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School Staffer Arrested, Banned From Property At District In Westchester School Staffer Arrested, Banned From Property At District In Westchester
School Staffer Arrested, Banned From Property At District In Westchester A school staff member in Westchester has been arrested and banned from stepping on district property as officials investigate his alleged inappropriate interactions with an elementary school student.  The Mount Vernon Central School District announced the arrest and ban in a statement released on Thursday, May 11, in which officials outlined that the staff member had allegedly taken part in inappropriate interactions with an elementary school student in Mount Vernon.   Once the district became aware of these allegations, they then "took immediate steps" to advise the staff me…

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by Ben Crnic
Schools
School Swatting Threats: 50 NY Districts Report New Round Of Incidents School Swatting Threats: 50 NY Districts Report New Round Of Incidents
School Swatting Threats: 50 NY Districts Report New Round Of Incidents More than 50 school districts across New York reported receiving swatting threats of an active shooter. The districts reporting the incidents on Tuesday, April 4 were located on Long Island, in Central New York, the Southern Tier, and the North Country, authorities said.  "I want to reassure parents that their children are safe at school - swatting threats are false and intended to cause panic and scare students, teachers, and families," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement on Tuesday. On Thursday, March 30, numerous school districts reported receiving swatting calls of…

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by Joe Lombardi
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
Politics
Hochul Wants To Raise Legal Age To Buy Some Types Of Guns In NY After Buffalo, Texas Shootings Hochul Wants To Raise Legal Age To Buy Some Types Of Guns In NY After Buffalo, Texas Shootings
Hochul Wants To Raise Legal Age To Buy Some Types Of Guns In NY After Buffalo, Texas Shootings In the wake of the latest mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas, Gov. Kathy Hochul is calling on state lawmakers to pass legislation making it more difficult for young New Yorkers to purchase some types of guns. Hochul proposed several proposals to close loopholes and strengthen gun laws in New York, including raising the age to purchase rifles to 21. “How does an 18-year-old purchase an AR-15 in the State of New York, State of Texas? That person's not old enough to buy a legal drink,” she said. “I want to work with the legislature to change that. I want it to be 21. I think that's…

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by Zak Failla
Schools
NY State Examining Cases Of Sudden Cardiac Arrest In Student-Athletes NY State Examining Cases Of Sudden Cardiac Arrest In Student-Athletes
NY State Examining Cases Of Sudden Cardiac Arrest In Student-Athletes New York State is set to begin examining cases of unexpected cardiac arrest in student-athletes under a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. This week, Hochul announced that the state would be establishing rules for monitoring students who show signs of cardiac arrest, as well as new treatments for the problem following a push from a mother whose son died playing basketball at school in 2009. At 17 years old, Dominic Murray collapsed and died on the basketball court at Farmingdale State College. According to his family, no one knew that Murray suffered from a congenital heart defect that…

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by Zak Failla
News
COVID-19: School Staff Members In Westchester Test Positive COVID-19: School Staff Members In Westchester Test Positive
Covid-19: School Staff Members In Westchester Test Positive Two staff members working in a Westchester school district are among the latest to test positive for novel coronavirus. The Yonkers School District issued an alert to parents notifying them that two members of the district's 12-month staff tested positive for COVID-19, though they have not been at work or in a school building for more than a week. Earlier story - COVID-19: Wegmans Delays Grand Opening In Westchester “Based on the directives from the New York State and Westchester County Health Departments, and the State Education Department, the Yonkers Public Schools medical sta…

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by Zak Failla
Schools
Math, English Language Arts Standardized Test Scores Improve Across NY Math, English Language Arts Standardized Test Scores Improve Across NY
Math, English Language Arts Standardized Test Scores Improve Across NY New York State students saw an uptick in standardized testing scores for students in grades 3 through 8, the State Education Department announced. The Education Department released the results of the 2019 English language arts (ELA) and math tests. In ELA, 45.4 percent of test-takers scored at the proficient level. In math, 46.7 graded at a proficient level. The numbers represent a .02 percent increase for ELA and 2.2 percent for math from 2018. 987,398 students took the ELA, while 948,606 took the math test. Statewide, the test refusal rate was approximately 16 percent, down 2 percent from…

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by Zak Failla
Schools
Westchester Has 17 Reward Schools Designated By State Education Department Westchester Has 17 Reward Schools Designated By State Education Department
Westchester Has 17 Reward Schools Designated By State Education Department A total of 22 schools in the Hudson Valley, including 17 in Westchester, were among 155 high achieving and high progress schools state-wide identified as Reward Schools by the State Education Department in an announcement made Thursday. To be identified as a Reward School, a school must: Be among the top 20 percent of schools in the state for English language arts (ELA) and math performance for both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years or be among the top ten percent of schools in terms of gains in ELA and math performance in the 2016-17 school year; Have made Adequate Yearly Progress for …

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by Joe Lombardi
Schools
Westchester School District Among 26 Flagged As 'Fiscally Stressed' Westchester School District Among 26 Flagged As 'Fiscally Stressed'
Westchester School District Among 26 Flagged As 'Fiscally Stressed' Twenty-six school districts, including two in the Hudson Valley, have been designated as fiscally stressed under New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli's Fiscal Stress Monitoring System.  Rhinebeck Central School District in Dutchess County was flagged as one of seven New York districts that are experiencing "moderate fiscal stress."  Port Chester-Rye Union Free District, which approved a nearly $80 million school construction bond issue last spring and has another one on the ballot next month for major Middle School renovations, was labeled "susceptible to fiscal stre…

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by Jon Craig