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concerned citizen May 21, 2013 at 04:16 pm
Need some business people with a backbone on that board -Vote against any of the incumbents
Concerned Commackian May 21, 2013 at 03:32 pm
Unless you consider his self proclaimed ability to "convince people I am right" electable…Read More talent
Dawn-Marie Bailey May 21, 2013 at 04:24 pm
What's self-serving is the BOE getting the teachers union and the PTA to do their dirty work. This…Read More clique of 5 do not want 2 more members to rock their little boat. And they have the audacity to call any residents that challenge them a "special interest group" when THEY are the ones guilty of that. Concerned citizen is right, if it wasn't so sad it would be laughable. But it's all so sneaky and underhanded that I am not laughing.
concerned citizen May 21, 2013 at 04:14 pm
If it weren't so sad it would be laughable. I guess they are concerned that they may have to…Read More increase the 16K that they put in the budget to pay for the BOE to join some national organizations. I thought that that line item was eminently worth cutting half a nurse or a guidance counselor. Everyone should take the time to read the budget, not just the summaries that the admin keeps publishing...
GM May 21, 2013 at 03:37 pm
The irony here is that the special interests control the Board now, and they are putting out…Read More information about Prop 2 saying that "by adding 2 Trustees, we risk having special interests get on the Board. These guys are a riot, Alice! The Board represents the Unions really well. We need somebody to represent the Students now. (Again, student cuts for 7 years including teacher cuts, funding raises for employees for 7 years.)
LaJa May 22, 2013 at 11:19 am
Again I say the ill educated and foul mouthed want their turn at bat and we shall give it to them.…Read More No doubt our academic standards are about to plummet back to the days where you could complete 12 years of school and tell someone to sleep tite! My auto correct is sad that I over-rode it to stay true to Concerned's message. So be it...
Concerned Commackian May 21, 2013 at 11:29 pm
Hi LaJa. Dont forget to shake hands with Jim and Steve at the next BOE meeting. Sleep tite :)
concerned citizen May 21, 2013 at 02:20 pm
Cut the nurses, custodians, secretaries and guidance, but fund the 106K personal secretary, provide…Read More cars for the people in Hubs and provide raises and benefits for all the admin and teacher tax revenues have not gone up. What other recourse do people have EXCEPT to vote against the budget and all the incumbents on the whimpy BOE!!!
Commackvoter May 19, 2013 at 10:07 pm
Many of you may have read today's Newsday regarding School District Reserves. Commack currently has…Read More approx. $25mi in reserves of which $6mil is available for use for any purpose. That is the states statutory limit of 4% and I believe everyone would agree is prudent to have in savings for a rainy day. You will read in the Newsday piece almost at the end " Also, school administrators acknowledge privately that they budget at least a little more each year than they intend to spend in order to guard against unforeseen circumstances" That number for Commack this current year is nearly $7mil or another 4% of the budget. That is $7mil that could have been used to enhance our children's education, enhance our sports programs, improve our buildings (get rid of those trailers at the HS?), etc,etc.
Jim Tampellini and Steve Hartman understand this issue. Jeff Egan does not but votes for it anyway. Jared Behar just ignored the topic
concerned citizen May 21, 2013 at 02:29 pm
this was a sweetheart budget for the administrators. They kept all their perks, expensive…Read More secretaries, cars, vacation give backs and a 3% raise while cutting direct services for the kids. Bravo to Mr. James the the BOE for pulling the wool over the eyes of quite a few of the taxpayers. I particulary loved the propaganda effort through the newletters, PTA and union to push the budget. By the way did you know that you pay about 100K for the admin to have someone "communicate" to the district? Keep this person on the payroll and cut the nurses that take care of your kids, lovely.
RL May 18, 2013 at 09:04 pm
Mr Moran - Please refrain from using ethnic slang words like "mafia" when describing…Read More things as a hardworking Italian American I find it offensive.
That being said I support expansion of the board to 7 members and also fee term limits should be in place. Two three year terms is enough.
Good luck to all we only want the best for our children.
knee jerk May 15, 2013 at 09:39 am
I saw an old bum wino pushing a shopping cart in the High School parking lot last week, collecting…Read More cans and bottles.At first it appeared unusual, but now on second thought its not. With all the old retired ex-cops on the payroll its' pretty obvious that Serpico now works for the Commack School District.
Irondog May 22, 2013 at 08:44 am
Maybe if Prop 2 passes, I should throw my name in the hat for one of the seats. I have served on a…Read More board as a trustee in one of our local religious institutions and maybe, just maybe add a bit of financial sense to what little bit might be there already. A previous superintendant has strongly encouraged me to run for the board and was in total support of me as well.
Dawn-Marie Bailey May 21, 2013 at 08:16 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. It is all quite sad.
Lisa Lasker May 10, 2013 at 06:27 am
Expected nothing less from you Paul!!! You've always been incredible on and off the field!…Read More Congratulations & best of luck at Duke. They'll be lucky to have you!! The Lasker Family
ergodic May 11, 2013 at 01:59 pm
In a previous comment on the USNews 2013 HS rankings, I noted that the percentage of 12th graders…Read More who took one or more IB exams decreased from 83% (2009-10) to 50% (2010-11), and that the % who took one or more AP tests rose from 21% (2009-10) to 28% (2010-11). It was furtherr indicated that correction of a known flaw in the USNews methodology for HSs with significant programs in both IB and AP would have likely resulted in an improved 2013 ranking for CHS. This is essentially in agreement with, and somewhat quantifies, remarks of the CUFSD superintendent in the above article. Those comments indicate that CHS students have more options to take other advanced classes (i.e., other than IB), and that providing such choices is considered "important". A trend toward increased emphasis on AP would seem appropriate. The cost effectiveness of the IB program remains unproven; the true costs have never been described and relative effectiveness has not been demonstrated. On the other hand, AP classes represent the major advanced program offering at 90% of the top 100 HSs in the 2013 USNews rankings.
pbug56 May 8, 2013 at 04:10 pm
Wow, what bull from Mr. James. Maybe he has his lady admin doing his answers. Remember - most…Read More other programs like AP have been going away in recent years, in favor of the all or nothing IB program. It used to be you could get some college credit from AP courses, but now you have to either go for IB or not. If you miss one course from IB, you don't get the 'benefit' of IB. But hey, IB is prestigious, right? Or at least it used to be in our district until these rankings dropped like a rock.
Concerned Commackian May 7, 2013 at 07:26 pm
No surprise there. He and all around him will say anything to keep the Gravy Train rolling down the…Read More tracks. The Gravy Train runs on dollars, not mea culpas!!
knee jerk May 12, 2013 at 08:30 pm
@Jake.t: I agonized over that choice, wanting to give ignorant people such as yourself some sort of…Read More edge so they (you) would not feel totaly offended or belittled. In reality, I spent just a wee bit longer than you did on that very catchy name that you came up with while reading a comic book on the tiolet.
Commackvoter April 30, 2013 at 10:29 pm
I sense that of the 100 districts that use Bold software, you will find that 100 will say they they…Read More don't use the feature in question. Isn't that a surprise? They are going to publicly admit to breaking the law? The system is broken people and only you can fix it. Everyone is in bed with the other. See this link for an example before they remove it http://www.nyscoss.org/strategic_partners/Bold_Systems_LLC_78_partner.htm
TheRube43 April 29, 2013 at 11:37 am
"In this age of instant communication" ... rumors can spread like wildfire. It took 24…Read More hours to produce this update?? Where is out wonderful Public & Media Relations?? Or our wonderful School Community Relations?? I'm pretty sure that the particulars were known prior to Saturday afternoon. All they needed to say Friday was a threat was made to the High School, the police were called, they investigated the threat and the threat was resolved. No names, no "unsubstantiated information". THEN later in the day you can spell out the facts. I received an email to all my accounts reminding me of the Flip-Flop sale. I'm a bit more concerned about threats made to the safety of the schools.
knee jerk April 28, 2013 at 01:49 pm
That high school needs a fence around its entire perimiter, not just the hodge podge fencing that…Read More exits now.The parking lot in front is entirely accessable from the street, with security only at the entrance (and maybe the exit)? A perp could park in the street and walk straight into the main entrance between parked cars and never be seen and never confront security. What a joke.
Commack 18 April 27, 2013 at 09:41 pm
Somebody probably brought a GI Joe or butter knife into school.
Dawn-Marie Bailey April 27, 2013 at 12:23 pm
All true. People are buzzed in first and asked for ID afterwards. By then it's too late. I'm just…Read More not sure what safer system there is to put in place.
Once again, many complaints about our grossly overpaid superintendent and his buddy secretary (and the test of his administration), but is anyone running against the 2 incumbents who are up for re-election? Well anyone vote to get the 2 extra seats? It seems year after year everyone complains (about taxes going up, student programs getting cut and Dr. James' contract continually being extended) but I don't see anyone voting to make anything different. The ONE thing we can begin to do NOW is to vote out this current Board. This is the first step towards change. However, it seems the people in this town vote for the status quo come election time, year after year.
A gone have any ideas how to get the word out to change this?
Pete Moran April 26, 2013 at 08:25 pm
If you want change in this District then Vote for Tampellini and Hartman.. It's time to get rid of…Read More the status quo of fiscal irresponsibility, fiscal unaccountability, cronyism and lack of transparency..
Concerned mom April 26, 2013 at 07:03 pm
This is the time to make a change! This district needs to remove their heads from the sand, and let…Read More the board know the same old nepotism , and mentality will not be tolerated anymore. Our kids deserve better.
Retired April 24, 2013 at 02:11 pm
Jim and Steve have my vote!! I haven't seen that guy Behar at many meetings until recently... he…Read More spoke at the last 2 and was kissing the Board's behind, so right then and there it tells you he's either ignorant of how fiscally inept this Board is or he knows and is just the Board's crony. I believe he basically described the Board's approval of hiring Dr. James' secretary at a $106k salary as a minor issue. Pretty clear he's in bed with them, clueless or an idiot,.. then again maybe he's all of the above...
ergodic April 30, 2013 at 01:23 pm
Further consideration of the USNews Best High School Rankings indicate that the methodology is…Read More somewhat flawed as regards the assignment of rankings to HSs which offer both IB and AP exams. Such as Commack HS. USNews is aware of this point: refer to http;//static.usnews.com/documents/best-highschools/Identifying_Top_Performing_High-Schools_April2013.pdf which includes the following comments (p13):(1) " In high schools that offered both AP and IB exams, the college readiness index was calculated for the exam with more test takers" (2) "For high schools with both AP and IB programs, choosing one program over another was an attempt to assign more weight to the larger program within the high school. It is recognized however that this approach may understate the level of college readiness at the high school." Only a small number of HSs would likely be affected.
But, given appropriate data from the HSs, it would be possible to compute an appropriate CRI for these cases. The primary effect involves identifying those students who did not take/pass an IB (/AP) test, but did take/pass an AP (/IB) test. In the case of Commack HS, it is known that 28% of 12th graders took at least one AP test, and 21% passed at least one AP test; but it is not known how many of the AP test takers also took/passed an IB test. The maximum CRI occurs if it is assumed that the AP test takers did not take/pass any IB tests, but did take/pass at least one AP test. The maximum CRI would then be 69.8 for a Nat Rank of 127 and a NYS Rank of 25. If half of the (28%) AP test takers also took/passed an IB test and 10% passed an AP test, the CRI would be 58.8 with a NAT Rank of 224 and NYS Rank of 43. If all AP test takers took/passed an IB test, then the CRI (47.1) would not change. And so forth.
ergodic April 26, 2013 at 09:37 pm
An attempt to improve readability of the table in my above comment:
Class_of 2011: % take//pass one…Read More or more IB tests = 50%//46.1%
Class_of_2010:% take//pass one or more IB tests = 83%//71%
Class_of_2011:CRI=47.1//Nat Rank=#464
Class_of_2010:CRI=74.2//Nat Rank=#95
As indicated above, Class_of_2011 was used in 2013 USNews Best HS Rankings, and Class_of_2010 was used in their 2012 Rankings.
The Commack web site indicates that 65% of juniors and seniors take IB courses. On that basis, assume that 65% of the senior class will have taken at least one IB course, 95% (conservative estimate) take at least one IB test, and that 90% (conservative estimate) pass at least one IB test. Then the CRI = 57. This would be consistent with a Nat Rank in the mid 200's and a NYS rank in the mid 30's. I don't believe that BOE/administration has provided a convincing case for hosting the "largest " Ib program in North America. Neither has it identified the real costs of the program. Both are required, especially as to the extension of IB into the Middle School.Changing the emphasis from IB to AP would seem to be preferable; this is partially based on the decision of 90% of the top 100 HS (per 2013 USNews rankings.
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