School Board Hands Out Student Awards

The Hauppauge Board of Education held a non-budget meeting on Tuesday evening focused on presenting awards to those students who have received local and statewide recognition over the past few months.

Recognition and Awards

*Doreen Gordon, Hauppauge High School’s director of social studies and business, handed out certificates to high school and middle school students who participated in National History Day on March 13 at Hofstra University. Students completed either individual or group projects ranging from research papers to documentary films on this year’s theme, debate and diplomacy.

*School officials recognized senior Kyrstina Choinski for being selected as a News 12 Long Island/MSG Scholar Athlete. Choinski has the third-highest grade point average in the graduating class of 2011 and has competed on the cross-country, track and field, and girls golf teams.

*The Board of Education members presented plaques to senior wrestlers Adam Leprosy and Chanse Menendez for their accomplishments in 2011.

Lepkowsky won the Suffolk County title in the 140-lb weight class and won 48 matches, setting a new record for Hauppauge High School. He also came in runner-up at the state finals. Lepkowsky has 148 career wins, the second highest number of wins recorded by a Hauppauge wrestler. The senior received the Betsy Turk award from Section 11.

Menendez won the Suffolk County and New York State titles in the 171-lb weight class. He is the sixth wrestler to win a state title for Hauppauge High School. Menendez has 106 career wins and was selected by Suffolk County to be the first recipient of the Ken Lesser award.

Superintendent’s Update

Superintendent Patricia Sullivan-Kriss said athletic director Joe Tasman has organized a Family Fitness night on May 3 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Hauppauge High School. Registration for the event will start at 6 p.m.

Sullivan-Kriss opened a discussion on the resignation of New York State Commissioner of Education David Steiner. The superintendent said the district has not received any word on who might replace him.

The superintendent also read a letter from New York State Department of Education that the state’s standard for assessing the school district’s education of disabled students will be changing. State officials said they expect the new criteria may cause the number of schools marked as not making adequately yearly progress in educational improvements to double or triple in the 2011-2012 school year, according to Kriss-Sullivan. She did not know what, if any, immediate impact this new might have on Hauppauge school district.

Business Matters

Board of Education members voted to unanimously accept the donation of an American Flag from the Barshay family, worth $219, to be flown on the flagpole outside Pines Elementary School.

Questions and Comments from the Community

The superintendent said the district is still in open negotiations with four out of five of its unions. District officials will meet with representatives of the teachers union on Thursday to continue negotiations.