Gov. Cuomo pledged Sunday to bail out Yonkers from its $28 million school-funding hole to help the district avoid massive cuts to staffing and programs.
“Yonkers has a crisis in education — that is clear,” Cuomo said at Yonkers City Hall, where he was flanked by state, local and school officials. “We will fix this problem for this year.”
An accounting error several years ago left the district with a $55 million shortfall. That gap has since been narrowed to $28 million.
Yonkers is one of the largest school districts in the state with multiple failing schools, making it eligible for the Upstate Distressed Schools Fund, Cuomo said.
Yonkers officials were on the verge of laying off as many as 200 employees, including 60 teachers, and ending sports programs.
Districts helped by the fund must submit spending plans for approval by the state.
A school is designated as failing if it is in the bottom 5 percent of state schools based on combined English language arts and math scores, is not showing progress in test performance, or has graduation rates that are below 60 percent for the past three years.