Questar III BOCES staff and students spent February 12 at BOCES Lobby Day meeting with legislators to encourage them to maintain funding and to see BOCES as a solution for the state’s fiscal issues.
Students and teachers attend BOCES Lobby Day.
Danny Ramirez, HVAC teacher at Rensselaer Educational Center (REC), and Joe Mix, Construction Technologies teacher at REC, brought five students to BOCES Lobby Day. Students Chris Herrington, Brittany Eggleston, Alannah O’Dell, Kaitlin Cancelliere and Zak Harrington visited State Assemblyman John McDonald to discuss the issues facing school districts throughout the state and how BOCES could help.
The students advocated for a number of proposals such as:
•Include BOCES in New York’s SAFE Act, which allows schools to receive state aid for the purchase of security devices.
•Include BOCES in any pension-smoothing law that is enacted since they face the same fiscal pressures as school districts.
•Support full-day BOCES programs.
•Change BOCES lease terms from 10 years to 20 years to save costs.
•Exclude BOCES capital projects from the property tax levy cap.
Ramirez is proud of the way the student advocates presented themselves and the important information to Assemblyman McDonald.
“I feel it is important that students not only learn about the legislative process, but how to go about presenting an issue and conducting themselves. It also doesn’t hurt to have the individuals who education cuts affect speak on their own behalf,” Ramirez said.
