Letter from the Board of Education - Rescue Mount Vernon Schools

At a community summit on January 31, district administrators and outside professionals clearly identified the illegal, possibly criminal actions of the City of Mount Vernon in refusing to transfer millions of dollars in school taxes to the district.

Make no mistake: there is no argument about the fact that the city owes the schools $11.78 million, now nine months late. Even the city agrees that it owes the schools the money but says it does not have ability to pay. Worse, our finance professionals have clear evidence that at least another $13+ million is owed over the next 17 months, with the first payment due this June.

As a result, we have sent letters to the NYS Attorney General, NYS Comptroller, Westchester County District Attorney and County Executive, and several elected officials to plead for an investigation into the city’s malfeasance and possible criminality.

Without this money, our schools cannot continue to operate as they currently do. In recent days, the NYS Comptroller has identified our district as being under extreme fiscal stress, which is solely due to using up all of our savings to plug the hole created by the city not transferring the $11.78 million in school taxes to us. As a result, we are at a near-term risk of closing schools, cutting programs, and reducing staff. Our crumbling buildings will continue to deteriorate, as there is no money for even basic repairs.

As a victim of the city’s financial dysfunction, we have made a direct appeal to our legislators for financial assistance, and we will continue to lobby for this in the coming months.

But our appeal alone will not be enough. We ask the Mount Vernon community to join us in this effort, and that’s why we are launching Rescue Mount Vernon Schools.

We will provide you with resources on the district’s website to contact our legislators to urge their support for preventing the city’s irresponsible actions from devastating our schools. Your letters, emails, and phone calls can make a difference. Additionally, we will sponsor direct calls to action in the form of parent and staff rallies, media attention, and all other respectful forms of advocacy to draw attention to the injustice that has been perpetrated on our schools.

Please visit our website to review the letters mentioned above and check back frequently for updates.

Sincerely,

The Mount Vernon Board of Education