_______________ east meadow ______________
COMMUNITY UPDATE Infections as of April 25
4,879
Infections as of April 18 4,838
$1.00
HERALD
Meet the school board candidates
Support SEPTA at its fundraiser
Graduates want turf work to wait
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VOL. 21 NO. 18
APRIL 29 - MAY 5, 2021
State exam schedule is set and instruction, said. After the board meeting, parent Wendy Shea said she Exam season has begun for planned to speak with adminstudents in the East Meadow i s t r at o r s ab o u t h ow t h e y School District, which prompt- p l a n n e d t o m o t ivat e h i g h ed an update at the school students to April 7 Board of s t ay i n s ch o o l Education meeting about a week lonon when tests will ger than they norbe taken, and some mally do. “[They details on the prowould usually] cess. s l e e p, g o t o t h e Testing will not beach or be seniors only be radically after everything different from last they’ve lost,” Shea year, when many said. final exams were She didn’t offer c a n c e l e d , bu t i t a suggestion on will also be differwh a t s h o u l d b e ent from pre-coro- DR. DAVE done during those navirus pandemic e x t r a d ay s, b u t CASAMENTO years. For examsaid she was sure ple, high school Assistant that is something students tradition- superintendent that needs to be ally do not attend for curriculum and considered by the school during the administration. instruction, EMSD state Re gents Casamento said exams, a block of the district was t e s t i n g t h at u s u a l ly l a s t s still discussing what students roughly two weeks. But this would be doing. “It’s tradition year, because there are only [during] Regents week that you four tests being administered don’t have school on days you rather than nine, students will don’t take a Regents,” he said. have four extra days of school. “The kids have been through a lot, and that’s what parents are Plans for the extra days s ay i n g , s o we ’ r e l o o k i n g of school through some options. It’s not What will be done during going to be anything hard, and those four days is still under once we lay out the plan, the discussion, Dr. Dave Casamen- parents will see that.” to, the district’s assistant He added that the state’s superintendent for curriculum CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
By JENNIFER CORR jcorr@liherald.com
I
t’s not going to be anything hard, and once we lay out the plan, the parents will see that.
Sue Grieco/Herald
DONALD LIM DIDN’T have to coax Theodore, 3, to accept a firefighter’s hat from Rescue Co. 5 Capt. Robin Fitzpatrick at RecruitNY last Sunday.
EMFD shows what it’s like to be a firefighter and EMT By LAURA LANE llane@liherald.com
Last Sunday, the East Meadow Fire Department gave those who’ve wondered what it would be like to be a firefighter or an emergency medical technician an opportunity to find out. As participants in RecruitNY, an annual statewide initiative to encourage recruitment, five EMFD firehouses opened their doors to the pubic in East Meadow and Salisbury.
The Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs, the Association of Fire Districts of New York State, the Volunteer Fire Police Association of the State of New York and the County Fire Coordinators Association of the State of New York established RecruitNY in 2011. It gives firefighters the chance to demonstrate their skills, meet residents and answer their questions. Last year the event was can-
celed due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We open up our doors to show what we do and how we do it,” said Tom Tergesen, an EMFD ex-chief from Company 4 in Salisbury. “We all have different backgrounds at our Fire Department. One of our members, who’s from India, came here to talk to us about joining. After he became a citizen, he joined.” Unlike many other fire CONTINUED ON PAGE 3