SPRING VALLEY - East Ramapo district's renown band played, dignitaries gathered and green-and-yellow streamers were snipped during a ribbon-cutting for a new athletic fitness center at Ramapo High. The center, with 4,400 square feet of functional instruction space, demonstrated the district's and community's investment in "equitable access," said interim Superintendent Raymond Giamartino. The center had been years in the planning, officials said, and was part of the district's wellness initiatives. Officials said the project cost around $100,000 in this budget year and was funded partially through a Creating Healthy Schools and Communities grant in partnership with Rockland County Department of Health. U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones, a Spring Valley High School graduate, noted that his mother was a Gryphon, a graduate of RHS. He lauded the district's investment in its physical education plan, even amid the financial challenges that have hamstrung all school districts amid the COVID pandemic. East Ramapo continues to struggle with a budget shortfall and, like many districts in the region, costs associated with managing the COVID pandemic.