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News | Schools

Commack 5th Grader Heads to NYS Geographic Bee

Burr Intermediate student is semifinalist in the 25th competition.

Posted by Amanda Lindner (Editor), 
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The Kodiak bear derives its name from an island that lies on the southern coast of a particular state. Do you know which? Ethan Sontarp, a fifth grade student at Burr Intermediate School in Commack does - Alaska.

That was one of the questions Sontarp answered to qualify for the 2013 New York State Geographic Bee, hosted by the National Geographic Society. 

After winning the geographic bee at his school, the fifth grader took a qualifying test. He and the other top 100-scoring students, ranging from fourth to eighth grade, are now invited to compete at the state level.

The 25th New York State Geographic Bee will be held April 5 at the New York State Museum.

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Dawn-Marie Bailey May 21, 2013 at 10:55 am
Now, this morning, I hear that the PTA is telling people that they are opposed to Proposition 2 in…Read More order to keep "special interest groups" from taking over. How can parents in this community, whose children are in the system, who want to make positive change for those children, be a "special interest group"? It blows my mind, how in politics, people can twist things so badly to meet their own agendas. It is all quite sad.
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Last night, I had quite the email exchange with members of the PTA Executive Committee. Not only…Read More could they NOT provide me with an answer as to why they've chosen not to support Proposition 2, all I received was snide remarks and avoidance. Not smart or professional at all. In fact, they seem like quite the joke. I guess they are more of a social club who makes decisions about an important vote without doing their homework and then pushes that decision on the community (via street signs and phone calls to parents). I believe the public deserves a valid answer as to why they've taken their position. Unfortunately, they can't provide one. It makes me ponder if I should even bother to support the PTA in the future (as I have in the past with both my time and money). They certainly don't seem to be making decisions in the best interest of our children. It is all quite sad.
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Dawn-Marie Bailey May 21, 2013 at 10:53 am
Last night, I had quite the email exchange with members of the PTA Executive Committee. Not only…Read More could they NOT provide me with an answer as to why they've chosen not to support Proposition 2, all I received was snide remarks and avoidance. Not smart or professional at all. In fact, they seem like quite the joke. I guess they are more of a social club who makes decisions about an important vote without doing their homework and then pushes that decision on the community (via street signs and phone calls to parents). I believe the public deserves a valid answer as to why they've taken their position. Unfortunately, they can't provide one. It makes me ponder if I should even bother to support the PTA in the future (as I have in the past with both my time and money). They certainly don't seem to be making decisions in the best interest of our children. Now, this morning, I hear that the PTA is telling people that they are opposed to Proposition 2 in order to keep "special interest groups" from taking over. How can parents in this community, whose children are in the system, who want to make positive change for those children, be a "special interest group"? It blows my mind, how in politics, people can twist things so badly to meet their own agendas. It is all quite sad.
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Concerned Commackian May 21, 2013 at 01:34 pm
Whatever you say LaJa......whatever you say. Where is the sneaking around? Wasnt everything done…Read More according to the law? I think your goal is sensatuionalism rather than serious debate.
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LaJa May 21, 2013 at 11:12 am
By the way, I am not in any way associated or affiliated with any union... If you and your group…Read More are not affiliated with TaxPac then you should know that the platform Tampellini and Hartman support, along with the sudden urgent need for 2 more board seats, is taken straight from the TaxPac play book. You can agree with them, as that is your right BUT you must also know where their rhetoric originates and educate yourselves as to what TaxPac as a group wants here on Long Island. If the TaxPac agenda was above board and positive for LI communities there would be no need for them to sneak around and attempt to gain entry into communities through back-door maneuvers like the sudden need for 2 more seats...when Fusco couldn't get in last year either..... At least know that you are being played.
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Dawn-Marie Bailey May 21, 2013 at 08:19 am
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Commackvoter May 20, 2013 at 10:24 pm
I know what the word increase means! You mentioned it above about insurance rates going up. You see…Read More when a member of the BOE gives his kid a job in the district, then that adult child (24 yrs) takes a 15 yr old student to a hotel for sex and gets arrested, then our insurance company has to pay to settle the lawsuit, dont you think our insurance rates go up John. Sure you dont believe it - Read all about it http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/cops-commack-hs-coach-faces-sex-abuse-charges-1.1711455 Time to break up this 5 member coffee clotch and their you scratch my back I will scratch yours.
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Can I ask you an honest question? I hope this doesn't sound to condescending because I really am…Read More curious. Do you understand what the word "increase" means?
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MJS May 21, 2013 at 05:30 am
JSMITH - I have no desire to run for the Board b/c I for one believe you and other people like you…Read More aren't worthy of people like me and others, like Mr. T and Mr. H, who want to make a difference and are willing to make the sacrifices needed to do it.. You don't deserve them..but thankfully they are more altruistic than I am so they are willing to ignore the hatred spewed by minority voices of people like yourself who try to keep the status quo and preserve their self-interested agenda.
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GM May 20, 2013 at 10:30 pm
It's always interesting to watch the fear in the faces of this Board and its operatives when they…Read More are opposed. At present, the power is with too few people and perhaps the community will agree it's time to balance the power by voting YES for Prop 2. Why would a democracy vote down more representation? We fight for more representation in congress so why does the same argument not apply here.
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John Smith May 20, 2013 at 10:15 pm
MJS - that I agree with you on. There are definitely people just waiting to see if Prop 2 passes…Read More and are prepared to run. You and your Tax Pac buddies - they want to get 4 seats (including Tampellini & Hartman) so they can run us into the land of 7% tax levy increases like Baldwin and Sachem with their poorly thought out short term solutions! Thanks for helping to make that clear. I appreciate the help.
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Im concerned with the rate of spending increases. You cant talk your way around them no matter how…Read More hard you try. And as to this "district has no control" argument, thats a cop out and you know it. While the state tells the district what percentage of salary it must pay into the retirement system, if the district had done a more effective job of limiting the growth in compensation, not only would salary expense been lower, but the amount paid into the retirement system would have been lower as well. And John, care to calculate how much the additional state aid to the district this year lowered the levy? Im sure you dont.
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John Smith May 20, 2013 at 02:19 pm
Or you could think about how spending is going up over 4% (the majority of which is fueled by costs…Read More that are mandated by law -- Teachers' and Employee's Retirement and Insurance contributions -- over which the School District has no control), but the tax levy is only going up 2.91%, which means the School District -- gasp -- might be doing a good job finding alternative sources of funding other than the taxpayers. Again, look at the info for yourself, not through the eyes of a biased Tampellini/Hartman/Tax Pac supporter.
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LaJa May 21, 2013 at 10:41 am
Perhaps you can double down your efforts in Lisa Levine's current town of residence. See how things…Read More work out there for about 5-7 years. Send us a report and we will take it under advisement. Communities working together!
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As usual the TaxPac group resorts to name-calling and bullying. Much like the school yard loud mouth…Read More who simply could not get the other kids to agree with him. Must be getting increasingly frustrating to all of you. Year after year you try to break onto our community intent on doing damage and year after year you are turned away at the gates. Perhaps it's time to pack up and retreat.
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Something jumps out at me. "We don't want to spend down our unrestricted reserves or we will…Read More be like Sachem. But if the district doesn't over budget line items then they have no choice but to spend those reserves. Things happen during a school year - whether it is a special ed student moving in or a superstorm causing all sort of havoc. So the district has to overbudget so they have enough for those contingincies.". We have a contingency fund for emergencies. Things DO happen. We spend from the contingency fund. Next budget, we replenish the fund. We never let the fund diminish past the year it was tapped. Overbudgeting for "more emergencies" seems wasteful. People would understand if there was a budget increase due to a catastrophic emergency - enough to cover the dip into the contingency fund. And where is it spelled out what's "budget" and what's "overbudget" for each line item?? I'm not trying to be snarky - I'm just trying to get a handle on things.
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Dawn-Marie Bailey May 21, 2013 at 10:54 am
Now, this morning, I hear that the PTA is telling people that they are opposed to Proposition 2 in…Read More order to keep "special interest groups" from taking over. How can parents in this community, whose children are in the system, who want to make positive change for those children, be a "special interest group"? It blows my mind, how in politics, people can twist things so badly to meet their own agendas. It is all quite sad.
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MJS May 19, 2013 at 10:29 am
It will be interesting to see what Mr. Behar does if he loses, since he is totally opposed to Prop…Read More 2. So if Prop 2 passes, and he chooses to take advantage of it and run again then in my eyes, and those of the Community, he will reveal himself to be a total Hypocrite. The same would go for Egan, since he too opposes Prop 2.
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Retired May 19, 2013 at 09:52 am
@RL - I agree with term limits, but the law says that can only be proposed by the Board. The public…Read More cannot submit such a proposition. The board, at least the current one, will never agree to that b/c they want to keep themselves in power at any cost. By adding 2 new people Prop 2 may a provide an opportunity to have people on aboard that will consider proposing term limits, as well as other changes. So, yet another reason to Vote YES to Prop 2.
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RL May 17, 2013 at 08:08 am
I agree new blood can be used and some new thinking and the way to accomplish that is to vote new…Read More faces in. Does having more people create a larger bureaucracy thought. Having served on a number of private, charity and corporate boards I can tell you more is not always the answer. I think term limits would be a better approach. This way you don't have the same though process year after year. Two terms six years seems reasonably to me.
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