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Post by techie on Sept 18, 2005 20:14:12 GMT -5
HONEBEE, Please check my earlier post as we were writing at close to the same time. Look at the idea that JW has and tell me if you think it is workable. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. Thanks Techie
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Post by frawg88 on Sept 18, 2005 20:38:49 GMT -5
Thumbs up to “arascabe” for telling it like it is. Those of us that are advocates for children and education (and who voted YES for the budget) are sick and tired of all of the negativity that is so pervasive in this town. When will it ever stop? People need to channel all this wasted energy into things that are positive and productive. If all of you really feel that Plainedge is such a horrible school district then do the rest of us a favor… find a town where taxes never go up, where the entire school district can be run by just one person, and where every resident is an expert on every topic… and MOVE ! Just post the moving dates on this website and we’ll be glad to come over to help you pack and give you a lovely send-off.
1) To “jdevola”: Here are the 2005 test scores you asked for. People with a genuine interest in education have signed up to the school district’s e-mail distribution list and automatically get this data when it is published. (There’s a link from the plainedgeschools.org website.)
- 4th grade score on the ELA test ranks Plainedge as #9 in Nassau County (out of 53 districts), and #15 on Long Island (out of 118). - 8th grade score on the ELA test ranks Plainedge as #8 in Nassau County (out of 45 districts), and #8 on Long Island (out of 105). - 8th Grade NYS Social Studies Assessment - 95% passing with 36% at Level 4. - 9th Grade Regents Math A Exam - 96% passing with 43% at Mastery (this number is district-wide & includes all 9th grade special education students); 287 students out of 299. - Regents Foreign Language (Spanish, Italian, French) Exam - 100% passing with 87% at Mastery (85 or higher); 212 students took the exam with 182 scoring over 85 and 18 students earning 100%.
2) To “yruohk”:
I’m curious as to why you didn’t find any of these academic statistics given at the school board meeting newsworthy, or the fact that we had 17 out of 22 scholar athlete teams last year. I’m also curious as to why you consider yourself qualified to be the community’s unofficial source for school district information when you don’t even have kids in school and therefore have no regular interaction with the schools. (Oh yeah, come to think of it… neither does “justfacts.”)
3) To “justfacts”:
I can’t believe you actually posted this statement: “No Library?, then no library tax money approved by the voters to go to the school.” Are you trying to make people believe that when they vote on the library budget each May that the money is going to the SCHOOLS? If so, I suggest you dust off a dictionary at your library and look up the word "FACT."
Also, FYI – I’ve been a library card holder from the public library in my zip code as well as the Plainedge Public Library and receive both newsletters, and it didn’t cost me a cent. If the Plainedge Public Library closed, all of the materials and resources in it will still belong to the Plainedge community, and could be incorporated into the 5 school libraries. If high school kids can wash millions of cars every weekend they could easily volunteer to stock and catalog library materials in the schools and at the same time meet community service requirements for their various clubs and societies. It’s been a grueling summer trying to raise money. If given the choice to spend $300 on a public library or to spend it on the schools to restore the programs and services that were denied our children by the negative and vindictive people in this community, it will be a no-brainer. Our children can obtain books/tapes and do research very easily by other means; but they cannot recover from losing the things that earn them scholarships which fulfill their dreams, and which also save families thousands of dollars in tuition costs.
4) To “administrator”:
You’ve underestimated this community’s intelligence. Judging from the junk I see on this site, it’s evident that all you are doing is providing another opportunity for people to spread negativity, incorrect information and make anonymous criticisms and accusations. We deserve better.
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Post by jdavola on Sept 18, 2005 21:01:09 GMT -5
Hey frog!!!!
Thanks for the scores.
Now that's some love.
Peace out. Remember...Pray for the victims.
JD
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Post by elphaba65 on Sept 18, 2005 22:03:35 GMT -5
JD, I may be wrong again but I think that when "elphaba65" was refering to JW voting NO as a Board member, and not having a "stake", because he was living at home with parents and had no children
What I was referring to was any of his votes as a board member. Yes, he is legally able to be a board member however our children's test score or the colleges they attend do not personally affect him. The same can be said for taxes, he is not a homeowner .
I came accross an idea that JW had about changing the Tax Structure on Long Island. This idea as I understand is to take ALL the Commercial/Business Tax in EACH district in Nassau County and "POOL" it together. This would give back to each district an even reduction in tax credit. (lower for us)
I hope JW (KW?) is not taking credit for that idea, it has been spoken about for years. What makes anyone think that the people in say Garden City would like to share the tax revenue received from Roosevelt Field with anyone. Any elected official in the communities that receive high revenues would never be elected again if they suggested a change. This takes us back to what we have heard all year, the tax system is broken.
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Post by concerned on Sept 19, 2005 6:13:33 GMT -5
Jdavola-While looking for that flyer from an earlier exchange you and I had on another thread, I found something interesting. You keep mentioning the Standard and Poors Report. The great news is that our new Asst. Superintendent for Business used to be a Director at Standard and Poors Education Evaluation (the title may not be 100% correct). Perhaps she can shed some light on all of this information about the test scores that keep getting mentioned on this forum at an upcoming Board Meeting.
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Post by rinx on Sept 19, 2005 6:58:33 GMT -5
frawg,
I've spoken to many residents that voted no that have kids in the schools. Some even have kids on teams like middle school football and baseball that were cut. So, it's wasn't just the older folk that voted no. Do I wish it was passed? You betcha! But I'm not going to put anyone down that voted against. Who are you or anyone else for that matter to tell anyone to move out of this community? You sound like a real charmer. There are many many people that have lived in this district for a very long time. They've been through the good and bad before. Believe it or not, many of them have grand kids in the district (like my parents) and have voted for the budgets every year.
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Post by Admin on Sept 19, 2005 8:03:49 GMT -5
author=frawg88 To “administrator”:
You’ve underestimated this community’s intelligence. Judging from the junk I see on this site, it’s evident that all you are doing is providing another opportunity for people to spread negativity, incorrect information and make anonymous criticisms and accusations. We deserve better.
Apparently you're right. The forum doesn't need a user with three separate names (as stated in the policy). Please choose ONE!
Let me know which name you'd like to keep. The other will be deleted.
Have a great day!
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Post by concerned on Sept 19, 2005 12:34:06 GMT -5
Jdavola-I didn't hear back from you regarding an earlier post? What do you think?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jdavola-While looking for that flyer from an earlier exchange you and I had on another thread, I found something interesting. You keep mentioning the Standard and Poors Report. The great news is that our new Asst. Superintendent for Business used to be a Director at Standard and Poors Education Evaluation (the title may not be 100% correct). Perhaps she can shed some light on all of this information about the test scores that keep getting mentioned on this forum at an upcoming Board Meeting.
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Post by yruohk on Sept 19, 2005 15:33:28 GMT -5
channel all this wasted energy into things that are positive and productive....do the rest of us a favor… find a town....and MOVE ! Just post the moving dates on this website and we’ll be glad to come over to help you pack and give you a lovely send-off. If the Plainedge Public Library closed, all of the materials and resources in it will still belong to the Plainedge community, and could be incorporated into the 5 school libraries.... It’s been a grueling summer trying to raise money. If given the choice to spend $300 on a public library or to spend it on the schools to restore the programs and services that were denied our children by the negative and vindictive people in this community, it will be a no-brainer. 4) To “administrator”: You’ve underestimated this community’s intelligence. Judging from the junk I see on this site, it’s evident that all you are doing is providing another opportunity for people to spread negativity, incorrect information and make anonymous criticisms and accusations. We deserve better. The motto for those who are disagreed with: MOVE! It is a "no-brainer" that the ones left behind would not care for a library, afterall, the books still belong to the community and could be placed in the existing schools. Here's another "no brainer". All those books could fit into the "childrens" libraries? Guess the other "no brainer" would be to "burn the books" that don't matter so they would fit. After moving everyone out of town, who don't "belong", there's no worry to open the doors of the school to the "community that's left behind" who will only use the library AFTER school. They're the "acceptable" ones and only NEED LIMITED use of a library. Yesterday at 9:38pm, frawg88 wrote: You’ve underestimated this community’s intelligenceThe administrator, whomever that may be, had the heart to bring freedom back to a community of people after they were hogtied and ignored by those who chose and still choose to be dictatorial. It's OUR intelligence that YOU underestimate! The MAJORITY of the community is not made up of those who choose to dictate, threaten, belittle, ridicule, humiliate and control. Those characteristics are confined to a miniscule percentage of Plainedge. And, yes, WE DO DESERVE BETTER and we have come together in UNITY to bring a breath of fresh air. I'm not hidden but then neither are you. How many personalities do you have? Your username(s) tell(s) all.
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Post by honebee on Sept 19, 2005 15:38:04 GMT -5
Well, evidently the bickering still goes on! I would suggest that everyone stop responding to those that have nothing to say other then to spread discord. If no one responds to it, perhaps it will stop. Remember when we told our children to ignore the kids that made fun of them and they would go away?
Techie, I don't really think that L.I. as a whole would want to share their business wealth with everyone. Look what happened when someone sued concerning unfair assessment issues. Looks like we are paying a heck of alot more then before reassessment. I really don't think the other communities would go along with it, even though it might be nice to share the pie.
I for one do not want to see our Library become non-existent. I utilize it and enjoy it as I know many other community members do as well. Besides, you'd have to keep the schools open for the summer in order to use the school library and wouldn't that cost even more money? You could only use the library after school hours, and when is the end of that? If there are things going on in school, what time would the library open, only in the evening when perhaps some people would not come out because they may have trouble seeing in the dark or have other family matters to attend to.
I think we need to re-evaluate where the lion's share of our taxes go and whether or not it's necessary. I personally think there are too many cooks spoiling the broth. I think there are mistakes made unthinkingly (like $100,000 mistakes re: Lipa - the school district not informing them of gas/oil changeover) that costs us needless waste. Yes, I know the school district got them to take $25,000 instead. Wow, what a bargain! It could have gone towards the kids' programs instead. I am sure their are other wasteful errors or areas where we have spent money that could have gone to some good.
As to the comment that people can leave the district if they don't want to pay high taxes, well, that was a very brilliant statement. How long have you lived in this community. I've been here over 30 years. Why should people that have lived here most of their lives leave because you selfishly think that budgets should be passed no matter what is asked and no matter what it costs? We need to weigh each year on it's own merits. Those that are arrogant enough to think that the community will pass a budget, no matter what if they put it up for a revote without trying to trim it, are in for a surprise. If you want the budget to pass, then be reasonable and thoughtful of the entire community. Don't try to bully people into doing what you want, try to make it fair to everyone and you will probably get a "yes" the next time around.
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Post by Go Plainedge! on Sept 19, 2005 16:01:19 GMT -5
Honebee:
As I mentioned in one of my other posts, I think the budget would have passed if they simply lowered it 1%. With a budget that was $57,000,000 (+-) I don't think that finding $570,000 (+-) would be too difficult and we would not be in this predicament.
One thing that I think we're missing as far as eliminating the library and using the school as the "public library" is security. This becomes a major issue allowing adults into the school after hours and on weekends.
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Post by jdavola on Sept 19, 2005 18:38:23 GMT -5
Hey Copernicus!! Simply lower it 1% Where would you take 1% from? That was all discussed at the boe meetings...it's easy to say 1%...the hard part is...from where??..ANYTHING TO CONTRIBUTE..ANYTHING FACTUAL? And for the kids...Tuebor!...Vae victis!! Peace out. Remember...Pray for the victims. JD
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Post by frawg88 on Sept 19, 2005 19:42:52 GMT -5
Dear Administrator,
I originally registered under frawg8 and after completing the process I couldn’t log in for some reason. It was probably due to an error on my part as the internet is a new experience for me and I am still learning the process and the terminology (such as “IP address”). So after an hour of frustration I registered all over again adding another 8 at the end and was able to log in. So, please delete “frawg8” and keep “frawg88”. As far as the other sign–in, I’m not the only person that uses this computer. After checking with the other user you may delete that name as they no longer wish to participate.
Please accept my apology for not paying closer attention to the policy – there was no deliberate attempt to break the rules.
Please also accept a bit of constructive criticism. The sarcastic undertone of your message was not necessary. (“Apparently you’re right.”)
If you are trying to enforce civil and respectful behavior on this message board, then you should also demonstrate the same standards you expect from others.
(Intelligence and experience are two different things.)
Have a great day as well.
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Post by Admin on Sept 19, 2005 19:53:49 GMT -5
Thank you
I am sorry about the way the tone of my message came through. After reading a barrage of hateful posts, I senced an antagonistic approach from your first post and it was the "straw that broke the back" so to say.
This board was not created to continue any battles that happened on the Schools website. It's purpose is for the community to gather information, do some research on their own and decide on their own what is correct and what isn't.
All is good and I hope you continue posting.
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Post by elphaba65 on Sept 19, 2005 19:59:49 GMT -5
Go Plainedge
One thing that I think we're missing as far as eliminating the library and using the school as the "public library" is security. This becomes a major issue allowing adults into the school after hours and on weekends
I don't understand your concern. We do not have security at the public library, please elaborate.
As I mentioned in one of my other posts, I think the budget would have passed if they simply lowered it 1%. With a budget that was $57,000,000 (+-) I don't think that finding $570,000 (+-) would be too difficult and we would not be in this predicament.
If you attended any of the meetings before during or after the defeat of the first budget you would not be able to make that statement. Go back to the budget booklet and tell me what you would have cut- nurses? clubs? sports? Saying cutting $570,000 and doing it without cutting programs are two very different things.
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