South Country Central School District
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The South Country Central School District is a district of approximately 16 square miles that is composed of the Village of Bellport and the Hamlets of Brookhaven, North Bellport, East Patchogue, parts of Yaphank, and parts of Medford.
[edit] Background
The district maintains a high school, a middle school, an intermediate school, and three primary schools. In addition, the district maintains a building named the Southaven School, which briefly housed the controversial Southaven Academy, an alternative high school. The Administrative Offices are located in East Patchogue on the campus of the Verne Critz Primary School. The school district maintains a budget of 80 million dollars, with a little more than half coming from local property taxes.
The current Superintendent is Dr. Susan Agruso.
[edit] Controversy
In 2004, auditors discovered a 4 million dollar deficit in the school district's budget. This shortfall occurred around the same time many other school districts were being investigated for corruption. Although the state comptroller found no illegal activity in his audit, he did criticize the district for not having adequate financial controls. Immediately after news of the budget shortfall surfaced, the Board of Education fired the Assistant Superintendent of Business. Prior to the announcement of the budget shortfall, Superintendent Michael C. LaFever retired.
