A Message from the WITA Political Action Committee
On January 16th, 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul released her executive budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year. This proposal included a significant change to the foundation formula, which determines aid amounts for school districts and eliminates a provision known interchangeably as ‘Hold Harmless’ or ‘Save Harmless.’ This provision guaranteed that school districts would receive at least as much school aid as the previous year. ‘Hold/Save Harmless’ is a policy that has been in place since the 1970s, allowing school districts to budget effectively and preserve programs and staff during uncertain economic times. Under these changes, Governor Hochul’s budget would reduce school aid for West Islip by 3.4 million dollars.
The WITA Political Action Committee, led by Chairperson Dave Kaufman, has organized a letter-writing campaign to restore these cuts and implement a modest increase to reflect current economic circumstances. On Thursday, February 8th, 2024, we ask each member to sign letters, which will be sent to Governor Hochul and each of the West Islip School District’s elected representatives in the NYS Assembly and NYS Senate. Your building delegation will share details about where to sign these letters. We also encourage each of you to use this letter as a template and contact the representatives in your district to help reverse these cuts statewide.
Please join us in supporting the students and programs offered in West Islip and our colleagues whom these changes may negatively impact. Remember to see a delegate and sign these letters on Thursday.
