East Ramapo Monitor Bill Passes State Assembly

Assemblymembers Ellen Jaffee (D-Suffern) and Ken Zebrowski (D- New City) today announced Assembly passage of the East Ramapo Oversight legislation they introduced.

The bill (A. 5355/S. 3821) calls for the Commissioner of Education to appoint a state monitor to oversee the troubled East Ramapo Central School District. It passed by a vote of 80-56, with bipartisan support.

State Senator David Carlucci (D- Rockland/Westchester), who sponsored the bill in the Senate, applauded the Assembly’s passage of the bill. Jaffee and Zebrowski together called upon Senate Majority Leader Flanagan to permit a floor vote on the bill before the 2015 session comes to a close.

“The grassroots advocacy of the public school parents, students, all of the organizations, Rockland County elected officials and community members who care about the students of East Ramapo, paved the way for this bill to pass the Assembly and move to the Senate,” Jaffee said. ”They understand that this legislation has the potential to bring together the East Ramapo community by working towards a long term-solution that will address the unique needs within the district. By providing the State Monitor with the powers to act in the best interest of the public school students and to ensure the fiscal stability of the district, my colleagues and I have taken a major first step toward resolving this crisis. The bill should pass the Senate and go to the governor’s desk this year.”

State intervention was recommended by state-appointed fiscal monitor Hank Greenberg, who told the New York Education Department in November 2014 that he believed some form of state intervention was needed to repair school system and reverse bad decisions by the East Ramapo Board of Education.

“The district’s finances teeter on the edge of disaster,” he wrote in his report, East Ramapo: A School District in Crisis.

The district, which includes parts of the communities of New City, Pearl River, Nanuet, Spring Valley, Suffern, New Hempstead, Chestnut Ridge, Monsey and Wesley Hills, has 9,000 students in its schools. However, another 24,000 school-age children live there, and go to private schools—mostly yeshivas.

Opponents include the East Ramapo Board of Education and the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council, which released a video Monday on the issue.

SEE:

• Makers of “Jew in Rockland” Video Oppose East Ramapo Monitor
• Last-Minute Push for East Ramapo School Monitor

Jaffee thanked the leaders and members of the State Assembly.

The goal of this bill from the very beginning has been about the kids and ensuring that their voices are heard,” Zebrowski said. “These kids deserve a quality education and today we stood up to protect this basic right. We feel that this measured approach will begin to bring the community together by having an independent monitor work with the board to help get the district back on track. I’d like to thank my colleagues in the Assembly that voted yes today and stood up for Rockland’s students. I am hopeful the Senate will do the right thing and swiftly pass this legislation before the end of session.”