RESOLUTION
BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT COLLINS-BELLAMY, MAJORITY LEADER RUBBO, MAJORITY WHIP ROBINSON, MINORITY LEADER BREEN, COUNCILMEMBERS PINEDA-ISAAC, DIAZ, AND HODGES:
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RESOLUTION URGING NEW YORK STATE TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL RELIEF AND EQUITABLE FUNDING FOR YONKERS PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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WHEREAS, The Yonkers Public Schools serves more than 23,000 students in the City of Yonkers and is one of the largest school districts in New York; and
WHEREAS, Seventy-three percent of Yonkers students are economically disadvantaged, 22 percent are students with disabilities, and 13 percent are English Language Learners, while the district continues to achieve a graduation rate of approximately 90 percent; and
WHEREAS, The Yonkers Public Schools District is projecting a $101 million structural budget gap for Fiscal Year 2026–2027, threatening the continuation of essential educational programs and services; and
WHEREAS, This projected deficit is not the result of excessive spending, but rather reflects a persistent and widening structural imbalance between revenues and expenses driven by an outdated State Foundation Aid formula; and
WHEREAS, The district has relied heavily on its fund balance to maintain services for students, appropriating $126.8 million over the past six years, leaving only approximately $2 million projected to remain by the end of FY2026–2027, effectively exhausting the district’s financial reserves; and
WHEREAS, Structural funding inequities in the current formula fail to reflect the true cost of educating students in Westchester County, including regional wage differences and operating costs; and Because parking facilities are not assigned Building Aid Units, the costs associated with constructing structured parking may be included within the overall project cost but are not reflected in the calculation of the Maximum Cost Allowance (MCA), placing urban school districts at a disadvantage when site conditions necessitate structured parking; and
WHEREAS...
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