School district gets another $50,000

Mr. Thiele has brought home the  bacon

Following Wednesday’s good news that the Shelter Island School District will get a boost in state aid for the 2013-14 school year, word came from Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) that he had secured an additional $50,000 outside of the various formula aids.

The  addtional funds brings the district’s total aid package from the announced $521,730 to $571,730, Mr. Thiele said. He had previously represented Shelter Island when he was a Suffolk County legislator, but only became the Island’s assemblyman this year as a result of redistricting.

In  February, Mr. Thiele spoke to Shelter Island students, predicting that the state legislature would restore at least $50,000 of the almost $84,000 that had been cut by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget. Instead, the legislators restored about $70,000 and with word of this additional $50,000 were able to bring a substantial hike to the district.

“I’m very happy that we were able not to just reverse the governor’s reduction, but gain a substantial increase for Shelter Island,” Mr. Thiele said.

Under Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal, the district had expected to lose almost $84,000.

With school closed for a spring break this week, Superintendent Michael Hynes wasn’t available for comment.