Nurse and guard who saved choking student honored, top students celebrated: Riverhead school board wrap-up

The Board of Education lauded Sarah Atkins, a security guard, and Judy Marcus-Shivers, a substitute nurse, during Tuesday's meeting for rescuing a choking student at Riley Avenue Elementary School and saving their life.

Tornatore expressed his deep gratitude and acknowledged the swift action taken by the two women for their work. He invited them to receive certificates of appreciation and the crowd gave them a round of enthusiastic applause.

Atkins and Marcus-Shivers administered the Heimlich maneuver to a student who was choking on a chicken nugget on May 9.

The board made special recognition for the valedictorian, salutatorian, and outstanding career and technical education (CTE) student of the current year's graduating class.

Emma Ellis has been declared as the valedictorian of the Class of 2023. Tornatore mentioned that Emma has been a pole vaulter for the school's track and field team since her freshman year and currently holds the position of captain. She has received recognition in the form of All County and All Division titles and has made a record-breaking achievement in girl's pole-vaulting at Riverhead. Emma is also a symphonic band member and leads the flute section, apart from being part of the pep band. She has been an active participant in various school clubs such as Riverhead CAP peer leader and Athletes Helping Athletes. Emma is an exceptional student and has been recognized as an AP scholar with distinction, Rensselaer math medalist, and also, the French Honor Society president. She will continue her studies in the field of Chemical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. Emma's weighted grade point average is 109.8806.

According to Tornatore, Jennifer Alonso Moreno is the salutatorian of her class and holds the position of president in the Women’s Empowerment Club, as well as stage manager for the Riverhead Blue Masques. She is a member of various clubs including the Science Olympiad team, Key Club and National Honor Society. She has received an AP scholar with distinction award and been recognized by the College Board’s National Hispanic Recognition Program. Additionally, she attended the Angelo Del Toro Puerto Rican/Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute in Albany. This fall, she will be studying computer science at Boston University. Her academic achievements are reflected in her weighted grade point average of 109.5399.

Amaya Hopkins has been named the leading CTE student of the year. She is currently studying computer science and application development in Eastern Suffolk BOCES located in Bellport, where she skillfully created advanced programs and applications that are highly efficient. As a result of her achievements, she was recently initiated into the National Technical Honor Society. In the upcoming semester, she intends to enroll at Suffolk County Community College to become a technical engineer. Amaya's grade point average is 102.7967, which takes into account her exceptional performance.

During the meeting, the school board also:

• Passed significant changes to the bell schedule of several buildings for the next school year. The changes align the schedules of all the K-4 elementary schools so that all the schools start at 9:25 a.m. and end at 3:40 p.m.; the changes result in a reduction of 10 minutes of school time for Riley Avenue and Aquebogue and a reduction of 5 minutes of school time for Roanoke Avenue and Phillips Avenue, when compared to the current schedule. They also recommended Pulaski Street school start at 8:30 a.m. — 30 mins later — and end at 2:45 p.m.; the schedule change results in a loss of 14 mins of class time from the current schedule. No changes to the high school or middle school schedules were adopted. The changes were adopted by the board in reaction to a recommendation from the Transpar Group, which is currently in contract with the district to review and recommend changes to the district’s bus routing and transportation services to make them more efficient in time for the next school year.

• Approved a $52,500 agreement with National Business Technologies for mentorship to the district’s director of technology. The firm will provide professional, cyber-security and project management development and mentorship, as well as miscellaneous duties as assigned by the district for a total of 350 hours throughout the year. The resolution passed 4-2, with trustees Christopher Dorr and Virginia Healy opposed and Trustee Therese Zuhoski absent. Healy said before the vote that she was opposed to the amount of hours included in the contract, “I think it’s excessive and not warranted at this point.” This is the third time the board has contracted with the group for mentorship and development services. The district has contracted with the group for other services, including for wireless network upgrades.

• Adopted a change in its policy to allow for the board to purchase or procure goods or services over $20,000 on a basis of “best value,” rather than the lowest possible bidder. The policy, under General Municipal Law, allows contracts to be awarded by a governing body based on “quality, cost and efficiency, among responsive and responsible offerers.”

• Abolished one position in the Contracts Technician job title, effective June 30. The board passed the measure 5-1, with Dorr dissenting. He did not comment before the vote.

• Heard a presentation from STEM Directo Jeannine Campbell about the district’s current and upcoming STEM related courses and extracurricular activities.

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