Advocacy for Federal Funding

Federal ARP Funding Update

Good News! After advocacy efforts on behalf of our district, Wantagh UFSD is now slated to receive $700,000 in APR Federal funding after initial indications were that the district was not going to be receiving any funds. The district thanks our NYS representatives for their support of the district's efforts to receive this funding. 

 

Wantagh UFSD Only Nassau District Not Slated to Receive Any Federal COVID Funding 

Long Island school districts will be receiving $324 million in Federal assistance as part of a  COVID-19 relief package. Unfortunately, the Wantagh UFSD is the only district in Nassau County that  is not currently slated to receive any funding. In order to be eligible for Federal funding, the district needs to be eligible for Federal Title 1 funding. Last year, Wantagh fell below the required 2% poverty threshold, dropping to  a 1.97% poverty rate, which disqualified the district.

The Wantagh UFSD has kept its doors open for all K-6 students every day since September 2020. All of our students in grades 7-12 have attended school in a hybrid model, attending 2 or 3 days in person each week and on the opposite days attending school remotely by streaming classes live each day. And over the last three weeks, all of our students in grades 7-12 have returned to in-person learning each day. 


This has all come at a significant cost to the district to make sure that it was done safely for our students and staff. Significant investments had to be made in technology by purchasing devices for our students, in physical plant investments by purchasing desk shields for all students, in cleaning and disinfecting materials to keep spaces safe, and in human resources to hire additional staff to attend to all of the additional responsibilities that needed to be done to maintain safety. These human resources included additional nursing staff to manage our COVID protocols, health aides, teachers to reduce class size, teachers to teach elementary remote students and additional custodial staff to ensure spaces were cleaned properly.  


The Wantagh community has not been immune to the impact of this pandemic in any way. Yet, the distribution of Federal funding to support this community is nonexistent. How can other school districts receive millions of dollars in relief and Wantagh UFSD does not receive any funding at all? At a minimum there should be a baseline amount that all school districts are eligible to receive regardless of their Title I funding levels. Apparently, the taxpayers of the Wantagh UFSD are not eligible to receive any of the benefits of Federal support during the most challenging time our school community has faced in recent history. It certainly seems that our community has been forgotten by the Federal government. 

 

Any community member that would like to advocate for our district with our Federal representatives can use the links below to contact them.

 

 

 

 

 

Email Sen. Gillibrand

 Email Rep. Rice