THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR | 2,905,611 VISITORS VISIT 8,324,077 TIMES 3 TIMES EVERY DAY IN ONE YEAR. HIGHEST ACTIVITY IN WPCNR HISTORY.White PlainsCitizeNetReporter lifted its worldwide visits from unique visitors to wpcnr.com to 8,324,077,a 1,306,419 increase in visits in one year from 7,017,658 visits to the site last year which covers White Plains and Westchester County. The 8,324,077 visits were made by 2,005,611 unique visitors who visited wpcnr an average of 3 visits a day. ON JULY 20- -2026 visitors have accessed wpcnr and made 3,072 visits an average of 1.6 visits. In the last week 33,495 individual vistors made 54,458 visits, averaging 1.6 visits. In the last month, 152,940 visitors recorded 229,338 visits (1.5 visits)

2 WEEKS AFTER “BIG STORM:” 180 BEDFORD RESIDENTS LACK CABLE, PHONE OR INTERNET COMMUNICATONS.

Posted on August 19, 2020 by John Bailey

WPCNR MEDIA MERRY-GO-ROUND. From Bedford Town Supervisor Chris Burdick. 5:30 PM August 18, 2020:

Two weeks after the storm many residents still are plagued with telecommunication outages, broken promises of restoration and insufficient interest or resources on the part of Altice (Optimum’s parent) and Verizon.

Setting aside the abysmal lack of preparation for the storm, there is the persistent lack of recovery. Rapid recovery should be the standard. At this point any recovery seems elusive.

As of this writing, we estimate that 103 Optimum customers and 77 Verizon customers still lack one or more services to which they subscribe (based on the list we compiled from residents reporting to us).

What we’re doing is persistently staying after Optimum and Verizon until every customer’s service has been restored. We are doing this by staying in touch with those without service (and we ask that you please stay in touch with us, including to let us know that your service has been restored – so we can update our records);

Pressing Optimum and Verizon multiple times each day (including weekends) to report on crews dispatched and their status; and providing accounts of failures to State Senator Shelley Mayer and other legislators so they can press Optimum and Verizon in hearings which they’ve called. Kevin Lynch on my staff and I are taking over from Tim Parker, so please e-mail us at [email protected] and [email protected]

School District Appoints EMERLY MARTINEZ OF THE CORNWALL NY SCHOOL DISTRICT, NEW PRINCIPAL OF WHITE PLAINS HIGH SCHOOL

Posted on August 18, 2020 by John Bailey

EMERLY MARTINEZ
WILL LEAD WHITE PLAINS HIGH SCHOOL IN THE DIFFICULT YEAR AHEAD. HE REPLACES ELLEN DOHERTY, PRINCIPAL FOR LAST 8 YEARS

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From the White Plains City School District, with supplemental material from WPCNR. August 18, 2020:

Emerly A. Martinez was appointed as the new Principal of White Plains High School on Monday evening, August 17^th, at a Zoom meeting of the White Plains Board of Education, held under the COVID-19 Executive Order 202.55.

Mr. Martinez was the finalist from over 60 candidates in a rigorous search process which included interviews with the Superintendent’s Cabinet and a Principal Search Advisory Committee representing all the constituencies of the school community. He replaces Ellen Doherty who held the position for eight years.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph L. Ricca said, “The district was very pleased with the large pool of talented candidates from which Mr. Martinez rose to the top. His abilities suit White Plains very well.”

Board President Rosemarie Eller said she looks forward to “welcoming Mr. Martinez and to working with him in an exciting new chapter for White Plains High School.”

Mr. Martinez will come to White Plains from the Principal position at Cornwall (N.Y.) Central High School in the 2019-20 school year. Prior to that he was Assistant Principal at Fox Lane High School in Bedford and Dean of Students at Ossining, and social studies teacher there for 13 years. school. according to his Cornwell High School biography. He began his educational career teaching High School Social Studies in Ossining.

Cornwall Central High School serves 1,105 students in grades 9-12. (White Plains High School had a 2019-20 student count of 2,140.)
The percentage of students achieving proficiency in math is 98% (which is higher than the New York state average of 52%) for the 2017-18 school year. The percentage of students achieving proficiency in reading/language arts is 98% (which is higher than the New York state average of 52%) for the 2017-18 school year.
Cornwall Central High School placed in the top 5% of all schools in New York for overall test scores (math proficiency is top 5%, and reading proficiency is top 5%) for the 2017-18 school year.
The student:teacher ratio of 16:1 is higher than the New York state level of 13:1.
Minority enrollment is 31% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which is lower than the New York state average of 57%.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Mercy College, a Master’s in Education from Lehman College, a Master’s in Educational Leadership from the College of St. Rose, and anticipates receiving a Doctor of Education Degree in Educational Leadership from Manhattanville College in May of 2021.

Be alert to Social Security Scam Letter with Westchester County Government Official Look to it. Do NOT reply.

Posted on August 18, 2020 by John Bailey

WPCNR SCAM REPORT. From County Legislator Catherine Parker. August 18, 2020:

Please be on the alert for a potential scam aimed at senior citizens. The document, which looks like an official notice from Westchester County, threatens a levy against Social Security benefits to satisfy a tax liability.

We believe that it is part of an attempted fraud perpetrated against residents of the County who may have tax liens on file with the County Clerk’s office. If you receive this type of notice, do not respond to it.

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS ANNOUNCES 2 MORE COMMUNITY FORUMS

Posted on August 17, 2020 by John Bailey

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS From the White Plains City School District. August 17, 2020: 3PM

In order to ive you a better understanding of the district’s reopening plan, we will be hosting a series of three virtual community forums for parents and members of the community to ask questions that may not have been addressed during Dr. Ricca’s community updates during the month of July. Click here for flyer.

Here are the day and times and log-ins for the two remaining Virtual Community Forums:
TODAY August 18, 2020—12 noon—1:00pm

Login: https://lhric-org.zoom.us/j/98938007829?pwd=bmFpU0QzaGl3c1g3UHBSWUgvaGJYUT09;

THURSDAY August 20, 2020—12 noon—1:00pm

Login: https://lhric-org.zoom.us/j/98938007829?pwd=bmFpU0QzaGl3c1g3UHBSWUgvaGJYUT09;

On Friday, Aug. 7, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that in-person instruction is permitted in all regions of New York state for the start of the 2020-21 school year based on current COVID-19 infection rates, while also outlining new requirements related to school reopening plans.

These requirements include highlighting plans for remote learning, COVID-19 testing, and contact tracing, which are all parts of the district’s reopening plan that was recently submitted to the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and New York State Department of Health (DOH).

Those sections of our plan can be found on the Learning Model section of our reopening plan and the Health and Safety section of our reopening plan.

Over the course of the last several weeks, the district has been working to formulate a plan for reopening school in September. These plans were created based on guidelines from federal and state agencies, as well as feedback from community stakeholders. A copy of our complete reopening plan can be found here.

\Anyone with questions or concerns about the district’s reopening plan can be directed to send their questions to [email protected].
Additionally, a list of frequently asked questions and answers will be posted on the district’s website in the coming days. Please stay safe, well and # WPProud!

Respectfully,

Dr. Joseph L. Ricca
Superintendent of Schools