10 School Stories of 2011

Budgets passed, board members entered and exited and more occured in our local school districts during the course of the year. Take a look back at some of the top school stories of the year.

During the Miller Place Board of Education race, the six candidates vying for three vacant seats introduced themselves and answered questions in the high school auditorium during Meet the Candidates night.

The six candidates for the two vacant seats on the Rocky Point Board of Education introduced themselves and answered questions from residents at Meet the Candidates night Thursday in the auditorium.

Miller Place resident Lisa Reitan sounds off supporting the teachers amidst budget controversy.

The results from the MP Board of Ed election, which brought in two new faces.

Rocky Point Board of Education incumbents and were re-elected.

Miller Place and Rocky Point voters each passed their district's 2011-12 budgets Tuesday. Miller Place's passed, 1,537-779, while Rocky Point's also passed, 1,039-515.

The Rocky Point School District was among five New York State districts affected by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's veto of legislation to restore funds lost when the school missed filing deadlines for state reimbursements of construction costs.

The Special Education department in Rocky Point underwent changes when Director Eileen Manitta left the district last year, and those changes have caused unrest among those involved in the program.

A recent victim of budget cuts, the Miller Place Robotics Team 514 is no longer provided any funding for costs such as competition fees or parts and materials needed to build their robot. A yearly fundraiser with Sears is just one of the ways they now raise the money to compete.

Amidst major financial issues impacting school districts across New York State, the NYS Education Department no longer forbids school groups or private funding from paying stipends for chaperones or coaches and because of that, donations have restored the Miller Place golf team.