Mid-Hudson Schools To Receive Aid Under Coronavirus Relief Plan

MID-HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Through the American Rescue Plan, the federal government will send more than $2.5 billion to school districts in New York, including $30.3 million for Newburgh, $14.6 million for Poughkeepsie and $14.3 million for Kingston.

The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package will keep essential workers on the job, assist struggling families and small businesses and make critical investments in infrastructure.

The package also contains $2.5 billion for New York schools upstate of New York City, including $623,973,000 in education aid for Hudson Valley districts.

Under President Joe Biden’s plan, districts may, among other things, use the money to: fill budget gaps, address learning loss, meet the needs of students with disabilities, assist students experiencing homelessness and provide summer enrichment and afterschool programs.

“Everyone wants schools to reopen completely and for our children to be able to return to the classroom, but it needs to be done in a way that is safe for students, families, educators, and learning institutions,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-NY, said in a statement Wednesday.

The coronavirus pandemic cost a year of learning and development for students—challenges disproportionately felt by students of color, students from low-income families, and students with disabilities, he said.

Senator Shelley Mayer, a Westchester Democrat who's chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee, said she is committed to making sure all federal aid will be used to supplement, rather than replace, state funding.

"This unprecedented federal funding will put us on the right path to recover from the devastation our school communities faced during the pandemic," she said.

District officials, who were warned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the pandemic sucked up state resources that education aid might have to be cut by 20 percent, welcomed the funding infusion.

“School districts have been forced to respond to the pandemic in a variety of creative ways,” said Richard Del Moro, superintendent of Middletown City School District. “This funding will be used to support the continued emphasis on the health, safety, and well-being of our students.”

One local school district is slated to get a vast amount of money: East Ramapo. The district, in a Rockland County community where about 9,000 children go to the public schools and another 28,000 attend local yeshivas, is receiving the fourth highest payout in the state, $162 million — behind only New York City, Buffalo and Rochester and more than Syracuse and Yonkers, the fourth and fifth largest cities in New York. A spokesperson for Schumer's office said the district allocations were based solely on Title I, a formula based on the total number of school-age children in a district who live in poverty.

Here is the district-by-district breakdown for the mid-Hudson Valley:

Orange County

• Chester Union Free School District: $901,000
• Cornwall Central School District: $898,000
• Florida Union Free School District: $706,000
• Goshen Central School District: $2,183,000
• Greenwood Lake Union Free School District: $585,000
• Highland Falls Central School District: $1,059,000
• Middletown City School District: $17,719,000
• Minisink Valley Central School District: $3,799,000
• Monroe-Woodbury Central School District: $7,490,000
• Newburgh City School District: $30,310,000
• Pine Bush Central School District: $6,661,000
• Port Jervis City School District: $7,273,000
• Tuxedo Union Free School District: $204,000
• Central Valley School District: $4,954,000
• Warwick Valley Central School District: $2,210,000
• Washingtonville Central School District: $4,040,000

Dutchess County

• Arlington Central School District: $6,278,000
• Beacon City School District: $3,947,000
• Dover Union Free School District: $2,469,000
• Hyde Park Central School District: $6,098,000
• Millbrook Central School District: $1,003,000
• Pawling Central School District: $844,000
• Pine Plains Central School District: $1,115,000
• Poughkeepsie City School District: $14,629,000
• Red Hook Central School District: $1,802,000
• Rhinebeck Central School District: $1,499,000
• Spackenkill Union Free School District: $784,000
• Wappingers Central School District $6,915,000

Ulster County

• Ellenville Central School District: $4,000,000
• Highland Central School District: $2,148,000
• Kingston City School District: 14,288,000
• Marlboro Central School District: $1,635,000
• New Paltz Central School District: $1,655,000
• Onteora Central School District: $4,763,000
• Saugerties Central School District: $3,409,000
• Wallkill Central School District: $3,548,000