WVCSD EdTalk: April 16, 2025

School districts across New York State continue to face significant challenges during this year’s budget development process. State aid represents a critical revenue stream for public schools throughout New York – including here in Warwick. However, as we work to finalize our district’s budget for the 2025-26 school year, we find ourselves once again doing so without the benefit of an enacted state budget or confirmed school aid allocations.

Unfortunately, there is still no definitive timeline for when the State Legislature and the Governor will reach agreement on the final budget, nor do we know what provisions it will ultimately include. Despite this uncertainty, public schools must adhere to legally mandated budget deadlines. This means districts like ours are forced to proceed using the best information currently available.

If necessary, we may need to base our state aid projections on the Governor’s Executive Budget proposal, which was developed using data submitted by school districts last year. While this provides a starting point, we will likely apply conservative assumptions to minimize fiscal risk.

The Governor recently issued a fourth temporary budget extender, allowing the state to remain operational through Tuesday, April 15. The Legislature quickly approved the measure before adjourning for what appears to be a week-long recess. Despite this action, broader budget negotiations remain at an impasse.

Legislative leaders continue to express concern over the Governor’s push to include several unresolved policy items in the final budget. The Governor, for her part, has reiterated the importance of these proposals and indicated her willingness to continue negotiations until an agreement is reached – regardless of how long that may take.

This dynamic – where policy can be advanced through the state budget – stems from the legal precedent established by Silver v. Pataki and Pataki v. Assembly in 2004. These rulings affirmed the Governor’s authority to include non-fiscal policy provisions in budget bills, so long as they are “incident to the appropriation.” Under this framework, the Legislature may only remove such provisions outright; it cannot amend them unless the Governor agrees. As a result, the executive branch wields significant influence during budget negotiations, often using the budget as a vehicle to advance key policy priorities that might otherwise face more extensive debate or opposition through the traditional legislative process.

Given the proximity of the Passover, Good Friday and Easter holidays, it is increasingly unlikely that a final state budget will be adopted in the immediate future. In response, educational leaders continue to urge state officials to recognize the negative impact these delays have on the school districts’ ability to responsibly plan for the year ahead.

Here are some highlights from our schools this week:

 Park Avenue Elementary School
In STEM, kindergarteners worked on their new civil engineering unit where they will be designing and creating bridges. So far in this unit, they took a virtual reality (VR) “field trip” and used the VR headsets to explore several bridges around the world. Each student picked a bridge to draw and write about after the field trip. Then, they used LEGO bricks to build a bridge that went over a picture representing a pond. Students had the choice of building a bridge with a smaller or bigger span, depending on the level of challenge they wanted to experience. Mrs. Cangialosi shared, “We will continue learning about bridge types before moving on to design a collaborative bridge as a team.”

This week, first graders honed their powers of persuasion by writing reviews about different places and including strong reasons to support their opinions. Students also are learning how to employ various craft moves to make their points even more powerful. Some of these craft moves include telling a little story about a personal experience, beginning with a “catchy” introduction, and including a “sticky” ending. It turns out one of the students’ favorite places is Park Avenue, which earned 5 stars in many of the reviews! 

First grade teachers also put some of their own professional learning into practice by having students give and receive feedback from peers. Students met with a writing partner and used a checklist that outlined strong components of review writing. Using that checklist, partners provided feedback to inspire future improvement.

Fourth graders have been creating original art and other work as part of the Our Power, Our Planet program being sponsored by public officials. Students created colorful and informative posters with slogans that will enable others to understand why recycling and reducing waste is important, and to encourage others to think about how they can help! All participating students will receive a personalized certificate from Senator Skoufis. Reminder: Earth Day is being celebrated on April 22nd.

Sanfordville Elementary School
Many of the classes have been eagerly anticipating the hatching of their chicken eggs. We are thrilled to share some exciting news. Students have been exploring the development of chicks during this process. The students and teachers have joyfully announced each time a baby chick has hatched from its shell. The enthusiasm and delight shown by the students – and even several staff members – is truly contagious.

Kicking off the Grade 4 STEMscopes unit on Communicating Using Wave Energy, fourth graders are studying wave patterns. They collaborated in groups to investigate the different types of waves, their movement patterns, and how waves are generated. Students employed a slinky to work together in exploring various wave patterns by pushing and moving it in specific ways.

Guided by band teacher Ms. Mulzet, the fourth-grade band students joined forces with the fourth-grade students from Park Avenue to create a combined elementary band. They showcased their very first performance in front of an enthusiastic audience at the high school. The musicians from both schools delivered an outstanding performance during this event.

Warwick Valley Middle School
In Mr. Ellis’s eighth grade Green Architecture class, students finished their creative and hands-on technology projects. Throughout the unit, they learned about coding, input devices and output devices like sensors, buttons and lights, and how these parts work together. Their challenge was to build a working prototype that used input devices to control output devices. Each student picked one of three real-world problems to solve: keeping people safe outside, creating an interactive display for the community, or designing something that could give out a useful item.

While working on their projects, students showed many of the important skills we aim for in our Portrait of a Graduate. They used critical thinking and creativity as they designed their prototypes, like motion-sensor safety lights or touchscreen displays with local info. They also practiced communication and teamwork by sharing ideas, helping each other, and giving feedback. Their projects also showed empathy and global thinking, as they considered how their work could help others in real life.

Mr. Ellis’s class is a great example of how students can learn through real-world, hands-on experiences. These projects didn’t just teach technical skills – they also helped students think like problem solvers, engineers, and leaders. This was a great end to this course, which ends with the end of marking period 3.

Warwick Valley High School
The high school, in collaboration with the Florida Union Free School District, hosted its annual Career Fair – an event that continues to grow in both scale and impact each year. Held in the school’s gymnasium, the fair welcomed over 40 professionals from a wide variety of industries, all eager to share their knowledge and experiences with students exploring future career paths.

The event offered students the opportunity to connect with representatives from business, healthcare, law enforcement, skilled trades, finance, public service and more. Highlights included participation from the Warwick Chamber of Commerce, the Warwick Police Department, and the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy.

Students engaged with professionals from organizations such as American Pool, Amgen Pharmaceuticals, writers Chris Olert and Tom Mattingly, Dillon & Semenovich, Inc., attorney Elizabeth Cassidy, Episcopio Dental, Equitable Financial, attorneys Evan Zucker and Valerie Zammitti, electricians union IBEW Local 363, Inspire, therapists Jim Einstman (LCSW) and Kerry Schmidt (LCSW), Keller Williams Realty, LAN Associates, Mountain Creek, Myers Tools, NFP Processing, North Atlantic States Carpenters Labor Management Program, New York Giants, New York State Police and NYS Police Mid-Hudson Crime Lab, Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Orange County Youth Bureau and Youth Employment Program, Orange County Department of Public Works – Engineering, therapist and author Patricia Quinn, Pennings Farm & Cidery, Pepsi of the Hudson Valley, PetSmart, Rhinebeck Bank, ShopRite Headquarters, St. Anthony’s Community Hospital, Straus News, The Salvation Army, Touro Medical College, Town of Warwick Recreation Department, Universal Technical Institute, Walden Savings Bank, Warwick Fire Department and Warwick Valley Police Department.

The success of the event is a direct result of the tireless efforts of Ms. Fox, who spent months coordinating logistics and outreach to ensure a meaningful experience for students. Her dedication created an environment where students could explore potential careers, ask thoughtful questions, and make real-world connections with professionals from across the region.

Additionally, Mr. Avila’s Criminal Justice students played a vital role in supporting the event by assisting with logistics and ensuring all participants enjoyed a safe and secure environment throughout the day. Their professionalism and attention to detail were greatly appreciated by guests and staff alike.

The high school is proud to offer events like this that empower students to think ahead, dream big, and take meaningful steps toward their futures.