Assemblywoman Kimberly Jean-Pierre

640 West Montauk Highway

Lindenhurst, NY 11757-5538

631-957-2087

 

March 11, 2024

 

Dear Assemblywoman Jean-Pierre,

 

We’re writing to urge you to assign an independent fiscal monitor to the Amityville school district. We also urge you to authorize a forensic audit. Our district was recently identified as facing “significant fiscal stress” by the NY comptroller—one of only three in the state. In November, our Board announced a $3.6M deficit. In March, it voted to excess 47 teachers and staff. Our classrooms, meanwhile, are chronically understaffed. Dozens already quit during the ‘22/’23 year, and morale is at rock-bottom.

 

The Amityville Board of Education, meanwhile, has a history of being unresponsive to calls for transparency. It conducts much of its business behind closed doors, and it does not provide substantiative answers to constituent questions. Even now, with our finances in the gutter and students and teachers alike fleeing the district, this Board deflects questions and expects the community to simply “trust us.” We don’t believe this Board has the capacity or will to get us out of this mess.

 

We appreciate your hard work for the 11th district constituents. We implore you to intervene on our behalf, just as you did for Wyandanch in 2020. Despite the bad press coming from Amityville, we continue to believe in our schools—in our students, our teachers, and our principals. We hope you will be a part of our comeback story.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Concerned Amityville Parents and Taxpayers