Compiled by Sandy Eller
East Ramapo School Budget Coming Up for Second Vote JUST OVER A MONTH after voters in the East Ramapo Central School District voted down a proposed budget, residents will head to the polls once again, this time to vote on a revised plan that would expand educational programming for public school students without restoring 14 days of extra busing for private school students. Voters rejected the $236-million budget approved by the school board in the May 16th election by an overwhelming majority. Had it been approved, that budget would have included a 2.49 percent tax increase that would have exceeded the state mandated tax cap. According to reports in The Journal News, many private school parents who would have benefited from the additional days of busing still cast their ballots against the new budget, because it would have resulted in a sharp tax hike. The new $151-million budget will include multiple benefits for the public school community, including fullday universal kindergarten, summer camp programs and increased instruction in arts, special education and bilingual services.
Restoring the 14 days of busing to private schools, which were cut in 2011, would have cost $1.4 million, with $1 million of that amount reimbursed by the state. Charles Szuberla, a state-appointed monitor to the district, said that reinstating busing on those days is something that needs to be discussed in the future, but was not the district’s highest priority. In a letter written to the East Ramapo Central School District, Superintendent Deborah Wortham noted that difficult decisions have been made to try to come up with an equitable budget. “Clearly, both the public and non-public school communities care deeply about and want what is best for their children,” said Wortham. “Whether an individual’s personal interest takes the form of art and music classes, services for students with disabilities and English Language learners, safe transportation, more election polling place or something else, everyone’s child matters and everyone’s interests matter.” The updated budget will be up for vote on a special election scheduled for June 20th.
Tappan Zee Construction Ahead of Schedule, With Late Summer/Early Fall Opening Expected for Rockland-Bound Traffic WHILE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS are continuing their work on the new Tappan Zee Bridge, the first of the twin spans is now officially drivable, reported the New York Times. The three-mile-long westbound span is four lanes wide and features separate bicycle and pedestrian paths. A trio of ramps connecting the two eastbound and westbound bridges will allow traffic to be diverted from one span to the other in case of accidents. Workers are continuing their preparations for the bridge’s fall or pre-fall opening and still have to lay a 1½-inch asphalt coating on the bridge’s deck. Also in the plans for the new span are LED lights, digital message signs and metal
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fencing. The price tag for the two bridges is estimated at close to $4 billion. Later this year, commuters in both directions will have to share the 96-foot-wide westbound bridge while workers begin dismantling the old Tappan Zee Bridge. Once the original structure has been demolished, workers can complete the slightly narrower eastbound bridge, which is slated for completion by the end of 2018. Officials say that they expect the new twin bridges to carry 137,000 cars daily over the Hudson River across its eight lanes. The Tappan Zee Bridge project is the first major crossing to be completed in the state since the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964.