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OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER Inside: Local Fire “ (strict f ices...Pg Periodicals Postage Paid- Babylon Post Office, Babylon NY 11702 (U S P S 0 3 9 6 0 -8 0 0 0 ) FO R SU F F O L K C O U N T Y •TO W N O F BA B Y L O N . V ILLA G E O F .R A R V i r w •BABYLON L IN D E N H U R S T ' BA B Y L O N SC ) cQ b C -7Q i { { AN * N W Y ANDANii ........... ..... ' h a w ~|-|£ Published ever) , > Fournie Pubiii BABYLON PUBLIC l i b r a r y /spaper of Daniel Jordan of Babylon SOUTH SHORE L I1« LARGEST ; j CIRCULATION WEEKLY NEWSPAPER S e r v i n g t h e c o m m u n i t y s i n c e 1966 P r i n t s » o n r e c y c l e » p a p e r ' ' W e b s i t e : w w w . b a b y i <> n w a c o n .< o m E -M A IL A D D R E S S : A C )N E W S @ R C N ,C O M _________________ ___ ______________________________________________ VOL. 4 4 NO. 4 8 THURSDAY, December 9 ,2 0 1 0 50 CENTS Lindenhurst School Board votes unanimously to close Bower School Decision brings tears to eyes to parents and students but district says it is the financially responsible thing to do Madison Cadena of Deer Park and Sara Dunford of Babylon were proud recipients of their 3rd Year Award at Positions Dance Studio’s Annual Awards Ceremony and Client Appreciation Gala. Students and their families had a great time at Dominican Vil lage in Amityville during the Nov. 14 event. Santa will be around Babylon Village before he heads back to the North Pole for his final Christmas preparation: •Sat., Dec. 11, 3:30 to 5 :30 p.m. he will be at Positions Dance Studio, 20 Deer Park Ave., Babylon, 631-669- 8612. •Sat., Dec. 11, noon to 3 p.m., he will be in Babylon Village making his regular Santa Stops with the Babylon Village Fire Department. •Sat., Dec. 18, 2 to 4 p.m., he will be at the Sprint Premier Store, 26 Deer Park Ave., Babylon, 631-482-8800. B ring THE KIDS AND BRING t h e cameras ! Bower Elementary School will be closing after this school year. Tears flowed from Bower parents after the Lindenhurst School Board voted 7-0 to close the elementary school located on Montauk Highway. Bower students living west of Broadway in Lindenhurst will be attending West Gates Av enue Elementary School while those living east of Broadway will go to Harding Avenue Elementary School. Two self-contained sections currently in Bower will move to Albany Avenue. “Considering closing a school is an emotional is sue,” said board president Edward Murphy prior to the vote. “No one wants to close an elementary school but we may have to. The district will con tinue to have to do more with less.” Murphy said that the board recognizes that Lin denhurst* is a hard-working middle class commu nity. With increases in costs and state finances continuing to worsen, the board president said that the board had to take action for what he said will be an extremely difficult budget cycle. Super intendent Richard Nathan gave a presentation in which he outlined a possible $5.5 million shortfall in next year’s budget due to increases in retirement contributions and health costs as well as the loss of almost $2 million in stimulus funds. “We feel the need to be proactive,” Nathan said, “If you thought last year was hard, we think next North Babylon student earns perfect score on SATs He says he just \got lucky\ by Lena Pennino North Babylon student Kevin Schmid broke the standard, when he rocked the most famous standard ized test with a perfect 2,400 score on his S.A.T.s. Of the 1.5 million students who took the S.A.T.s - which tests a student’s aptitude in math, critical reading and writing - only 297 individuals across the United States achieve a perfect score, explained Ray Williams, principal of North Babylon High School. Kevin aced 54 math questions, 67 critical reading questions, an essay and 49 multiple choice questions in the writing section, shooting him to the top one percent of students in America. Principal William labeled the young man “bril liant” and “well-rounded” (by the time he graduates, he will have taken 12 A.P. courses for college credit), but also said that he is “humble.” This explained how— after Kevin was presented a certificate from the North Babylon school board for his perfect score— he told The Babylon Beacon that he just got “lucky.” “I couldn’t believe that I didn’t make a mistake,” (Continued on page 24) year will be worse.” Nathan said that the district cut 43 positions last year and kept spending increases to a very small amount. However, Nathan stated that the district still ended up with a tax rate increase of around four percent due to a loss of three and one half million dollars in state aid. By closing Bower, Na than projected the district would save about $1.5 million dollars annually. Bower parents made one last attempt to save their school. They sat in the front rows of the high school auditorium wearing Bower t-shirts. Fran O’Hara, a Bower parent pleaded with the board to keep Bower open. “Can we have a Christmas miracle and leave our school alone” O’Hara asked the board. “Take into consideration the heart and soul of that building (Continued on page 3) WB school board fails to pass new administrative p lan; issue to be raised again says Sup't by Lena Pennino A resolution to expand the West Babylon School District administration staff by three to address is sues related to certification, test scores, curriculum and technology got caught up in miscommunication and parliamentary procedure, failing to garner enough votes for passage. But the resolution may come back to the hoard for another try, said Superintendent Anthony Cacciola. The resolution—“The Reorganization of Instruc tional Supervisory Model”—called for adding three administrative positions in science and technology, lit eracy and social studies and social-emotional learning. These positions would replace the existing coordinator positions held by teachers in math, science and social studies, grades kindergarten through eighth. Also, three new “cluster leaders” would be added at the junior high school level to strengthen and support math, so cial studies and science. At the November 9 meeting, the resolution had the support of four board members; the other four in atten dance were not decidedly against the measure but said that they did not have enough information about the impact of the change and wanted to hear more about it, including getting feedback from teachers, the union and administration. The Reorganization of Instructional Supervisory Model plan is designed to strengthen staff development and curriculum as well as address concerns over test scores, especially scores in Math and English Language Arts in grades three, four and five, according to Super intendent Cacciola. Out o f367 elementary schools, this (Continued on page 24)
