Hochul touts record state school-aid hike in visit to Elmont
Gov. Kathy Hochul tours the Dutch Broadway School's STEAM lab on Tuesday. The lab opened last fall, said Principal Cynthia Qasim. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Gov. Kathy Hochul, in a school visit to Elmont Tuesday, touted the historic increase in state financial aid to Long Island districts for the 2023-24 school year and praised the Elmont school district for lowering its taxes.
“I want to give a special shoutout to the Elmont school district because they've actually lowered their taxes, responding to the needs of the parents [and] the businesses who have made their lives right here in this community,” Hochul told a crowd of parents, students and local officials inside Dutch Broadway School.
“I'm encouraging other school districts to follow the lead right here,” Hochul said in a 15-minute speech.
The Elmont school district, which is made up of six elementary schools and serves more than 3,300 children from prekindergarten through sixth grade, has proposed to decrease its tax levy by 0.04% in its 2023-24 budget. If approved by voters next week, it would mark the district’s fourth consecutive year of lowering its tax levy.
School district residents across Long Island will vote on budgets, board members and propositions on Tuesday.
Elmont is projected to receive $37.9 million in state aid in 2023-24, a $4.4 million increase, or 13% hike, from the current school year.
Long Island’s 124 school districts will see a record $771 million increase in state financial aid for the 2023-24 school year, on top of a $458 million hike in 2022-23 and a $417 million increase in 2021-22. The two earlier appropriations were record-breakers as well, Newsday has reported.
For 2023-24, the Island's increase in state aid averages 19%, well above the 9.5% state average. Among the biggest beneficiaries are Brentwood, William Floyd and Hempstead.
Not all districts, however, fared equally well in the distribution of "foundation" aid, which is the state's biggest program of school financial assistance. Under New York's progressive approach, some wealthier districts were held to minimum increases set by the state at 3%.
Nonetheless, record growth in overall state assistance meant that the majority of districts did reasonably well.
At Dutch Broadway School on Tuesday, Hochul toured the school’s STEAM lab, which opened last fall, said Principal Cynthia Qasim. STEAM is short for science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics.
As the governor stood watching, sixth-graders flew a drone through a hoop and used a tablet to control a small ball that knocked down pins in a makeshift maze. The students also showed Hochul 3D printing as well as a solar energy-themed Lego robot and other structures they had built.
Qasim said students are using the lab in after-school activities as well as during classes.
“Developing the foundational skills begins at the elementary level where students can explore different concepts and build background knowledge that will help develop their skills to become thinkers and innovators and prepare them for jobs that don't even exist yet,” she said.
Elmont schools Superintendent Kenneth Rosner said two of the district’s six schools have a STEAM lab and the district plans to expand the initiative to the other schools.
With John Hildebrand
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
