Two bills that take two different approaches to East Ramapo’s fiscal woes have been introduced in the state Legislature in the dwindling days of the 2024 session:

• Senate bill S9833, introduced this week by state Sen. Shelley Mayer, dangles a $20 million-a-year “spin-up” of future state aid if district voters agree to pass a 1% tax levy increase. “These funds must be used to supplement, not supplant, funding for the educational opportunities of students attending public schools,” the bill states. “They may not be used to increase spending on students who don’t attend public school.” The bill would also

• Assembly bill A10407, introduced in late May by Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, seeks a complete overhaul of fiscal oversight in the district. It would install a “financial control board” that could raise taxes and even pass a bond to repair buildings that the community would pay back over time. The Assembly bill would also include a “spin up” of about $20 million.

Neither bill, as of Wednesday, had a “same as” sponsor in the other branch. The current legislative session is due to wrap up by week’s end, although there has been talk of extending the session through the weekend.

Too much or too little oversight?

“While I truly appreciate Senator Mayer’s efforts to help East Ramapo, I do not support the new Senate Bill,” Zebrowski said Wednesday. “East Ramapo needs nothing short of a complete overhaul to protect the constitutional rights of our students.”

The Spring Valley NAACP, the Education Law Center, the Alliance for Quality Education and the New York Civil Liberties Union expressed similar reactions to the Mayer bill. They have supported Zebrowski’s legislation.

“The bill is funding with too little oversight,” said Johanna Miller, director of NYCLU’s Education Policy Center. “The time for that has passed. They have had their last chance already.”

Mayer, who leads the Senate Education Committee, did not immediately return a request for comment.

The New York State Department of Education has also expressed support for Zebrowski’s bill.

Critics of Zebrowski’s bill, including two other state legislators who represent parts of the district, say it would provide too much oversight and take power away from the elected school board.

Mayer’s bill appears to present itself as a step before the kind of oversight Zebrowski’s bill proposes.

“Should the East Ramapo central school district fail to meet any of the requirements contained herein, the legislature will move to implement a fiscal control board pursuant to legislative bill number A. 10407-A of 2023,” the text of Mayer’s bill states, referring to the Zebrowski bill.

Fiscal turmoil, frozen taxes

State-appointed monitors and district officials have repeatedly warned that East Ramapo faces a “fiscal cliff.” Without an immediate influx of cash, the district anticipates it would not be able to pay its bills, including payroll, as soon as this summer. Banks have already denied borrowing to the district, based on its credit rating that hovers at one step above junk status.

Voters have repeatedly rejected any budget that includes a tax levy hike. A dwindling local share of revenue available for the district has led to cuts of all kinds and credit rating downgrades.

In May, East Ramapo voters rejected a 1.99% tax levy hike to help pay for a $133 million 2024-25 budget plan. Voters will rule on a similar budget plan on June 18, but it aims to hike the tax levy by 1% and make up the difference by dipping further into reserves to cover expenses.

That’s the 1% tax levy hike cited in the Mayer bill that’s mandatory for a spin-up loan to occur.

A district divided

Community trust in the district has become just as shaky as its finances.

Some 96% of public-school students are children of color. More than half are English language learners. With many families recent immigrants, voting power is diminished because one has to be a U.S. citizen to register to vote, including in school elections. About 14.8% of East Ramapo’s public school students are considered homeless, a larger percentage than in New York City schools or any other district in the Lower Hudson Valley.

Another 30,000-plus kids who live within district boundaries attend private schools, mostly yeshivas that serve the Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish community.

East Ramapo: Board seeks 1% tax levy hike, with more money coming from reserves

The majority of school board members are men who are seen in the public school community as favoring yeshiva students’ needs.

With increasingly limited resources, public-school families see their kids’ class sizes growing and education quality suffering. At board meetings, public-school parents accuse board members of ignoring them.

“It’s sad,” said Carole Anderson of Wesley Hills, a former East Ramapo school board member. “We need to be able to sit and talk to each other.”

Details of the bills

Both bills include a $20 million “spin-up,” or loan, of state aid for the district to tap immediately. Every year after until 2054, the district could see its aid reduced to pay a portion back.

The fiscal control panel in Zebrowski’s bill would be made up of appointees by the governor and legislators and would include the existing state-appointed monitors. The school board’s president would also be part of the fiscal control panel as a non-voting member.

The Mayer bill mandates a community liaison, appointed by the state education commissioner, who has “cultural and linguistic competency specific to the population of students enrolled in the public schools.” The district would have to supply $250,000 for the liaison.

Anderson said she favors Zebrowski’s legislation. She said she believed Mayer’s bill was introduced in the Senate “just for show,” to create the impression of action to fix the troubled district. “Lives are at stake,” she said. “We need substance.”

Nancy Cutler writes about People & Policy for lohud.com and the USA Today Network New York. Reach her at ncutler@lohud.com; follow her on X (Twitter), Threads and Instagram at @nancyrockland.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: East Ramapo aid bills in New York State Legislature split on oversight