Governor Hochul Announces RECOVS Funding

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul joined State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa to officially announce the availability of more than $100 million in grant funding for school districts through the Recover from COVID School (RECOVS) Program. NYSSBA staff were invited to attend the Governor’s announcement and were recognized along with many other of our education advocate colleagues from NYSCOSS, SAANYS, NYSPTA and NYSUT.

The RECOVS grant program was originally established as a two-year matching fund as part of the 2022-23 state budget. Because the funding had not yet been accessed, the 2023-24 state budget reauthorized the program to cover the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. The funds are designed to support school district efforts to address student wellbeing and learning loss in response to the challenges created and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor shared that the application deadline is August 18th.

Education and Budget Staffing Updates

Following the departure of Dan Fuller late last year, Governor Hochul recently announced that she has appointed Maria Fernandez to serve as the state’s new Deputy Secretary for Education. Ms. Fernandez is an attorney who previously served as a school board member in the Ossining Union Free School District. NYSSBA staff has already had the opportunity to meet with Ms. Fernandez to share high level school board priorities.

In addition to Ms. Fernandez’s appointment, Michael Mastroianni also recently left his position as the Governor’s Assistant Secretary for Education to join the State Education Department. We look forward to continuing our work with Mr. Mastroianni in his new role.

On the budget side, Governor Hochul recently announced the appointment of Blake Washington as the new Director of the state Division of Budget. Mr. Washington was previously the top staff member for the state Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee. To fill Mr. Washington’s previous position, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced the appointment of Philip Fields as Secretary of the Ways and Means Committee and Matt Golden as the new Director of Budget Studies. Mr. Golden has extensive experience covering school aid and other education finance issues.

Resolutions and Business Meeting Update

Following the resolution submission deadline last month, NYSSBA’s Resolutions Committee will be meeting in mid-August to review the proposals and offer “recommended” or “not recommended” positions. A full list of the proposed resolutions, along with the positions of the Resolutions Committee, will be distributed to the full NYSSBA membership in early September.

Voting delegate registration information for NYSSBA’s annual Business Meeting will be sent via email directly to district clerks in the coming weeks. The Business Meeting will be held virtually, and is currently scheduled for Monday, October 16th at 4pm. We strongly encourage all member boards to select a delegate to participate in the Business Meeting. During the meeting, delegates will vote to adopt the formal positions of the association, establishing NYSSBA’s advocacy agenda.