Sound Shore

More than half of the people who completed a recent New Rochelle School District budget survey said maintaining class sizes was their top priority.

The district released the results of its online survey this morning, the day of its first community budget forum. It is the second year in a row the district has sought to take the community’s pulse through a survey.

According to the district, 536 people completed the survey. Three-quarters of the respondents were parents or guardians of school-age children.

Class size was named as the top priority by 57 percent. Nearly half said having up-to-date technology in classrooms was “most critical”; a bit more than half gave that label to preserving advanced-placement and other honors courses.

About 40 percent of respondents said they know about the state’s newly-imposed tax cap and realize it will “require that choices be made.” A third said they had heard “something about” the cap but didn’t know the specifics. Only 20 percent said they fully understand the tax cap and how it could affect the school budget.

Superintendent Richard Organisciak said the results show the district will “need to spend some time educating the public about the tax cap and the impact it will have.”

The budget forum will take place tonight at 7 o’clock in the New Rochelle High School library.

From New Rochelle School District Spokesman Paul Costiglio, the following:

“On a recent trip to Washington DC, 33 AP US Government and Politics students from New Rochelle High School visited the White House, Supreme Court and were on the Hill in the House chamber for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ emotional resignation. The delegation also met privately with Congresswoman Nita Lowey. One student, Benjamin Helfand, was Representative Lowey’s guest at a meet and greet with House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi and then attended the State of the Union Address.

(Helfand and Pelosi. Photo provided.)

The New Rochelle School District has released a survey aimed at gauging the community’s educational priorities. District administrators are preparing the 2012-2013 budget and information gleaned from the nine-question survey will be used in that process. The survey was posted Tuesday to the district’s website, nred.org. This is the second year New Rochelle has issued a survey at the start of budget season. This year’s survey includes a question about the newly imposed 2-percent property tax cap.

Interested in the ways the wheels of government turn? A quintet of A.P. Government students from New Rochelle High School will present essays on the topic “We the People: An Open Letter to the President” to a panel of experts at the High School library on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 9 a.m.

The panel will comprise New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson; Errol Louis, CNN contributor and host of “Inside City Hall” on NY1; Margaret Morton, New York City’s deputy commissioner of Cultural Affairs; and Iona College professor Alex Eodice.

The New Rochelle Fund for Educational Excellence is presenting the symposium as part of Civics Week.

Friday is International Stand Up to Bullying Day and, to mark the occasion, Isaac E. Young Middle School in New Rochelle has put together a full day of anti-bullying-related activities.

According to a news release from the school district, Friday’s events “are designed to raise student awareness and educate students through various interactive games and events.”

The theme of the day, Stand Up Stand Out; Let Your True Colors Show, will be brought to life by the eighth grade choir’s performance of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors”; anti-bullying Jeopardy; and lessons aimed at teaching kids how to report bullying.

It’s all part of the New Rochelle Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, itself a piece of a federal program aimed at keeping schools safe.

The Trinity Elementary School PTA has scheduled a meeting Thursday that will focus on former assistant principal Nadine Pacheco and the New Rochelle School District’s handling of her resignation. The meeting will take place at the school at 7 p.m.

Pacheco resigned at the end of last month after admitting that her administrative certification had lapsed. In an Oct. 28 letter to parents, Pacheco wrote, “This has been a very troubling experience for me and my family. I am deeply saddened by my oversight and hope that this oversight does not tarnish the recent achievements by the students and staff at Trinity School.”

That mea culpa did little to mollify some parents, who circulated a letter raising 10 questions about Pacheco, her qualifications and the district’s oversight capabilities.

“This matter continues to be of utmost importance to the families of Trinity School,”  the five parents who signed the letter wrote. “We as adults still have questions and our children are asking questions of their own, many that we do not have the information to adequately respond to. We ask that you evaluate the inadequacy of your response and rectify the situation as soon as possible. The stability of Trinity School depends upon open communication and honesty by this administration and the Board.”

District spokesman Paul Costiglio said Thursday’s meeting would be attended by Superintendent Richard Organisciak and several members of the Board of Education.

“The point is to give them (parents) a chance to ask questions and get a sense of where do we go from here,” Costiglio said.

An elementary school administrator who abruptly resigned has been reassigned to work as a teacher.

Nadine Pacheco, who had been an assistant principal at Trinity Elementary School in New Rochelle submitted a letter of resignation to the Board of Education earlier this month.

District spokesman Paul Costiglio would not say why Pacheco had stepped down. On Thursday afternoon he said the superintendent and the board president on Friday would send out “an open letter to the Trinity community explaining the situation.”

Costiglio said Pacheco would send out a letter as well.

Messages left with Pacheco and the Board President Chrisanne Petrone were not immediately returned.

Records at the State Education Department show Pacheco’s “School Administrator/Supervisor Provisional Certificate” had expired in 2005. She has a permanent certificate to teach elementary students.

In an email, Costiglio wrote, “No person can perform administrative duties … without a current administrative license issued by (the Education Department). Nadine is presently maintaining only those leadership responsibilities which can be properly assumed under a teacher’s license.”

Trinity’s website currently lists Pacheco as a teacher.

Costiglio said the Board of Education will vote on a course of action regarding Pacheco at its Nov. 1 meeting.

Last week The Journal News wrote about Karen Tucker and Alexi Brock, a pair of teachers in the New Rochelle school system with a unique bond: a kidney.

Tucker has polycystic disease and is in need of a kidney transplant. Brock offered one of her kidneys and was deemed a perfect match. The operation last May went well, but for reasons still unclear to doctors, Tucker’s body rejected Brock’s kidney. A lifetime of dialysis treatments await Tucker unless she finds another donor.

In the days since the story ran, four people have contacted Tucker and offered to get tested to see if they could be a match. More offers, of course, would be welcome. If you’re interested, write Tucker at kitucker721@aol.com.

By the end of the day Friday, 5,954 new flags will be fluttering in New Rochelle. As part of the city’s recognition of the decade that has passed since the Sept. 11 attacks, two groups will plant flags representing the number of people who died in the attacks.

First, fifth graders at Columbus Elementary School will spend the hours between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Friday planting 2,977 flags in the lawn in front of the school. In the afternoon, the entire school will file past the flags, class by class.

Then, beginning at 6 p.m., the United Veterans Memorial and Patriotic Association will place 2,977 flags in the front lawn of City Hall, rain or shine. Members of the public are invited to help. On Sunday evening, at 8 o’clock, the city will hold a candlelight ceremony on the lawn among the flags. All are invited. In case of rain, the ceremony will move indoors to the City Council chambers.

At Iona College, just up North Avenue from City Hall, about 300 students will form a peace sign at 9:11 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 8 at Mazzella Field. The Iona Pipe Band will then lead the students to the Celtic cross, where candles will be set and banners displayed for a vigil ending at 11:11 p.m. At noon on Friday, Sept. 9, the college will hold a memorial service at the Murphy Auditorium. A reception will follow in the Thomas J. Burke Lounge in Spellman Hall. At 2 p.m. in the Romita Auditorium in the Ryan Library, Iona alumnus and retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Robert Darling will discuss his book, Inside the President’s Bunker.

The Albert Leonard Middle School in New Rochelle began the school year today without power. District spokesman Paul Costiglio said the problem was specific to the school and that engineers believe it could be related to the massive amount of rain that has saturated the region in recent weeks. Asked if the outage, which has lasted several days, was due to something like a tree on a power line, he said, “It’s bigger than that.”

On Wednesday, with Con Edison working to restore power to the school, students reported to the cafeteria, where generators provided electricity, for orientation in already-scheduled shifts. Costiglio said aside from the location change, orientation went smoothly.

Now the focus is on getting power back to the school by Thursday, the first day of classes. Costiglio said the school would use its robo-call system to let parents know whether workers have been successful. If there are no lights Thursday, Costiglio said, the district will consider squeezing students into the high school for a day or canceling classes.