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New York Focus

The Reporters’ Notebook features bite-sized stories and updates from New York Focus reporters on the topics they cover.

Seven years after a massive flood forced the St. Regis Mohawk elementary school to evacuate and sparked a community effort to build a new facility, that initiative may now have to wait.

The aging building, located on the St. Regis Mohawk reservation along the US-Canada border, has fallen into disrepair. The school, where 90 percent of students are Native American, also sits steps away from the St. Regis River, putting it at risk of seasonal flooding.

The school’s community has sought state funding to construct an entirely new building for years, and the New York state Education Department has supported that request — with Commissioner Betty Rosa visiting the school in 2023.This year, the state Board of Regents’ budget request included increased funding for the three state-owned Indigenous schools: $10.6 million for the Tuscarora Nation School, $46.3 million for the Onondaga Nation School, and $110 million for a new building for the St. Regis Mohawk Nation.

However, in her January budget proposal, Governor Kathy Hochul allocated only $20.1 million for capital projects at all three schools. Both the Assembly and the Senate matched her allocation in their proposals released earlier this month. The final budget is due April 1.State-owned schools can’t access the same funding resources for capital projects that public schools do. Instead, they must rely on the state to appropriate funding for renovations and other capital projects each year during budget negotiations.

The elementary school has issues with its mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems; the Pre-K and kindergarten rooms don’t meet state regulation sizes; staff has placed buckets in the hallways to catch water when it rained; and Superintendent Stanley Harper said another flood could shut down the mechanical system.

“There’s a lot here that has to be done to fix this building, but it’s not going to change the danger of the flood zone. That’s my cry.”—Superintendent Stanley Harper

In February of 2018, the community experienced widespread flooding caused by an ice jam as the frozen St. Regis River began to thaw. Dozens of homes, as well as the school, flooded, and residents and students were forced to evacuate. The students spent a week at nearby Salmon River Elementary until they could return to their building.

And as the impacts of climate change worsen, the risk of flooding only becomes more persistent, Harper said.

“There’s a lot here that has to be done to fix this building, but it’s not going to change the danger of the flood zone,” he said. “That’s my cry.”

It became clear to Harper that the situation was untenable, and he soon launched a campaign to secure funding for an entirely new building. Land on higher ground has already been donated by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, he said.

The state has previously allocated close to $40 million for feasibility work. Now, the school community needs the funding to move forward with the project.

“Our kids deserve the same type of science labs, libraries, classroom sizes, facilities, cafeteria and gym the same size as everybody else has,” Harper said. “Our kids deserve that. They’re just the same and they should be treated equally as all other kids across New York state.”