list of school systems targeted by the state because of low test scores and financial problems. 
With Zachary R. Dowdy

LIOUST14

Wyandanch superintendent ousted in surprise move

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