Ossining Schools to Host Virtual Census Clinics, Call Families

The Ossining School District is redoubling its efforts to assist residents in filling out their U.S. Census forms, with the goal of boosting participation to ensure schools receive all the funding they are due.

A U.S. Census Bureau representative will be available during three secure Zoom sessions to answer any questions members of the public might have. The sessions are from 6-7 p.m. tomorrow (May 1), May 8 and May 15. To register in advance, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUuf-mupzwtGtWhrYMx2OxrmJ5L1nTNITHl. This weekend is Census Digital Action Weekend nationwide.

District staff members will also be reaching out to every student household this week and next week to see if anyone needs assistance in completing the census form.

“I know many of you have but it’s a critically important time and a critically important piece of data that we want to make sure is completed and that we all are accounted for,” Superintendent Raymond Sanchez said during a Facebook Live session with the community this week.

“Right now we’re at the 50% mark. We’re hoping to get to the 100% mark,” he added.

Having 100% participation benefits the entire community. Millions of dollars in federal funding, grants and support flow to Ossining schools based on census counts. The numbers also determine how $675 billion in federal funding is distributed annually for health care, transportation, housing and other programs. They are the basis for determining congressional and state districts.

As of Tuesday, the self-response rate was 51.5% for the village and 56.5% for the town, compared to 48.8% statewide, according to Census Bureau data.

"The district wants to be a reliable yet familiar resource for the Ossining community,” said Alita Zuber, assistant superintendent for business. “By reaching out personally, we hope to increase our local response rate to at least 60% by the end of this weekend."

The 2020 Census is the first in which respondents can fill out the questionnaire online or by phone. They can do so in 13 languages, including English and Spanish. The surveys do not ask any questions about citizenship, and federal law bars the Census Bureau from sharing any identifiable information with law enforcement, the courts or other government agencies.

For more information about the Census in Ossining, visit https://ossiningufsd.org/district/census-2020/.