Murphy delivers record school aid for Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess county schools

May 9, 2016

ALBANY, NY – Senator Terrence Murphy believes that every child deserves a quality education that can help them realize their potential. In fulfilling his promise to support public education, Senator Murphy has delivered a record-level of funding for schools in the 40th Senate District.

Westchester County will receive $207,199,960, an increase of $15,070,122. Putnam County will receive $77,020,542, an increase of $4,091,274, and Dutchess County will get $65,611,247, an increase of $5,396,036.

Nearly every school district within the Fortieth Senate District will receive a record high amount of aid," Senator Murphy said. "I set out to eliminate the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) and it has now gone the way of the Edsel. It was a failure is now best forgotten. The money recouped from the extinction of the GEA is going back into our classrooms where it belongs. My next goal was to increase school funding for the coming year and I accomplished what I set out to do. Our children are our future. They deserve every opportunity we can give them to succeed."

"We are grateful we will be receiving a substantial increase from the state," said Timothy J. Conway, Superintendent of Schools, Brewster School District. "Senator Murphy"s determination to eliminate the GEA was instrumental in our being able to balance our school budget. The increase means we will have a more viable school program for our students and that we can continue to offer the type of quality education they deserve."

Dr. William Ward, Superintendent of Schools, Pawling School District added, "We appreciate the efforts of Senator Murphy and other members of the legislature who successfully worked on behalf of students, school districts, and residents across the state to increase state aid for the 2016-2017 school year."

Dr. George Stone, Superintendent of Schools, Lakeland School District, said, "We know Senator Murphy has been working hard to get an increase for all the school districts. We visited his office in Albany; he understood that we take educating our students seriously. His ability to deliver on his promise to deliver aid shows he feels the same way."

Westchester School District Budget Aid

School District 2016-17 Budget Increase

Bedford Central $6,794,607 $574,695

Briarcliff Manor USFD $5,593,357 $718,878

Byram Hills Central $4,160,594 $123,132

Chappaqua Central $8,707,647 $776,986

Croton-Harmon USFD $5,532,971 $789,463

Hendrick Hudson Central $6,705,199 $1,026,983

Katonah-Lewisboro USFD $8,161,999 $612,385

Lakeland Central $41,596,414 $1,841,234

Mt. Pleasant Central $5,758,904 $384,798

North Salem Central $2,423,471 $149,127