Khader Calls for YPS to Rent Closed Catholic Schools
By Dan Murphy
If the Yonkers Public Schools can move forward with a plan to bring back students four days per week for in person learning on April 5, the district is able to comply with social distancing guidelines in all but four of their schools. PS 8,15,25 and 26 are either too old or too overcrowded with students to separate and comply with the NYS Department of Health’s guidelines for social distancing requirements of 6 feet or separation.
This would mean that students in those schools would have to continue with a hybrid schedule of 2 days in school and 3 days of at home-online learning. City Council President Mike Khader has submitted a resolution asking the YPS to rent out two Catholic schools that have recently closed, St. Anne’s and St. Paul’s schools, for students in the four YPS schools that won’t be able to come back April 5.
“I introduced a resolution urging the Board of Education to enter into a short-term lease agreement to rent the currently vacant St. Anne and St. Paul schools. This agreement would provide the same adequate learning environment for Public Schools 8, 15, 25, and 26 as have been established for the remainder of our public schools,” said Khader. “As a public school
parent myself, I understand the importance of ensuring that all children have equal access to quality in-person education, as the conditions permit. While these decisions fall into the purview of the Yonkers Board of Education, I look forward to working with them to put forth a plan that addresses parents’ concerns. We are fortunate to have the resources and the recently allocated federal funding to offset the costs outlined above,” said Khader.
If the YPS re-opens to four day learning after Easter and Passover on April 5, less than 100 days of school are left until the summer recess in late June. We asked Khader if there is enough time to get the Archdiocese to agree to a short term lease and if there is enough time to prepare the church schools for YPS classes.
“This is just one idea, but we need to think outside the box, because we are in a unique and unprecedented situation. We can’t accept have students go back to school and the students in four schools having to stay home. So let’s put this idea to the Board of Education and lets see if its feasable.
“Understanding that there will be costs associated with this, we just received the news that we are getting $89 Million from Washington. Let’s do what we did a few years ago when St. Barnabus school was used for an emergency. It has been done before. History has shown that the Board of Education has rented Catholic Schools for emergency purposes before and if this is not an emergency I don’t know what is,” said Khader.
The other question raised by Khader is how will Yonkers spent the $89 Million it received from US Senator Charles Schumer and President Joe Biden as part of the COVID bailout.
So far Mayor Mike Spano and the City Council have not begun to consider options about what to do with the funds. Most likely, they will be used for next year’s budget, which begins on July 1.
Another piece of good budget news for Yonkers came from the NYS Office of Budget, which advised the City that they will be receiving, and they can spend $20 Million in AIM Funding that was withheld last year during the COVID financial crisis facing Albany.
Editor’s Note: The YPS has been negotiating with the Archidocese of NY for more than one year to purchase several of their closed schools in Yonkers. Those negotiations have to date been unsuceessful, with one City official saying that “the price is way too high.”
