The WTA and the Westbury UFSD are Petitioning the State on Behalf of Our Students
To the Honorable Members of the New York State Legislature:
We, the faculty, administrators and staff of the Westbury Union Free School District, in a joint effort, write this petition to the New York Legislature outlining the concerns we have and challenges our students face. These are presently making an impact in the quality of instruction and, soon, in the decisions we will have to make to our academic program.
In 2009, the last year when the allocation for school funding was made, our district had 4,292 students. Five years later, and with minimal increase in classroom space, we have 5004, an increase of 14%. We are the only district in Long Island which has experienced such large growth, while most have seen a marked decrease in student enrollment. If funding reflected the growth of a school district, we would be entitled to a sixty two million dollar increase.
The lack of proper funds, combined with an expected population increase to more than 6213, or an additional 19%, will mean that present, non-traditional and advanced placement programs will have to be eliminated, providing only the bare minimum choices to our students. Our Physics First program, Navy Junior ROTC, BOCES, Advanced Placement, College Credit and Technology courses, to name a few, will have to give way so that we may acquire classroom space. The high school is at over 100% capacity and the middle school and elementary schools are approaching that point, with classrooms of thirty or more students, with fewer teachers now than we had three years ago; the high school and middle school have now four lunch periods in cafeterias with an occupancy maximum of 220; the elementary schools have added an extra lunch period and abbreviated the school day to save on bus services. And then we have an ever increasing ELL population, the largest on Long Island, at over 30% district-wide.
We respectfully propose one or a combination of the following: a change in the formula which allocates funding; additional direct emergency funding by the state; funding to rent space from neighboring districts, which have shut down schools because of decreased enrollment. On the latter, our parents are questioning why, as our district grows while others are decreasing in population, their space is not available for rent.
We want to prepare our students for the challenges of the future and want them to have the same opportunities that others have. We may fail in this endeavor unless you come to our aid.
Sincerely,
The undersigned members of the Westbury UFSD