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Friday, May 1, 2015
Vol. 64, No. 18
N E W H Y D E PA R K DAY MOTHDEinRin’S g & Gift Guide
GUIdE To HERRICKs TAKEs oN BIlly JoEl moTHER’s dAy mEl BRooKs ClAssIC To ClosE ColIsEUm pAGeS 31-50 a blank slate
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may 1, 2015
Opt outs add up for state math exam
t R A p/ N e u t e R / R e L e A S e
Movement gains momentum as 21% of North Shore students refuse test By JA m Es G A l l o w Ay One week after hundreds of North Shore students sat out the state English Language Arts exam, test refusal figures jumped even higher for the state’s math exam in a sign the opt-out movement continues to pick up steam. More than 2,200 students, or about 14.7 percent, opted out of the English exam administered to grades three through eight two weeks ago, between the Herricks, Mineola, East Williston, Great Neck, Roslyn, Manhasset, Port Washington, New Hyde ParkGarden City Park and Sewanhaka school districts. But for the math exam, North Shore opt outs swelled to 21.9 percent as more than 2,600 students from the same districts refused the test, a trend that was largely consistent across Nassau County. “I think the [opt-out] movement is like a snowball rolling
down a hill: It’s gaining momentum as social media and the press pick up on it,” said Mineola Superintendent Michael Nagler, whose district’s opt outs rose to 20.9 percent for the math exam from 18.3 percent for the English. Statewide, at least 193,000 students opted out of the English exam. And, with less than half of school districts reporting, math exam opt outs already exceed 150,000, according to figures from the anti-testing advocacy group NYS Allies for Public Education. Across Long Island, 46.5 percent of students opted out of the math exam, according to figures compiled by Newsday — and many districts in eastern Suffolk reported opt-out rates in excess of 50 percent, with Comsewogue leading the way at 83.5 percent. Even as opt-out numbers increased across the North Shore, the extent varied greatly: Sewanhaka saw the highest increase as Continued on Page 66
Allyson Kolins and Dr. David Kolins were part of a Trap/Neuter/Release program this past Sunday held by The Cat Doctor and New Hyde Park, Garden City Park and Mineola Animal Hospitals. See story on page 58
As utilities remove double poles, NHP delays local law By JA m Es G A l l o w Ay New Hyde Park will hold off on passing local law that would fine PSEG and Verizon for not removing side-by-side utility poles because the com-
panies have cooperated with the village, Mayor Robert Lofaro said. In an email to local news outlets, he said Verizon has removed 18 of the village’s 88 double poles already and has plans to remove 13 more by
the end of April. He said the village is also scheduling a meeting with PSEG. “The Village has experienced great cooperation from Verizon and PSEG with the Continued on Page 66
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