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Students, administrators at Rochester School for the deaf react to budget changes | www.WHEC.com
Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders struck a tentative state budget deal Sunday, but extensive negotiations are still going on, including how much funding will be restored to schools, and whether or not it will be enough to avoid teacher layoffs.
News 10NBC talked to the superintendent of the Rochester School for the deaf today, and he is overjoyed that funding to their school has been restored.
The joy has not eased nervousness over the fine details, however, and administrators want to know more.
The school was facing big cuts because of the budget, and they didn't take it lightly; they went to Albany to fight for their money.
Under proposed budget cuts, the school would have lost 30-to-40 percent in their state aid allocation of about 11 million dollars.
Superintendent Harold Mowl says the loss of the money could have meant the end of the school
He said he's happy that there were so many people who stood up and fought for the funding and he believes it was those voices that made the state change their mind.
Students we talked with today couldn't be happier.
"When the governor proposed the cut to the 4201 budget, I was shocked," said Marissa Woodruff, a student at the school. "I would never have dreamed that that would happen to us. Because this school is so, so essential to me, and not just to me but to all deaf people, to all the blind students, to all the physically disabled students."
"RSD and all of us owe deep, deep gratitude and appreciation to all of the people who have been involved in the budget development for New York State," said Superintendent Mowl.
Mowls says that if the budget cuts went through, it would have created a burden on local schools, not only to provide services for the blind and deaf students, but to also pay for those services.
One student we talked with rides a bus to RDS from Elmira every week, and she says the cuts would have been detrimental to her education.
The budget is officially due on Friday, April 1.
Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders struck a tentative state budget deal Sunday, but extensive negotiations are still going on, including how much funding will be restored to schools, and whether or not it will be enough to avoid teacher layoffs.
News 10NBC talked to the superintendent of the Rochester School for the deaf today, and he is overjoyed that funding to their school has been restored.
The joy has not eased nervousness over the fine details, however, and administrators want to know more.
The school was facing big cuts because of the budget, and they didn't take it lightly; they went to Albany to fight for their money.
Under proposed budget cuts, the school would have lost 30-to-40 percent in their state aid allocation of about 11 million dollars.
Superintendent Harold Mowl says the loss of the money could have meant the end of the school
He said he's happy that there were so many people who stood up and fought for the funding and he believes it was those voices that made the state change their mind.
Students we talked with today couldn't be happier.
"When the governor proposed the cut to the 4201 budget, I was shocked," said Marissa Woodruff, a student at the school. "I would never have dreamed that that would happen to us. Because this school is so, so essential to me, and not just to me but to all deaf people, to all the blind students, to all the physically disabled students."
"RSD and all of us owe deep, deep gratitude and appreciation to all of the people who have been involved in the budget development for New York State," said Superintendent Mowl.
Mowls says that if the budget cuts went through, it would have created a burden on local schools, not only to provide services for the blind and deaf students, but to also pay for those services.
One student we talked with rides a bus to RDS from Elmira every week, and she says the cuts would have been detrimental to her education.
The budget is officially due on Friday, April 1.