Schools

Big Turnout Expected for Common Core Meeting

Doors will open at 5 p.m. Forum begins at 6 p.m.

School officials are anticipating a large turnout for tonight's education forum with New York State Education Commissioner John King happening at Ward Melville High School in the school's auditorium. 

The forum, organized by state Sen. John Flanagan, is open to the public, but is limited to 36 pre-determined speakers. Each school district in Flanagan's district will present three speakers who will have about two minutes to speak.

"The audience will be large, but I am hoping it will be a productive evening," said Jon Kornreich, vice president of the Three Village Board of Education.

According to Cheryl Pedisich, District Superintendent for Three Village Schools, the forum is open to the public and no invitation is needed. The event will be held in the school auditorium, which seats 950 people. Pedesich said the school is working to set up a live stream of the event into the school cafeteria, which would accommodate another 550 people.

In a statement, King said "I want to have a respectful, direct, and constructive dialogue with parents. More and smaller discussions will make sure there's a real opportunity for parents to be heard. This is just the first round; we'll continue to schedule forums for parents. 

A student organized picket of the forum will take place outside of the auditorium beginning at 5:45 p.m. Organizer Tom Reznick, a junior at Ward Melville said he is tired of the constant talk of tests and what he describes as a prison environment and said he would like to see more students speak up.

“It’s crazy that more students aren’t involved,” he said. “There is no organized voice. I want to see students speaking out."

Pedisich, said one parent, one teacher and one board member would speak on behalf of Three Village.

“We thought that would be a fair representation of the community,” she said. 

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Members of the school’s student government will act as moderators.

“We are very excited to be able to host the event,” said Pedisich. “It is a topic that has generated a great deal of concern from parent groups and educators across the country. We consider it an honor and a privilege.”

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The forum is scheduled from 6-8 p.m.

The other three forums scheduled for Long Island include:

  • Nov. 13  at Mineola High School between 4-6:30 p.m.
  • Nov. 26 in Riverhead (Location TBD) between 6-8 p.m.
  • Dec. 9 in Nassau County (Location and Time TBD)


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