The following can be attributed to 4201 Schools Association Co-Chairs Antony McLetchie and Angelo Zegarelli
“The continued growth in our children’s diversity of disabilities and complexity of Individualized Education Programs (IEP) makes the state’s investment in our students and teachers all the more important. While funding fell short of our request, the $1.5 million increase in funding included in the final enacted budget for our 11 schools is appreciated. We hope that next year’s growth is more aligned with either the minimum Foundation Aid growth of 2% or the 2.7% provided to providers in the human services sector. We send our gratitude to State Education Committee Chairs Senator Mayer and Assemblyman Benedetto, as well as Gov. Hochul and the entire Legislature, for recognizing the need to support New York’s blind, deaf, and severely physically disabled children and their families.
We look forward to working with our partners in state government to continue meeting the needs of our students and schools, and passing policy in the remainder of session that would allow 4201s to retain a fund balance, which is already authorized and granted to other special education and public schools.”