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Incident of assault of youth shown online is subject of recent NBSD board meeting In the first meeting of the North Babylon Board of Education following the broadcast of an alleged fight involving four local youngsters behind Woods Road Elementary School, Acting Superintendent Dr. Joseph Laria, reassured community members that local schools are safe and asked for residents help in offsetting what he said was a growing "culture of violence." The incident that led to Laria's lengthy public statement took place on December 18. According to reports, three North Babylon School District students are alleged to have attacked another North Babylon resident, believed to be a private school student. A video of the incident was placed on the popular web site YouTube.com and ultimately picked up by national and local media outlets, which broadcast the video for several days throughout mid-January. Laria, at the January 25 board of education meeting, noted the school district became involved in the incident mainly because the incident took place on school district grounds. Upon learning of the incident, he said the district immediately notified law enforcement. Superintendent disciplinary hearings were conducted and the three girls involved were suspended through the end of the third quarter of the current school year. Had the incident taken place off school grounds, the district would have had no jurisdiction. Prior to the three students returning to school, disciplinary hearings will be convened to review the matter, which will include any actions taken by legal authorities. "While the district did move swiftly [in handling the matter] we did not contact the media. They contacted us," Laria explained. "We made the decision to be proactive with the media once they contacted us and tell our side of the story. We wanted people to know we were in command of the situation." In his speech to the community, the acting superintendent also wanted to reassure local residents that "our schools are safe," adding, "The message we share with our parents and students is that we love you, but not your behavior sometimes. Students that cross the line and violate the law, we will hold you accountable." To parents Laria said, "Now, more than ever, we need to closely supervise our children - including their use of the Internet - in order or protect the children and prevent them from engaging in behavior that will be harmful. If we discover something threatening, we need to speak out to our children, school officials and if necessary, to the authorities." Following Laria's comments, Paul Buraczenski, school board vice president, thanked the acting superintendent for his handling of the situation. "With any other interim/acting superintendent, they would have probably cut and run from a situation like this," he added. In Other Business +In response to questions from school district residents about whether textbooks are up-to-date, BrendaJoyce Scott, assistant superintendent for curriculum, assessment and instruction, provided an outline of current textbook copyrights. She noted that elementary school textbooks are up-to-date; middle school social studies books are dated 2005, science is current and the district is looking for new math books to meet new a curriculum; and high school books are current.
+Michael Buzzeo, assistant superintendent for business, said the district was finalizing its proposed spending plan for the 2007-08 school year, which the school board was scheduled to begin reviewing in public in early February. The 200-plus line budget will be discussed at several public budget workshops by the board of education
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