Between the Three Village Central School District, The Stony Brook School, and Stony Brook University, education is consistently a topic of interest in Three Village. Here are some of the highlights from 2012.
Three Village Rejects $178.6M Cap-Busting Budget. The decision to pierce New York's tax cap blew up in officials' faces as Three Village voters rejected the proposed $178.6 million budget. Just 56.74 percent of voters approved the budget, which would have raised the tax levy by 4.48 percent; since the budget exceeded the tax cap, it needed a supermajority of 60 percent voter approval to pass.
Three Village Passes Second-Chance School Budget. Three Village Central School District voters spoke loud and clear, overwhelmingly passing an under-the-tax-cap school budget to avoid austerity. Nearly 69 percent of voters backed the $176.7 million budget with 4,309 "yes" votes and 1,961 "no" votes, an outcome that means big-ticket items such as full-day kindergarten, junior high school athletics and the nine-period day at the high school will remain intact.
Issues Emerge During Budget Process. As the budget vote grew closer, several key issues emerged as hot topics in the community. Among those issues: reducing the nine-period day at the secondary level to an eight-period day; half-day versus full-day kindergarten; athletics program cuts; assistant principals; and more.
Sandy Cancels School Days. Students in Three Village missed six planned school days due to Hurricane Sandy while the majority of the school buildings were without heat and/or electricity. When school re-opened, administrators said the school buildings escaped major damage and examined the calendar thoroughly to reschedule those missed days.
Ward Melville High School's administration has concluded its investigation into an incident of homework cheating at the Advanced Placement level and has disciplined 97 students, the district said in a statement Monday. In May, it was discovered that an 11th grade student's Moodle account – an online tool used to manage homework assignments – had been inappropriately accessed by other students.
Three Village's Gifted Kids Get a New Advocate. During a time when the phrase “budget cuts” is becoming all too common in school districts across the state, a new community group is looking to ensure that honors programs and advanced placement courses are not decimated. Three Village Schools-Advocates for Gifted Education (3VSAGE) is an organization of parents and teachers who are striving to keep higher-learning options available in Three Village schools.
Ward Melville Senior 1 of 5 Long Island Intel Finalists. After the earthquake in Japan last year, some members of the Three Village community showed their support by fundraising and by making paper cranes. Anna Sato decided she wanted to help, too. This year, her research has garnered her a coveted honor – she is one of 40 students nationwide, and one of only five on Long Island, to be named an Intel Science Talent Search finalist.
Million Dollar Gift Made to The Stony Brook School. A $1 million gift from an Old Field family paved the way for The Stony Brook School to break ground on a new student center and dining hall.
Marie Colvin's Legacy To Be Memorialized at New SBU Center. Fundraising is under way at the Stony Brook School of Journalism to establish a program in honor of Marie Colvin, the journalist and Long Island native who was killed in February during a rocket attack while covering a violent conflict in Syria.
