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VOL. 75 NO. 5
JANUARY 30- FEBRUARY 5, 2025
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Babylon Elementary principal planning for the new year By ALENA BERENBLATT Correspondent
Christie Babirad/Herald
A holiday fair with flair Logan Zimmerly and Calvin Adam, employees at Torta Fina Bake Shoppe, participated in the Babylon Village holiday market in December. See story on Page 10.
21 school districts file lawsuit against state’s regionalization plan By WILL SHEELINE and MIKE POLANSKY wsheeline@liherald.com Correspondent
A coalition of 21 school districts, municipalities, unions, and individual petitioners has filed a lawsuit against the New York State Education Department, seeking to annul its controversial Regionalization Plan. The plan mandates that public school districts implement regionalization plans, a move
I
t becomes clear that state officials have overstepped their bounds in using regulations to undermine local autonomy. Coalition of New York State School Board Members
that critics argue would undermine local control and violate state law. The lawsuit, filed on Jan. 9 in the New York State Supreme Court, includes school districts, municipal governments, state legislators, and advocacy groups representing thousands of residents and educators, including the Massapequa and Plainedgeschool districts. The group, referred to as the Coalition of New York State School Board CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Babylon Elementary School, following the district’s Together We Rise theme for the school year, is planning ahead on many fronts. At the January 13 Board of Education meeting, Principal Thomas Keogh shared his plans to improve students’ achievements and sense of belonging while creating better working conditions and professional development for staff. In terms of student achievement, Keogh said BES students have “consistently scored in the high performance/high growth category when compared to similar districts” using iReady, a diagnostic tool for reading and math that provides personalized learning paths for each student based on their performance. However, he added, “an area that is directly related to the six pillars of literacy, and needs more attention, is vocabulary development.” “We’ve taken steps to incorporate vocabulary development in daily instruction, including the purchase of a program called Vocabulary, an online platform that provides vocabulary enrichment through hip hop music,” Keogh added. Also needed, he said, was enhanced communication and community engagement. To that end, he and his decision-
making team identified “four key elements of a well-designed program that builds collegiality and provides social support.” “First, including newcomers into the school culture and welcoming in a socially supported way,” he said. “Second, transforming working conditions to support students and staff. Third is identifying needs and providing personalized staff development. Fourth is enabling shared decision-making.” The theme of belonging was presented in a child-friendly way, using a series of books in which Spot is the main character. “The books are all related to key character traits that are also emphasized in our new SEL program, Character Strong,” he said. Keogh also believed it was important to give staff a voice in planning the school’s future. So he used an anonymous survey to get their thoughts on the next five years. Some of the results showed staff wanted more support, more voice and more time for collaboration and teambuilding while creating a workplace that helped strengthened relationships. Keogh has already taken numerous steps to meet those needs, he said, including offering teachers monthly professional development. In JanuCONTINUED ON PAGE 4