Hudson Valley taxpayers to vote on school budgets starting Tuesday
News 12 Staff
Updated on:May 10, 2021, 5:39pm EDT
Taxpayers in some parts of the Hudson Valley will have a chance to vote on their local school districts proposed budget starting Tuesday.
The voting comes after the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged districts financially.
East Ramapo Central School District s interim Superintendent Ray Giamartino says it s a new chapter and new renewal - and hopes voters will agree to approve the district s $272 million budget.
He says it would keep a flat tax levy and is fiscally responsible, with the district ensuring each department is properly funded.
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Calls are growing for the state to update and possibly reduce its six-foot distancing rule for students and staff in schools, which educators say would help districts bring students back five days a week, either this spring or in the fall.
The educational community also wants Albany to speed the full reopening of schools by providing immediate access to vaccinations for teachers and other staff and providing COVID-19 tests to schools to do regular, random testing. To get kids in school five days week, we need vaccines for teachers, surveillance testing and the right amount of space [between people] so that it s safe, said Frances Wills, who represents the Lower Hudson Valley on the state Board of Regents. The six-foot rule has caused a lot of confusion and needs to be clarified, given what we know.
One thing that seems clear is that it probably will not be an option for school districts to mandate the shot, said Jay Worona, deputy executive director and general counsel for the New York State School Boards Association.
“I think it would have to come from either an executive order of the governor or an act of the state Legislature,” he said.
It is likely premature for the state to consider such questions when there are not enough doses for all who want them, Worona said.
A guidance released last month by the The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces anti-discrimination laws in the workplace, left open the possibility that public employers could require essential workers to be vaccinated, subject to certain exemptions.