Message Sent to the Community on April 22, 2020

 

 

 Message from the Spackenkill Superintendent

 

April 22, 2020

Dear Staff, Families, and Community Members,

Earlier this school year I appealed to all of you to contact the Governor’s Office to “right a wrong” and restore our lost aid due to a clerical issue with building aid. We are grateful for your response and your voices were heard in Albany.

Today, I am writing, along with all school superintendents, to support Governor Cuomo and his appeal to our federal government to provide greater aid to New York State as we attempt to recover from the pandemic. Estimates of financial losses to our economy are staggering. Those losses can result in draconian cuts to education and other needed services.

Following the 2007 financial crash, the federal government provided aid to states to mitigate education cuts while the economy recovered. That stimulus plan was a great help to public education. We need a similar plan now.

Our Governor is clearly hoping that our nationally elected officials will hear his call for more assistance for states devastated by the pandemic. You can help. Below is a Call to Action that you can use to write an email to elected officials. You can customize the email with your own message before sending it. I am reproducing a statement from the New York State School Boards Association, which created this Call to Action:

NYSSBA's Governmental Relations team has been hard at work reaching out to state and federal representatives asking them for additional funding for K-12 Public Education.  We are asking you to join us in this effort.  We have created a Call to Action letter designed to be sent to your local federal representatives.  As they continue to negotiate an additional stimulus package, we must remind them to not leave out education.  The link below will take you directly to the letter:

Please click here for the Call to Action

                                      

Thank you,

 Mark Villanti

Mark Villanti, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

 

 

15 Croft Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603; 845-463-7800