Serving Manhasset, Munsey Park, North Hills, Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor, Plandome and Flower Hill
$1
Friday, August 30, 2019
Vol. 7, No. 35
BACK TO SCHOOL
PRIVATE SCHOOLS EYED TOWN SHUT OUT OF FOR PUBLIC SCRUTINY EARLY VOTING LOCATIONS
PAGES 35-46
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
Judge leaves vax law in place Opponents in Manhasset, Mineola speak against elimination of religious exemption BY R O S E W E L D ON
PHOTO BY ROSE WELDON
At the Manhasset Board of Education meeting on Aug. 22, the board was asked to write to Judge Denise Hartman to request a stay against the law eliminating the religious exemption from vaccines.
A state Supreme Court judge has left in place a law passed in June that eliminated the religious exemption for vaccines, mandating that all children attending public, private or parochial schools must be immunized. In her ruling on Monday, Judge Denise Hartman denied a motion for a preliminary injunction against the law by the plaintiffs, made up of parents who claim their children are affected by the exemption’s removal and that it violates their First Amendment religious rights. Before the judge’s decision, some parents in Mineola and Manhasset expressed fear that their children would not be returning to school under the new law. In her ruling, Hartman wrote, “Because plaintiffs have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits, the court denies the request for a preliminary injunction; the legislative repeal of the religious Continued on Page 66
N. Shore schools score high on tests BY J E S S I C A PA R K S AND TOM MCCARTHY
show that students in grades 3 to 8 performed slightly better in math and English Language Arts this year than in 2018. North Nassau County test scores Shore school districts generally
recorded higher scores than the county average in both subject tests. In math, 63 percent of students, or 32,587 students, in the county scored proficient in their grade level for math, compared with 60 percent, or 29,783, of students in 2018. Some 59 percent of
county students, or 33,145, scored proficient in ELA testing in 2019, a 1 percentage point increase from 2018, when 31,344 scored at a proficient level. On the North Shore, Port Washington, Great Neck, Manhasset, Herricks, East Williston, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park and Roslyn recorded higher scores than the county average
in both subject tests. However, Sewanhaka and Mineola school districts scored lower than the county in both math and ELA. Students in the Sewanhaka and Mineola school districts had the lowest scores on the North Shore in ELA with 54 percent of students scoring at a proficient Continued on Page 77
For the latest news visit us at www.theislandnow.com D on’t forget to follow us on Twitter @Theislandnow and Facebook at facebo ok.com/theislandnow