NYCLU Secures New Funding in East Ramapo After School Board Violated Students’ Rights

ALBANY, NY – Two weeks after the New York Civil Liberties Union filed an appeal with the New York State Education Department demanding immediate state intervention in East Ramapo, NYSED Commissioner Betty Rosa issued an interim order directing the East Ramapo Central School District (ERCSD) to raise taxes to adequately address the needs of East Ramapo public school students. This type of measure hasn’t been used by the state in 100 years, and will raise local taxes by another 4.38% for 2024-2025 for funds that can only be used for public school students.

The Commissioner’s action follows the ERCSD School Board’s most recent budget vote, which continued a longstanding practice of underfunding the district’s public schools in violation of state mandates. Despite the severe educational and fiscal crises unfolding in ERCSD, the School Board put forth an abysmally low 1% tax increase, making it impossible to complete vital building repairs or fund adequate bilingual education.

“This historic decision will transform the lives of East Ramapo public school students, who have been denied a sound, basic education for decades,” said Stefanie Coyle, Deputy Director of the Education Policy Center at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “The School Board and local voting majority have systematically defunded public education for years — leaving students without clean drinking water, adequate building facilities, and essential classroom resources. By exercising her power to protect public school students, Commissioner Rosa is heeding the call of parents and advocates across the district: It’s time to put an end to 21st century Jim Crow education in Rockland County.”

State law establishes stringent requirements for school districts to protect the health and safety of children, limit district use of financial reserves, and maintain suitable learning environments, including safe facilities for students with working ventilation systems and sanitary drinking fountains. Currently, as noted in the NYCLU’s appeal which was filed on behalf of an East Ramapo public school parent, ERCSD public schools’ ventilation systems and drinking fountains fail to meet state standards — and the budget the School Board previously put forth meant the District would continue to put off needed repairs.

In addition, because of its history of failings, East Ramapo is subject to unique laws requiring it to meet specific fiscal and academic benchmarks, including targets for English Language Learners. Under the previously-passed, insufficient budget, the District was in direct violation of these state mandates. New York Education Law 311 gives the Commissioner authority to direct the levying of taxes, or issue any other order to give effect to her appeal decisions.

For fifteen years, the school board majority has represented the interests of white voters who send their children to private, religious schools and refused to invest in public education. By contrast, 96 percent of students attending public schools in the district are Black, Latinx, or Asian and over 80 percent come from economically disadvantaged households. For years, these students have endured severely underfunded school programs, a lack of clean drinking water, very low graduation rates, and sky-high drop-out rates.  Most recently, East Ramapo canceled all summer school programs to remediate hazardous asbestos recently uncovered in the buildings.

Last year, East Ramapo also added more than 1,000 students to its public school rolls, nearly all of whom recently immigrated to the United States. Now, public schools in ERCSD have the highest proportion of both English Language Learners and homeless students of any district in the state.