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Schools
Wash Your Hands: Over 80 Students Sickened By Suspected Norovirus Outbreak At LI School Wash Your Hands: Over 80 Students Sickened By Suspected Norovirus Outbreak At LI School
Wash Your Hands: Over 80 Students Sickened By Suspected Norovirus Outbreak At LI School Dozens of students at a Long Island high school were sickened by a suspected outbreak of norovirus, health officials confirmed. More than 80 students were reported absent at Babylon High School on Friday, March 17, after suffering a gastrointestinal illness, according to Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott. Within hours, officials from the Suffolk County Department of Health Services visited the campus to inspect the kitchen and food services area. They found no indication that the outbreak originated in the school’s cafeteria, according to the department. Lab testing h…

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by Michael Mashburn
Schools
'Potential Threat' Leads To Closure Of Long Island High School 'Potential Threat' Leads To Closure Of Long Island High School
'Potential Threat' Leads To Closure Of Long Island High School A potential threat has led to the closure of a Long Island high school on Monday, March 13. Patchogue-Medford School District Schools Superintendent Dr. Donna Jones said that on Sunday evening, March 12, the district received a message concerning an unsubstantiated threat against Patchogue-Medford High School.  "No other schools in the district were mentioned," Jones noted. Suffolk County Police then opened an investigation.  "While this threat is still unsubstantiated, out of an abundance of caution, and in consultation with law enforcement, we decided to close the hi…

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by Joe Lombardi
Schools
'With A Heavy Heart': LI School District Hiring Armed Security Guards (Poll) 'With A Heavy Heart': LI School District Hiring Armed Security Guards (Poll)
'With A Heavy Heart': LI School District Hiring Armed Security Guards (Poll) Students and teachers in a Long Island school district will soon be protected by armed security guards. In a message to parents Wednesday, Feb. 15, the Smithtown Central School District announced that its Board of Education had begun searching for a security firm to add armed guards to all 12 of its schools. The guards will patrol the exterior perimeters and will not be posted inside the buildings. “While our security enhancements related to staffing, infrastructure, training, and operational protocols have evolved and improved over time, we have come to the stark realization that there is…

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by Michael Mashburn
Schools
School District Reassigns Superintendent In Westchester After Federal Subpoena School District Reassigns Superintendent In Westchester After Federal Subpoena
School District Reassigns Superintendent In Westchester After Federal Subpoena A superintendent in New York is no longer in charge of her school district, which is currently under investigation by federal officials.  On Monday night, Feb. 13 in Westchester County, the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education voted to "administratively reassign" Superintendent Waveline Bennett-Conroy and instead appoint Veronica (Kim) Smith as the district's Acting Superintendent of Schools, district officials announced. The vote came after news broke on Friday, Feb. 10 that Mount Vernon Schools were under investigation by the United States Att…

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by Ben Crnic
Schools
'Diverse' Snowman Post Lands NY School District In Hot Water 'Diverse' Snowman Post Lands NY School District In Hot Water
'Diverse' Snowman Post Lands NY School District In Hot Water A school district in New York is apologizing after a Facebook post about a snowman sparked allegations of racism. In a now-deleted post on Tuesday, Jan. 31, Greene County’s Coxsackie-Athens Central School District included a photo of three students standing next to a noticeably dirty snowman. The caption reads, “Today’s CE Fourth Grade Playground Fun! This snowman is just as diverse as our students!” The Coxsackie-Athens Central School District apologized over a Facebook post about a "diverse" snowman that sparked allegations of racism.Coxsackie-Athens Central School District It didn’…

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by Michael Mashburn
Schools
Malverne Street Named For KKK Leader Renamed After Student Push: 'History Finally Set Right' Malverne Street Named For KKK Leader Renamed After Student Push: 'History Finally Set Right'
Malverne Street Named For KKK Leader Renamed After Student Push: 'History Finally Set Right' Persistence has finally paid off for a group of high school students who called for the renaming of a Long Island street named after a controversial figure. Dozens of community members gathered in Hempstead in the village of Malverne on Thursday, Jan. 26, to watch as officials unveiled the new Acorn Way, the Malverne School District announced on Facebook.  It marked the culmination of years of hard work by several students at Malverne High School who pushed for the renaming after learning that the street’s original namesake, Paul Lindner, was a Ku Klux Klan leader in addition to being a vi…

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by Michael Mashburn
Schools
NY School District Asks Hochul Not To Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine For Students NY School District Asks Hochul Not To Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine For Students
NY School District Asks Hochul Not To Mandate Covid-19 Vaccine For Students A school district in the Hudson Valley has sent a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul asking her not to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for public school students.  The letter, sent on Monday, Jan. 23 by the Brewster Central School District's Board of Education in Putnam County, was sent in the wake of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommending that the COVID vaccine be received by all children younger than 18.  School officials also recognized that there may be proposed legislation that would mandate the vaccine for all New York public school students.  "We s…

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by Ben Crnic
Schools
These Long Island High School Seniors Named Regeneron Scholars These Long Island High School Seniors Named Regeneron Scholars
These Long Island High School Seniors Named Regeneron Scholars Thirty-eight high school seniors on Long Island are among the top 300 scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2023, regarded as the nation’s oldest and most prestigious scholastic science and math competition, the Society for Science announced on Tuesday, Jan. 10.The 300 will be awarded $2,000 each and their schools will be awarded $2,000 for each enrolled scholar. The Regeneron Science Talent Search scholars were selected from 1,949 applications from 627 high schools across 48 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and four other countries.  The following Long Island students we…

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by Joe Lombardi
Schools
Here's Where New York Ranks Among States With Best Public School Systems, Forbes Says Here's Where New York Ranks Among States With Best Public School Systems, Forbes Says
Here's Where New York Ranks Among States With Best Public School Systems, Forbes Says New York ranks in the top half of states with the best public school systems, according to a report from Forbes.  The state ranks 22nd in the nation for its public schools, according to the news outlet. The schools in the state benefit from the cultural diversity of places like New York City, which is "widely deemed the cultural capital of the world," the Forbes report said.  One advantage that this cultural diversity brings is the number of languages that are spoken in the city, which total as many as 800, according to Forbes.  Click here to read the full report from Forbe…

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by Ben Crnic
Schools
Decade After Sandy Hook School Shooting, New Tech Gives Teachers, Students ‘Layer Of Security' Decade After Sandy Hook School Shooting, New Tech Gives Teachers, Students ‘Layer Of Security'
Decade After Sandy Hook School Shooting, New Tech Gives Teachers, Students ‘Layer Of Security' Gun control advocates will tell you that not much has changed since a 20-year-old gunman walked into a Connecticut elementary school and murdered 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown on Dec. 14, 2012. Since that day, another 279 people have died in 189 different shootings that have occurred at schools across the United States, BBC News reports. Among them are the 19 students and two teachers who were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in May 2022. What has changed, though, is the technology that’s available to schools to help keep students a…

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by Michael Mashburn
Schools
Gotta Go: NY Education Dept. Orders Schools To Replace Native American Mascots, Team Names Gotta Go: NY Education Dept. Orders Schools To Replace Native American Mascots, Team Names
Gotta Go: NY Education Dept. Orders Schools To Replace Native American Mascots, Team Names Schools in New York can no longer have Native American mascots or team names without risking serious consequences. In a letter sent to all school districts on Thursday, Nov. 17, the State Education Department’s Senior Deputy Commissioner, James Baldwin, ordered schools with a Native American mascot to find a replacement by the end of the 2022-23 school year. The order also applies to team names and logos. Schools that don’t retire their mascots could have their school officers removed or have state aid withheld, Baldwin said. Thursday’s order came after the Cambridge Central School Distr…

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by Michael Mashburn
Schools
Swastikas, Racial Slur Found Carved Into Tree At Lynbrook Middle School Swastikas, Racial Slur Found Carved Into Tree At Lynbrook Middle School
Swastikas, Racial Slur Found Carved Into Tree At Lynbrook Middle School An investigation is underway after antisemitic symbols and a racial slur were found carved into a tree at a Long Island middle school. The carvings were found Thursday, Nov. 3, in Lynbrook at South Lynbrook Middle School, according to Nassau County Police. Investigators were contacted by the school’s principal, who told police that someone carved at least four swastikas and a racial slur into a tree behind the school, located near Union and Prospect avenues. The swastikas measure approximately four inches by four inches, police said. Nassau County Police asked anyone with information to …

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by Michael Mashburn