Historic boost in state aid for school districts

By MARk NolAN mnolan@liherald.com

State aid to school districts across New York will increase significantly next year under Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed budget, released last week. The money — a boost of 10 percent overall over the current academic year — would meet the state’s legal requirement for funding its school districts.

The statewide total of $34.5 billion in school aid is the highest in the state’s history.

aid is projected to increase 29 percent in the 2023-24 school year, one of the largest increases on Long Island.

“The state promised exactly the right amount of foundation aid, and we were able to plan accordingly,” Lewis said. “We are extremely appreciative of that foundation aid.”

Lewis added that Malverne now planned to expand its Spanish language program to sixth-grade students, and hire a literacy coach for the elementary grades.

loRNA lEWis Malverne superintendent

Among Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick’s top priorities is advocating for local issues by reaching across the aisle to build relationships with Democrats.

“I do believe that local government, village governments in particular, are the most efficient forms of government,” Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick said. “It’s as grass-roots as it gets. They typically provide a great number of services at a very reasonable cost.”

However, Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick’s first priority is to find a location for her district office. Because of the redistricting of the state’s Senate map, the Rockville Centre office used by Democrat Todd Kaminsky, who retired from Continued on page 11

The Assembly and Senate will hold budget hearings, and likely offer their own amendments, before the April 1 budget deadline. Hochul’s spending plan appears headed for adoption by both houses of the Legislature, however, since Democrats control both with supermajorities.

Malverne Superintendent Lorna Lewis said she was grateful that the state was finally meeting its financial obligations to the schools. Malverne’s state

“It is imperative that every child become a reader and writer by the third grade,” she said.

Malverne was scheduled to make a public presentation of its budget at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, after the Herald went to press.

In the Lynbrook district, which will see a 27 percent increase in state aid, district officials were scrutinizing the implications of the jump in funding. Superintendent MelisContinued on page 16