I’m Sue Connolly. I’m a sixth-grade teacher at Greenport School.
This will be my 17th year teaching, ninth in sixth grade. All in Greenport. READ
Tag: greenport school
Greenport students filled the long tables in the cafeteria Friday, joining together with classmates to answer trivia questions and bounce balloons throughout the room.
“If it turns 10 times and has to get to 360 degrees, how many degrees is each turn?” Theresa Zuhoski asked a group of sixth-graders at Cutchogue East Elementary School last Tuesday morning. READ
The Greenport Board of Education responded Tuesday to often angry parents concerned about school security and other issues following the Jan. 3 arrest of a 16-year-old Greenport student who police said used his cellphone to take inappropriate photographs and video of three female students. READ
Stephanie Pawlik’s fifth-grade Greenport students swapped their desks for an outdoor classroom last Thursday during a visit to Widow’s Hole Preserve. READ
Southold and Greenport students will perform Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” at Southold School District’s amphitheater tonight at 5 p.m.
Oysterponds Elementary School students in a scene from ‘Aladdin’ at Greenport School. The title role was played by Franklin Mastrangelo (second from right, seated).
Oysterponds Elementary School students, in conjunction with Missoula Children’s Theatre, presented a performance of “Aladdin” at Greenport School Saturday night. The Missoula Children’s Theatre International Tour aims to develop life skills in children through participation in the performing arts. (more…)
CYNDI MURRAY PHOTO | Greenport school’s business administrator Diana Duell said the district’s reserve balance is rebounding.
Greenport School District is on its way toward putting away more funds in its reserves for rainy days, finally getting back to where it was five years ago after some lean years, the district’s business administrator reported on Thursday night.
Diana Duell said at Thursday’s school board meeting that while the district’s reserves were one time considered “grossly underfunded,” at the end of the last school year, it stood at nearly $1.2 million, up from $1.06 million at the end of the 2007-2008 school year.
“We are getting back to a good position,” she said.
At its leanest, the district held under $400,000 in all of its reserve funds, which include reserves for workers’ compensation, unemployment, and retirement. In its retirement reserve alone, the district spent about $225,000 of $300,000 available in the account in 2012-2013, when closer to $600,000 should have been available by state comptroller recommendations.
However, over the past two years alone, more than $800,000 in reserves have been stored away for future use.
Thursday night, the school board approved measures to put $546,000 back into various reserve accounts – including over $300,000 back into retirement reserves – well over the $206,000 that had been used the year before.
This school year, the district was able to stash away some more rainy day funds when it received some unexpected good news from Albany. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget had earmarked $1.12 million in state aid for the Greenport district for the 2013-14 school year, which would have been a 0.87 percent decrease over the current school year. But two months later, the state Legislature secured a 15.06 percent boost, totaling $1.3 million, eventually allowing the district to put away more funds.
Residents have previously passed a budget that has pierced the state tax levy cap as well, including a $14.9 million spending plan that carried a 6.86 percent hike to the tax levy in 2011-2012.
The district’s 2013-14 $15.5 budget, which passed this spring, presented a roughly 3.75 percent spending increase from the previous year’s plan.
Despite the progress, Ms. Duell wrote in an email that the district still has plenty of work to do in order to gain a secure financial footing.
“Although we are improving our financial position, the emphasis is we are still underfunded,” she wrote.
A representative from R.S. Abrams, the accounting firm that completed an audit report for the district, will be on hand at the November board meeting. A copy of the audit was not immediately available.
GARRET MEADE FILE PHOTO | Three Greenport students (from left) — Nick Wallace, Justin Bracken and Bayron Rivas — during practice last March.
Greenport School District is receiving a helping hand from the community to restore its ailing track.
Since ending an agreement that allowed Greenport students to practice in Mattituck earlier this year, the district has been scrambling to come up with funds needed to prepare the school’s track for competition.
In August, Greenport School District officials reached out to the community for help. And they got it, officials announced at Thursday’s board meeting.
Southold School District, which doesn’t currently have a track team, has chipped in $15,000 for the project, officials said.
“Southold really bailed us out on that,” Superintendent Michael Comanda said after the meeting.
As part of the agreement, the two schools will create combined track teams this coming school year for boys and girls. The teams will compete in the spring track season, which starts in March. There will not be a winter track teams.
Local government, too, is sharing its resources to help with the reconstruction. Last week, the Greenport Village used its backhoe to dig out a sand pit for long jumps, Mr. Comanda said.
“It’s a great example of community,” he said.
JENNIFER GUSTAVSON PHOTO | A fire was reported at Greenport School Thursday.
An electrical fire sparked on the roof of Greenport School as students were leaving for dismissal Thursday, school and fire officials said.
Greenport Superintendent Michael Comanda said Friday two crossed electrical wires in a new junction box caused a surge that started the small fire on the roof. He said it happened during the “testing” of the electrical system and no damage was done to the solar system since it had not been hooked up.
Some black soot was visible on the side of the building and there was minor damage to the roof and electrical wiring, officials said.
The Greenport Fire Department received the emergency call shortly before at 3 p.m. and the fire was extinguished within 35 minutes, officials said.
No mutual aid was needed and no injuries were reported.
Mr. Comanda said Thursday he was grateful for the quick work of the fire department.
“These guys are great,” he said.