| Connetquot School District | |
|---|---|
 The Connetquot Central School District's administration building, located inBohemia | |
| Location | |
| United States | |
| District information | |
| Type | Public |
| Motto | Excellence in Education |
| Grades | PreK-12 |
| Established | 1963 (1963) |
| Superintendent | Dr. Joseph Centamore |
| Asst. superintendent(s) | Christina Poppe, Reza Kolahifar, Robert Hauser |
| Schools | 10 |
| Students and staff | |
| Students | 5,393 (2022-2023) |
| District mascot | Thunderbirds |
| Colors | Red and white |
| Other information | |
| Website | ccsdli |
TheConnetquot Central School District of Islip is aschool district located in theTown of Islip ofSuffolk County, New York on theSouth Shore ofLong Island. There is one preschool, seven elementary schools, two middle schools, and one senior high school.
The district includes the entirety of the community ofOakdale and almost all ofRonkonkoma andBohemia, while it also serves parts ofIslandia,Sayville, andWest Sayville. Most parts of Sayville and West Sayville are zoned to the neighboringSayville School District, and other portions of Islandia are served by theHauppauge Union Free School District and theCentral Islip Union Free School District.[1]
In the early years of education in the area, Oakdale and Bohemia (both controlled by Connetquot today) were originally in theEast Islip School District. This was the configuration until 1836, when Oakdale gained its own district. In the mid-to-late 19th century, the area that would eventually become the Connetquot Central School District was occupied by three districts; #11 Lakeland (founded in 1855), #14 Bohemia (founded in 1866), and #7 Oakdale (founded in 1836). Oakdale and Bohemia both came out of the East Islip district, and Ronkonkoma came from the old school district ofHolbrook, which today is part ofSachem. The districts had just 16, 35, and 49 students respectively in 1883. Bohemia would grow continuously over the years, and absorbed part of Lakeland in 1866. The name was changed from Lakeland to Ronkonkoma in 1867. Many students in these early districts went toSayville School District schools, includingSayville High School. Oakdale and Bohemia consolidated in 1918, becoming Oakdale-Bohemia, also known as Union Free School District #7.[2]
In 1960, with continuing suburban growth, voters in the existing Oakdale-Bohemia and Ronkonkoma school districts voted to consolidate their two districts, which paved the way for construction of a high school and the modern Connetquot Central School District #7.[2][3] The name of the district was derived from theConnetquot River.[3]
In January 1962, the entire district was shuttered for a week due to an outbreak ofscarlet fever.[4]
In July 2007, the school district received national attention when two teenagers who attendedConnetquot High School were arrested for planning an attack on the school mirroring that ofColumbine. The plans, discovered in a notebook left in a Bohemia parking lot, reportedly included a hit list of students and staff and how to ignite explosives.[5] One of the teenagers involved in the plot, Christopher Franko, was arrested again in June 2010 for planning a similar attack. The plan failed when Franko and another conspirator were denied the purchase of ashotgun, and turned over toSuffolk County Police.[6]
The district closed all of its schools on October 29, 2012 and the following days as a result ofHurricane Sandy.[7]
At the start of the 2018 school year, Oakdale-Bohemia Middle School faced widespreadmold growth, leading to many parents' concern with their children's safety.[8]
In May 2019, three students of Connetquot High School were arrested for discussing plans to detonate explosives at the school.[9][10] The three were discussing their plans on a school bus, when another student heard them, and reported the conversation to an administrator. The administrator then reported the incident to Suffolk County Police, and the school was evacuated. The entire conversation was caught on the school bus's surveillance system. Police also found a copy ofThe Anarchist Cookbook, a book with bomb-making instructions, in one of the conspirators' homes. The three were taken into custody and charged withconspiracy.[9][10]
Like most school districts in the United States, Connetquot temporarily closed its schools in March 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[11] In March 2023, the district faced widespread protests both in and outside their schools, after it was believed by the community that they had ordered the resignation ofConnetquot High School's principal.[12][13]
In January 2024, theGovernment of New York State mandated that all newschool buses purchased by the district, from 2027 onward, beelectric.[14] The following month, the district was one of the beneficiaries of a government program that guarantees free school lunch for students.[15]
In October 2023, the district filed alawsuit against the New York State Board of Regents, which had tried to enforce a ban on the use ofNative Americanfolklore for school mascots. The district was ordered to remove all names, imagery and mascots relating to thethunderbird from its schools by June 2025. Connetquot schools had used the thunderbird, or "T-Bird" as it is often called in Connetquot, as their school mascot since the 1960s. When the lawsuit was filed, the district argued the ban wasunconstitutional.[16] By September 2025, overwhelming popular support by the community, as well as Indigenous Americans,[17] for keeping the T-Bird mascot led to a vote that allowed the district to keep the mascot on the condition that the name be formally changed from "thunderbird" to "T-Bird".[18][19][20]
In January 2024, a lawsuit was filed against the school district as a result of theirpride flag policy.[21] The district's ban on displaying the flags in school had already caused controversy prior to the lawsuit.[22] The lawsuit was initiated by an openlyhomosexual teacher of Connetquot High School, who claimed the district's policy regarding the flags wasdiscriminatory againstLGBT students, teachers and staff. One of the defendants named in the case was Connetquot High School's Principal, Michael Moran,[23] despite it being widely believed that his resignation in March 2023 was a result of his support for displaying pride flags in the school.[24] The lawsuit was dismissed in April 2025.[25]
The total enrollment of the 2022–2023 school year among Connetquot's ten schools was 5,393 students.[26]
Data fromUSN states that Connetquot District's students are 51% male and 49% female. The majority of students arewhite, with a 69.4% majority. Furthermore, 19% of students areHispanic, 6% areAsian, 3.2% areblack, and 2% are ofmixed race. The website also says that 16.6% of students are "economically disadvantaged".[27]
The following is a list of schools in the Connetquot Central School District.[28]