Protests in East Ramapo
New York Civil Liberties Union, parents and students protest outside an East Ramapo School Board meeting at the district headquarters in Spring Valley on June 18, 2024.
A Rockland County judge will allow the East Ramapo School Board’s vote on a 4.38 percent tax increase scheduled for Wednesday night to go through, rejecting a last-ditch attempt by tax hike opponents to block the vote.
In her ruling on an emergency lawsuit filed by Parents Against Stealth Taxes, a group that represents East Ramapo taxpayers, Rockland County Superior Court Judge Sherri Eisenpress said the harm caused by depriving the district’s public school students of necessary funds outweighs the harm caused by raising additional taxes.
“Either the kids have to wait a year and a half for English as a second language instruction or the taxes are raised and have to be refunded (later),” Eisenpress said during a virtual hearing just hours before the East Ramapo School Board voted. “I just don’t see what the irreparable harm is in allowing this to continue.”
In July, State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa ordered the district to increase its tax increase from 1% to 5.38% for the school year beginning July 1 to support the district’s public schools.
In her order, Rosa found that East Ramapo’s school budget was “arbitrary, capricious and a violation of educational policy because it unfairly favors nonpublic school students at the expense of public school students.”
What happens next in East Ramapo?
Rosa’s request for another increase in property taxes – the total amount collected from all property tax payers in the district – is expected to be presented to the school board at its meeting on Wednesday, August 14, at 7:30 p.m.
If the board does not approve a tax increase amendment that complies with Rosa’s order, the East Ramapo district’s state-appointed controllers could potentially block their decision with a veto. Board members who vote no could also be removed from office.
Meanwhile, city clerks must issue property tax assessments by September 1, according to the state’s education law.
Lawsuit filed against East Ramapo school board, not state
However, the challenge to Rosa’s order was not directed against the state, but against the East Ramapo Board of Education.
However, the school board sided with parents against hidden taxes and agreed that Rosa did not have the authority to order an increase in taxes.
Eisenpress rejected this argument, pointing out that the state education law explicitly grants Rosa this authority.
School board attorney Douglas Gerhardt argued that Rosa’s ruling was only a temporary injunction and could be overturned after a final decision, which could take more than a year. But Eisenpress said taxpayers could simply get their money back when the injunction is eventually lifted, while children’s academic performance in public schools could be irreparably harmed.
“If I grant a deferral, we will delay funding for these children who will never go to third grade again for another year and a half,” she said.
Three-quarters of the children living within the school district’s boundaries attend private schools, mostly yeshivas, which serve the Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish community. The majority of East Ramapo’s school board members are viewed by the public school community as advocates for the needs of the private school community.
Rosa’s unusual move to order a tax increase came in response to an appeal to the school board from a local parent, supported by the New York Civil Liberties Union. The appeal accused the school board of failing in its obligations to the children of the district’s public schools by proposing a paltry tax increase.
A state Department of Education official said the additional local funds should be used exclusively to support the district’s public schools.
How Rosa arrived at a tax burden of 5.38%
Rosa’s order directed the East Ramapo School Board to raise the tax levy by an additional 4.38% for the new school year. Combined with the 1% tax levy approved by voters in June, that will cap the district’s tax levy at 5.38% for 2024-2025.
During budget planning, then-superintendent Clarence Ellis and state-appointed controllers advised the school board to seek the highest possible tax revenue because the district was facing a budget deficit, a severe shortage of staff, and dilapidated infrastructure.
But the committee proposed a budget that would increase tax revenues by 1.99 percent. Voters rejected that budget in May.
The board presented voters with another budget in June that took even more money from reserves and increased tax revenue by only 1%. That plan passed at the ballot box by a narrow margin. It was the first local tax increase in a decade.
A divided district
About 10,000 children who live in the district attend public schools. The majority of students in the district are English language learners, and the district has one of the highest homelessness rates and the lowest graduation rates and test scores in the state. Another 30,000 children who live within the district’s boundaries attend private schools, mostly yeshivas.
For over a decade, the public school community has believed that the school board prioritizes the needs of the private school community.
In her order, Rosa cited years of cuts to staff, facilities and extracurricular activities at public schools. The district is only now repairing water coolers that have been shut down since 2016 because of lead levels in the water, and only some of them will be back in service by the fall.
In the meantime, Rosa said, school management has not taken any action to limit costly general bus transportation for all public and private school students, which includes gender-segregated transportation.
