Education

Local school boards are still waiting to hear from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo about when school budget votes and the election of board members can take place.

The world’s top-ranked female triathlete, Katie Zaferes, an Olympic silver-medalist cyclist, Mari Holden, and Ally Friedman, a Ross School senior who in February was cited by the United States Tennis Association as its junior volunteer of the year, mentored Theresa Roden’s I-Tri girls on Saturday.

Covid-19 has cast a long shadow over the health care industry, and there’s a sense of trepidation and anxiety among the 65 practical nurses who are graduating Thursday from their Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services program. But there’s also a sense of hope and purpose among the graduates.

Nassau and Suffolk Counties’ Athletic Councils pulled the plug on high school springs sports, a “heartbreaking decision,” in the words of Section VIII’s executive director, Pat Pizzarelli, but one that was not surprising given the coronavirus pandemic.

Chef Jill Hamill has quite the following on YouTube lately. In just a few days, a handful of her cooking videos have racked up hundreds of views and subscribers.

Challenge for educators: teaching social-emotional learning through a screen.

Proposition 2 in East Hampton

The East Hampton School Board has agreed to add a second proposition to the school budget ballot asking for voter approval to spend $2.2 million from a capital reserve account for a commercial kitchen at East Hampton High School. During a virtual meeting on April 1, board members pointed out that the measure would not increase taxes because the district already has the money set aside.

Supplies for Success, a national organization founded 18 years ago and now based in Sagaponack, has handed out thousands of art kits filled with coloring books, crayons, construction paper, washable glue, and other items to help keep children learning and busy during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Because of uncertainty about the resumption of traditional classroom instruction, the New York State Education Department has canceled Regents exams scheduled for June. Students must pass a number of Regents exams, high school-level tests, in order to graduate. 

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last week clarified what “essential” means for contractors, halting most forms of construction through at least April 19 — school construction included. Districts in Springs, Bridgehampton, and Sag Harbor are bumping up against this order.     

Their meetings are not without technical issues, but local school boards have ventured into the world of virtual assemblies and live-streaming on various platforms.     

For students who rely on schools to provide nutritious meals each day, there is assistance available locally for breakfast and lunch.