Riverhead district residents at a foundation aid rally in January 2020. (Credit: Tara Smith)
After years of fighting for its fair share of school aid, Riverhead schools are poised to receive a windfall of funding under the state budget deal reached between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers this week.
According to budget documents released Tuesday, Riverhead will receive $46.8 million in total aid a 42% increase over last year that translates into $14 million more dollars for the district. An additional $673,254 is also included for funding universal pre-K programs.
Foundation aid, an issue that prompted hundreds of students, parents and teachers to hold a rally in January of 2020, will also rise by 72%.
An influx of stimulus funding is expected to begin flowing to local schools under the American Rescue Plan signed by President Joe Biden last month.
The $1.9 trillion stimulus package included aid to local governments and direct checks to most Americans. It also included $120 billion in funding for education, with Long Island schools slated to receive nearly $324 million in rescue aid, according to figures released by Sen. Charles Schumer’s office.
While details on the parameters of those funds, which would largely be allocated based on the number of students living below the poverty line, are still emerging, local superintendents embraced the idea of additional funding. Schools will also receive increased federal aid from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, according to state aid projections.
The easiest way isn’t always the best way.
That was the message Shoreham-Wading River Superintendent Gerard Poole delivered to his school board last week, along with a proposed revision to the school district’s response to reports of a positive COVID-19 case among students or staff members in kindergarten through-fifth-grade classes.
The current district procedure when someone in that group tests positive calls for the entire affected class to be automatically quarantined for 10 days from the date of exposure. That quarantining is intended to prevent spread.
Mr. Poole said the district’s reopening committee met a couple of times to discuss a more “nuanced approach” that would offer more flexibility.