Local schools give thanks during Teacher Appreciation Week Teacher Appreciation Week (Source: MGN, Phil Roeder / CC BY 2.0) By Emily Griffin | May 5, 2021 at 4:15 PM EDT - Updated May 5 at 4:15 PM
WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWNY) - Zoom meetings, COVID cohorts, sudden shutdowns. It has been a long and challenging year for teachers. This week, schools are giving thanks to teachers.
Itâs Teacher Appreciation Week and educators will tell you they can use your encouragement.
âThis, by far, has been the most challenging year. Last year, we were new to the COVID issue and trying to manage that. Now, being back in person and having some out on Zoom, it is a challenge every day,â said John Montondo, Immaculate Heart Central School teacher.
SACKETS HARBOR â Sackets Harbor Central School District residents will vote on a proposed $9,438,235 spending plan for the 2021-22 school year.
The proposed plan calls for a budget increase of 2.3% over the current budget, $9,226,315, which can be attributed primarily to contractual agreements. If approved, the budget would not impact the tax levy.
Some of the proposed budgetâs revenues and expenditures are as follows:
â $30,000 in Federal Impact Aid
â $4,607,404 in state and BOCES aid
â $1,051,186 for general support
â $379,563 for pupil transportation
Aside from the spending plan, voters will decide on one additional proposition: a proposal to purchase one 66-passenger diesel school bus not to exceed $125,707. The local cost for the bus, according to the district, is $43,025, or $8,605 each year for five years. The district contends that this purchase is important to keep its transportation fleet in a nine-year, uninterrupted replacement rotatio
WATERTOWN â The recently passed bipartisan Fiscal Year 2021 government funding package includes $1.5 billion in funding for the countryâs Impact Aid Program, delivering a $15 million increase from previous years.
Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand led a bipartisan letter alongside Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., urging appropriators to prioritize Impact Aid Funding to support more than 1,200 school districts across the country, including those near Fort Drum.
Federally impacted school districts educate some of the most vulnerable student populations â including Native American and military connected children â and rely on Impact Aid for resources.
As these school districts struggle to respond to the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this continued funding will help alleviate expected state funding cuts and avoid layoffs, provide adequate technology for online learning, and spur economic recovery in their communities.