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Friday, October 7, 2016
Vol. 76, No. 39
PIRATES WIN CHAMPIONSHIP
Syosset, Jericho ranked near top of state for teaching quality BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
The Tobay Pirates of the Long Island Senior Softball Division 4, recently celebrated coming in 1st place for the 2016 senior softball season as well as their victory in the year end softball tournament for their division. The L.I. Senior Softball League is a widely respected program that offers seniors the thrill of competition while providing a great form of exercise. The Tobay Pirates’ division championship as well as their coming in 1st place for the softball season demonstrates the teamwork and practice it takes to succeed, characteristics that relate & contribute to the Town of Oyster Bay’s flourishing community.
Teens arrested for burglaries
Nassau County Police arrested three teens for burglary on Wednesday, September 28 at 2:10 p.m. in Syosset. According to detectives, on Monday, September 19, two males broke a window on the side of Cousin’s Pizza and Pasta located at 92 Jackson Avenue, entered the business and took the cash register which contained an undisclosed amount of cash. After an investigation, detectives responded to Mercy First Youth Facility and identified
Brian Ramos, 18, and a male juvenile, 15, as the suspects wanted in connection to this crime. They were placed under arrest without incident. During the investigation the two suspects, along with Andy Garcia, 16, were identified as the suspects in an attempted robbery which occurred on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 in the Broadway Mall parking lot in Hicksville. In this incident a female victim, 28, was in her car when she was
approached by three males, one armed with what he said was a handgun wrapped in a shirt. The second suspect opened her car door while the third suspect demanded the victim’s wallet and cell phone. The victim drove away before any proceeds were lost and the suspects fled on foot. No injuries were reported. All three defendants are residents at Mercy First Youth Facility.
According to Niche.com the area’s two school districts are near the top for New York State when it comes to the excellence of public school teachers. At the end of September Niche published a ranking of the “2016 Districts with the Best Teachers in New York” based on student and parent reviews of teachers, teacher salaries, teacher absenteeism, teacher tenure, student-teacher ratio, and the Niche Academics Grade for the district. Niche’s collects data on teacher salary from the National Center for Education Statistics and its values are capped between $15,000 and $100,000, the maximum with figures beyond that amount not released. Several of the top-performing districts in New York State indicated an average teacher salary of $100,000 per year. Teacher absenteeism indicates the percentage of teachers missing 10 or more days for sick or personal leave per school year, and a lower figure shows better attendance. Ranked third among New York schools’ systems is the Jericho Union Free School District, which received an Academics Grade of “A+.” A big positive Is a low Student-Teacher ratio in Jericho of just 10 to 1 and the average teacher salary here is $100,000. The student-teacher ratio for public school districts was calculated based on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers reported by the district, and the student-teacher ratio is not a representation of average class size. A survey of 21 respondents (Jericho parents, alumni and students) about teachers indicated a rating of 4.2 out of 5 for Jericho faculty. Niche’s results showed that 1.6 percent of Jericho teachers in 2016-2017 are in their first or second year of the profession. Meanwhile teacher absenteeism in Jericho was tracked at 20.2 percent. The top-ranked school district in the state was another Nassau County system, Great Neck Public Schools. Like Jericho a 4.2 out of 5 rating was posted with a total of 44 respondents to the Niche survey for Great Neck. However 2.2 percent of Great Neck’s teachers are in their first or second year in the profession in 2016-2017 and teacher absenteeism was calculated at 3.8 percent. The only public school system in the suburbs of New York City to score better than Great Neck was Millburn Township Public Schools in New Jersey, which takes Niche’s number one spot for metro New York. Of note Millburn’s teacher salary averages $86,146 and absenteeism is 19.9 percent; 7.6 percent of its teachers are first or second year professionals. Ranked third on Long Island, sixth-best in New York State and ninthbest when New Jersey and Westchester schools are included, the Syosset Central School District was on par with an average teacher salary of $100,000 and an “A+” grade for academics. It saw figures just a bit higher than Jericho for teacher absenteeism, tracked at 21 percent, while Syosset’s Student-Teacher ratio of 11 to 1 was equal to Great Neck’s. However in Syosset only 0.5 percent of teachers in 2016-2017 are in their first or second year in the profession, below Jericho’s 1.6 percent and Great Neck’s 2.2.
Local moms win tennis championship PAGE 7 Chamber hosts September meeting PAGE 12