The school budgets for the Franklin Square, Elmont, and Sewanhaka school district all passed on Tuesday. Franklin Square also had a $10 million capital projects proposition on the ballot that passed … more

The drug addicts’ brain scans that Dr. Stephen Dewey takes appear in psychedelic shades of red, yellow, green and blue, each indicating a level of brain activity — or inactivity. Red means excited. Blue is dormant. Dewey is the laboratory director for behavioral and molecular neuro-imaging at the North Shore-LIJ Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. In that capacity, he’s put hundreds of addicts’ brains to the test — the positron emission tomography test, that is — seeking to understand precisely what happens to the mind when a pot smoker lights up or a heroin junkie shoots up. And, he has found, it isn’t pretty. more

Jake Thomas and Alex Vargas, both 21, played baseball together in 2011 at Calhoun High School under legendary coach Joe Corea. In 2010, Thomas led the Colts squad that captured the Nassau County Class AA title. In 2012, Vargas played a critical role in the Colts’ victory at the Long Island Class AA championship. Major League teams recently drafted them both. more

The Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center and the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District will host a Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, May 30, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mepham High School, 2401 Camp Ave., Bellmore. more

Graduation rates are steadily rising in the Valley Stream Central High School District, according to figures recently released from the New York State Department of Education. more

Nearly half of the Valley Stream Central High School District’s Board of Education seats will be filled by trustees who didn’t serve there last year. Following reorganization meetings for the three elementary districts on Monday, four of the nine seats will change hands for the 2014-15 school years. more

Residents of Valley Stream’s four school districts approved their budgets on Tuesday night, and an incumbent Board of Education trustee in District 13 was defeated. more

Valley Stream Central High School District budget preview. more

Voters in Valley Stream’s school districts will vote on a combined $215 million worth of spending when they head to the polls on Tuesday. This year’s budgets are all tax-cap-compliant, and keep program intact. more

This year’s budget talks have a much different feel than last year’s for the Valley Stream Central High School District Board of Education. There are no proposed layoffs, no student transportation debate and no athletic teams on the chopping block. In fact, the board is considering adding some items back. more