Senator Carlucci & Assemblywoman Jaffee Rally To Help East Ramapo Schools

Senator, Assembly Members & Advocates Call on Governor for Action 

Spring Valley - Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Westchester), Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee (D-Rockland) and Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski (D-Rockland) stood with local community leaders Nathan Mungin and Winsome Downie-Raiford from the Martin Luther King Center as well as Willie Trotman, President of the NAACP Spring Valley Chapter to call on Governor Cuomo to sign the East Ramapo School District Lottery Spin-up bill.

"Passing this piece of legislation was one of my top priorities in Albany,” said Senator Carlucci. “I am pleased that with this bill we will help restore vital services for the students of the East Ramapo Central School District while creating strict oversight and guidelines as to how the funds will be spent.”  

Over the past two years the East Ramapo Central School District has reduced its staff by some 400 individuals including, social workers, elementary assistant principals, staff developers in technology and clerical and support services totaling approximately 25% of its workforce. In addition, a significant number of education programs have been reduced or eliminated including full-day kindergarten, sports and clubs, cultural arts, instrumental music, summer programs and extra help programs.

This legislation allows for $3.5 million dollars in accelerated lottery aid to go directly to the East Ramapo Central School District which would be deducted from future lottery allocations over a thirty year period. During this time the district will have to follow strict regulations and will need to report their spending on a regular basis to the New York State Department of Education through an appointed  advisory team.

The advisory team  will consist of the superintendent of schools of the East Ramapo central school district or his or her designee, a member of the school board, a teacher  employed  in  the school, an administrator employed at the school and a parent of a student.

Assemblywoman Jaffee said, “I look forward to Governor Cuomo signing this bill, so that the students in the East Ramapo School central school district don't have to suffer any more cuts  to essential programs that are part of a basic public school education. I am confident the oversight provisions in this bill will ensure the restoration of some of those cuts that the public school students have been forced to endure.”

The advisory team will need to develop a comprehensive expenditure plan and deliver the plan in voucher form to the Commissioner of Education. Funding can only be used for  instructional  services, including  teacher salaries; guidance services, including guidance counselor salaries; health  services,  including  nurse  salaries;  security services, including security guard salaries; board of cooperative education  services  expenses;  co-curricular  activities, including instructional  salaries  and  contractual  services;  intra-mural   activities, including instructional salaries; and interscholastic athletics, including instructional salaries, contractual expenses, security and transportation.

“This is a big first step to making sure our children are getting the best possible education at the East Ramapo Central School District.” said NAACP President Willie Trotman, “I am very pleased this legislation comes with a mandatory reporting requirement that will make the School District report directly to the State Education Department concerning their spending of this accelerated aid. We need to continue to make sure our schools have adequate funding to educate our students. I applaud the work of Senator Carlucci, Assemblywoman Jaffee and Assemblyman Zebrowski who have made the East Ramapo Central School District a major priority in Albany. The Governor needs to stand with the Rockland Community and make sure our children don’t lose out on their education.”

Assemblyman Zebrowski said, “This legislation will protect the programs and services that the East Ramapo students deserve and provide the necessary oversight to ensure that the additional funding is appropriately spent.”  

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