Henry Viscardi School gets $522,000 boost in state funding
Disability rights advocate Henry Viscardi founded the school, which serves severely physically disabled children, in 1952. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Since 2015, the Henry Viscardi School, the Albertson-based school for students who are severely physically disabled, has counted on $903,000 in annual state funding.
This year, that amount has risen to nearly $1.5 million, thanks to additional funding announced by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemb. Gina Sillitti (D-Port Washington) during a visit to the school Thursday.
Chris Rosa, the school's president, told Newsday the additional $322,000 in general operating funds, and $200,000 in capital funding to reconstruct their museum and relocate it to Long Island, will allow Viscardi to improve the educational experience they provide their nearly 200 students.
Sillitti, who represents Viscardi's district, told Newsday she was hopeful the school would be granted extra funding.
“Every child has the right to a good education,” she said. “It is our job as elected officials to support these kids and these schools that do what other schools can't.”
While Heastie had never been to Viscardi, he told Newsday that visiting at least 10 other schools like it during his speakership has shown him the importance of 4201 schools, which support students who are deaf, blind and severely physically disabled throughout New York State.
Such advocacy is crucial for Viscardi. Since 2015, the school's annual funding has only once been included in the governor's executive budget, Rosa explained. When funding is not in the executive budget, Viscardi is left to rely on the State Legislature to restore it in budget negotiations.
“The absence of permanence is always a source of great anxiety,” Rosa said.
With this anxiety quelled for the time being, Rosa said Viscardi's priority will be the using the additional general funds to pay staff salaries, an expense that typically exceeds $903,000.
Still, Rosa said, Viscardi receiving over $300,000 in additional operating funds annually would not solve what he said is the school's biggest issue: Viscardi school educators are paid “as much as 45% less than their peers in surrounding school districts.”
To combat this, Rosa said, Viscardi is advocating for a three-year, $30 million workforce investment program he says would produce massive strides in pay equity.
Viscardi will use the additional capital funding to relocate its museum to Long Island, a move that comes following the museum's Buffalo location closing after 22 years because of the lack of patrons during the pandemic.
“Given our education and awareness mission, we saw it as a golden opportunity to acquire a cherished resource and weave it into our disability education and make it a one-of-a-kind destination in the heart of Nassau County,” Rosa said.
Bringing the museum to Nassau County also will allow for Long Islanders to learn about Henry Viscardi, the disability rights advocate who founded the school in 1952 with Eleanor Roosevelt as a supporter, and whom Sillitti called a “pioneer.”
Last October, Viscardi purchased the Bethpage-based Able Newspaper, a monthly paper that Rosa called “an iconic disability publication written by, for and about people with disabilities and their families.”
As Rosa continues to build Viscardi across a diverse array of properties, he urges others to see the value in their work.
“The return on investment is remarkable, both in economic terms and in terms of our core values as a community. Our graduates go on to live rewarding, independent lives,” he said.
Since 2015, the Henry Viscardi School, the Albertson-based school for students who are severely physically disabled, has counted on $903,000 in annual state funding.
This year, that amount has risen to nearly $1.5 million, thanks to additional funding announced by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemb. Gina Sillitti (D-Port Washington) during a visit to the school Thursday.
Chris Rosa, the school's president, told Newsday the additional $322,000 in general operating funds, and $200,000 in capital funding to reconstruct their museum and relocate it to Long Island, will allow Viscardi to improve the educational experience they provide their nearly 200 students.
Sillitti, who represents Viscardi's district, told Newsday she was hopeful the school would be granted extra funding.
“Every child has the right to a good education,” she said. “It is our job as elected officials to support these kids and these schools that do what other schools can't.”
While Heastie had never been to Viscardi, he told Newsday that visiting at least 10 other schools like it during his speakership has shown him the importance of 4201 schools, which support students who are deaf, blind and severely physically disabled throughout New York State.
Such advocacy is crucial for Viscardi. Since 2015, the school's annual funding has only once been included in the governor's executive budget, Rosa explained. When funding is not in the executive budget, Viscardi is left to rely on the State Legislature to restore it in budget negotiations.
“The absence of permanence is always a source of great anxiety,” Rosa said.
With this anxiety quelled for the time being, Rosa said Viscardi's priority will be the using the additional general funds to pay staff salaries, an expense that typically exceeds $903,000.
Still, Rosa said, Viscardi receiving over $300,000 in additional operating funds annually would not solve what he said is the school's biggest issue: Viscardi school educators are paid “as much as 45% less than their peers in surrounding school districts.”
To combat this, Rosa said, Viscardi is advocating for a three-year, $30 million workforce investment program he says would produce massive strides in pay equity.
Viscardi will use the additional capital funding to relocate its museum to Long Island, a move that comes following the museum's Buffalo location closing after 22 years because of the lack of patrons during the pandemic.
“Given our education and awareness mission, we saw it as a golden opportunity to acquire a cherished resource and weave it into our disability education and make it a one-of-a-kind destination in the heart of Nassau County,” Rosa said.
Bringing the museum to Nassau County also will allow for Long Islanders to learn about Henry Viscardi, the disability rights advocate who founded the school in 1952 with Eleanor Roosevelt as a supporter, and whom Sillitti called a “pioneer.”
Last October, Viscardi purchased the Bethpage-based Able Newspaper, a monthly paper that Rosa called “an iconic disability publication written by, for and about people with disabilities and their families.”
As Rosa continues to build Viscardi across a diverse array of properties, he urges others to see the value in their work.
“The return on investment is remarkable, both in economic terms and in terms of our core values as a community. Our graduates go on to live rewarding, independent lives,” he said.
