June 5
Luncheon
CANCELLED

Executive Board Meeting
May 21
CANCELLED

Events Schedule

Meetings Schedule

SAD SHARING
POSTED 6/2/20
     We are saddened to share the passing of Joyce M. McCarthy, wife of retired guidance counselor (Sonderling) Gerard “Jerry” McCarthy and mother-in-law of BTA President Kevin W. Coyne Jr. Joyce and Gerard met as first year teachers at Brentwood HS in the mid 1960’s. Gerard went on to complete nearly 40 years of service for the Brentwood school district. Following the birth of her daughters Joyce finished a 30+ year career as a business and then guidance counselor at Sayville HS. Joyce is survived by her husband Gerard, daughter Heather Cattabriga and son in-law Brian (Centerville, Mass), daughter Kristen McCarthy-Coyne, Kevin, four grandchildren, Jon, Nick, Connor, Kellan and three sisters, Ellen, Carole, Rita and two brothers William and Michael.
     Due to the current COVID-19 limitations, the family is in the process of planning a memorial service at a later date and time. Condolences can be sent to:
Gerard McCarthy
2504 Pebble Beach Path
Riverhead, NY, 11901

Kevin and Kristen Coyne
431 Greene Ave
Sayville, NY 11782

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SAD SHARING
POSTED 6/22/20
     Maureen Draper, after a long courageous battle with illness, passed away on June 14, 2020. Maureen was a special education teacher who retired from Brentwood North Middle School in 2013. Condolences can be made to the family at   www.raynordandrea.com where the Video Tribute to Maureen can also be viewed. The family address is 1 Dewey Street, Sayville, NY 11782.

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IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE ON ROBS MEETINGS
POSTED 5/1//20
     As per NYSUT and RC21 guidelines, ROBS will be canceling our Executive Board meetings and General meetings for May and June. This will include our June End-of-Year luncheon and our August Executive Board Thank You luncheon. The election of officers that usually takes place in May will be rescheduled as per NYSUT guidelines. We are taking these measures out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our members
     Please take good care of yourselves and your families! Stay safe and healthy.
  We look forward to when we can see each other again.

CVC Information Center

VOTE YES!
POSTED 6/3/20

NYSUT - A Union of Professionals
     Vote YES for your local school budget and support pro-education school board candidates. Be sure to mail your ballot before the June 9 deadline. Let's give students the funding they deserve/

SAD SHARING
POSTED 6/24/20
     ROB'S member Marge DeMarco lost her husband Frank on June 5th, 2020. Marge worked as clerical in the Production Office and reitred in 2015. ROBS sends their deepest condolences. If anyone would like to send their own personal condolences, her address is: Two Harrison Street, Brentwood, MY 11717

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TAKE ACTION!
POSTED 6/3/20
The following is a note from NYSUT President, Andrew Pallotta:
   June 9th is an important day for public schools across the state. It is critical that all those who care about our students, our educators and our communities VOTE YES on their local school budgets. We must make sure our public schools have the resources they need to recover from and adjust to the fallout from this deviating crisis. And, best of all, we can do it right from home!
    Take action! This has been a challenging time for our students, educators, and parents, but things will only get worse this fall if we don’t get the resources we need to get back on track.    Voting YES on local school budgets is safe and easy with widespread mail-in voting across the state, and it is a simple but critical contribution we can all make toward getting New York back on the road to recovery!
    If you haven’t received your ballot yet, check with your local school district for rules and how to receive a mail-in ballot! Then, be sure to VOTE YES! All ballots must be received by your district by June 9th.
    TAKE ACTION: Mail in your ballot voting YES on your local school budget by Tuesday, June 9, and be sure to SHARE our video ad on Facebook to help spread the word!
    Election Day is just a week away! Vote soon and vote YES by mail to support your local students, teachers, school staff, and public schools!

In solidarity,

Andrew Pallotta,
NYSUT President

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Check Out Member Benefits

Why did we do it?
     What was our purpose in taking on such an open ended “History Project”; for which we evolved a script of questions and got answers from over 150 subjects for two decades?
     We couldn’t answer the question in 1994 when people would ask “What are you going to do with the interviews?” All we could say was that for educational purposes we had to document our record now or lose the chance to preserve so many poignant accounts, funny stories and touching tales told by exemplary educators. We knew these dedicated public servants might shortly, for reasons yet unknown, be leaving Brentwood for good.
     So, we decided to let time sort out the details. We began scheduling appointments. We asked questions and listened saving for generations the essence of what it meant to have been an educator or employed, in this large public school system during the second half of the 20th century. Brentwood remains an exemplar to all others; a diverse microcosm of America reflecting 124 districts on Long Island while simultaneously resembling thousands across the U.S. We’ve accomplished something here to be proud of. Whether we were interviewed or not, ours is a claim of service that few professionals in the State of New York or elsewhere have positioned themselves to share in the way we have.
     INITIALLY the practice of sitting with a subject for an hour and giving them a hundred percent focused attention seemed somewhat daunting to a number of friends and colleagues. So much so in fact that many declined our repeated invitations to speak with us as they left careers or retired from full employment. Despite all assurances that we were not about investigative journalism or invading privacy, they deferred. Now, twenty years after we began, some are saying they may be ready. “Better late than never” we say. However, to all among you who were willing to share not only your classroom experiences and personal stories, but precious memories from your lives along with your fondest hopes for the future, we say “Thanks”. Thanks for allowing us to continue the process by paying it forward as we share these interviews with the Brentwood community and countless professionals and researchers near and far. Through an acceptance of ROBS offer of collaboration with Archivist Dr. Geri Solomon and The Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra University our History Project lives on in academia as well as in the collection of the Brentwood Public Library, thanks to Director, Thomas A. Tarantowicz.
   You can enjoy unlimited visits to www.robsny.org where you can watch and listen to segments from featured Interviews in the ROBS History Project Section on our Announcements Page each month. Return here to listen and learn again and again.

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THIS MONTH'S FEATURED    HISTORY PROJECT
INTERVIEW:
Carmela Criscione
Clerical - Human Resources


Bits & Pieces of the Brentwood S.D. Board of Education Recorded Minutes