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Friday, March 22, 2024
Vol. 73, No. 12
N E W H Y D E PA R K
GUIDE TO SPRING
SQUATTERS ORDERED TO VACATE
LAFAZAN DROPS OUT OF DEM PRIMARY SENATE RACE
PAGES 21-28
PAGE 3
PAGE 11
Herricks found not liable
KARAKO SUITS GRAND OPENING
Jury clears district in sex abuse case BY TAY L O R H E R Z L I C H A Nassau County jury Friday found the Herricks Union Free School District not negligible in the first Child Victims Act case against a Long Island school district to go to trial. The plaintiff, referred to as J.G., alleged he was sexually abused in the 1980s by then-school psychologist Vincent Festa. The jury found the school district did not act with reckless disregard in failing to protect the plaintiff from sexual abuse despite prior warnings and reports of abuse against Festa. The jury deliberated for eight hours over three days before reaching a verdict. “We’re surprised and disappointed,” said attorney Jeffrey Herman, who represented J.G., following the verdict. “But at the end of the day, the most important thing was my client to have his day in court and to have a voice. I watched him in this trial barehis soul, and he was getting relief as the case went on.” The plaintiff was seeking $14 million. He claimed that Festa abused him for eight years, starting when he was a student at Herricks Middle School. Continued on Page 38
PHOTO COURTESY OF ASSEMBLYWOMAN GINA L. SILLITTI
Karako Suits had a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the store’s opening.
Schools grapple with state aid plans Administrators blindsided by drops in foundation aid for first time in history BY C A M E RY N O A K ES North Shore school districts are seeing drops in foundation aid for the first time since the state funding was introduced in 2007-2008, with many calling the governor’s proposal showing sweeping increases in state aid misleading as districts face budget challenges.
The New York State Assembly has now proposed a budget countering the governor’s that reinstates the lost foundation aid sought by local school districts. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2025 budget proposal includes $35.3 billion in state school aid. This is an increase of $825 million from the prior budget, or a rise of 2.4%. The $825 million proposed increase from budget to budget encompasses a $507 million increase for Foundation Aid – the state’s main education operating aid formula that is based on equity. The remaining $318 million increase is attributed to all other school aid programs.
The 2025 budget proposal comes in the wake of the 2024 budget’s $3.1 billion increase in school aid – a historic rise in the state that amounted to a 10% increase from the prior budget. New York State spends the most per pupil in the country. State aid spending per pupil has also continuously risen over the years, only seeing a dip in 2021, according to the Empire Center, with spending projected to continue increasing over the next four years. Empire Center calculated that 185 New York districts, about a quarter, were in the top 5% for spending per pupil nationally. A majority of districts were in the top 10%.
Under Hochul’s proposal, a majority of North Shore schools are proposed to receive an increase in state aid. But school districts have called the governor’s proposed school aid increase misleading, with districts seeing drops in their foundation aid for the first time and funds allocated to them that they are unable to use. Foundation aid began as the state’s equity-based funding source for school districts, intended to alleviate disparities between districts. The New York State aid formula for schools is based on factors that evaluate enrollment, student need and district wealth. Continued on Page 39