Skoufis pitches bills to allow wards for Washingtonville, Chester school districts

Two new bills in Albany would let Washingtonville and Chester school districts seek voter approval to create wards for their school boards to ensure all areas of their districts are represented.

The legislation by state Sen. James Skoufis is a new approach to a stalled proposal to give all school districts in New York the ability to establish a ward system for elections, just as some towns and cities do with their governing boards. Skoufis, a Woodbury Democrat, said Monday that he decided to replace that statewide bill with individual bills for specific districts, and that he surveyed all of those he represents to see who was interested.