The Wallkill Central School District was ranked third in WalletHub’s Aug. 3 report on the most equitable school districts in the state.

WalletHub is a personal finance website that was launched in early Aug. 2013. More than half of teachers reporting significant learning loss during the pandemic with poorer districts disproportionately impacted, WalletHub released its report on the Most and Least Equitable School Districts in New York. To find out where school funding is distributed most fairly, WalletHub scored the equitability of each school district in New York based on two metrics: average household income and expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil.

Ranking third in the state, Wallkill trailed only the Patchogue-Medford Union Free School District and the Copiague Union Free School District who were ranked first and second respectively. The average household income for a family in the Wallkill school district is $79,677 while the expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil is $24,062.

Wallkill Superintendent of Schools Kevin Castle noted that he had seen WalletHub’s report, however the results did not surprise him.

“I’ve always known that our per pupil expenditure was affordable,” he said. “Each budget session, I frequently say that when developing the budget we have to not only address the academic, social and emotional needs of our students, we also need to address the economic needs of our community.”

Castle added that ten years in a row the district has been at or below the tax levy.
On the day they released the report on the most equitable school districts in the state, WalletHub also released a report on the least equitable districts in New York. The Fire Island Union Free School District was named the least equitable, with the Amagansett Union Free School District and the Cold Spring Harbor Central School District finishing as the second and third least equitable. The average household income in the Fire Island school district is $101,750 while the expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil is $147,625. WalletHub found that New York has the least equitable school districts in the U.S. overall.

WalletHub Analyst Jill Gonzalez underscored the importance of making sure all school districts have equitable funding.

“If we make sure that every school district has equitable funding, students in less affluent communities will have a level playing field with students in wealthy districts. As a result, their graduation rates will increase, as will their likelihood to pursue higher education and earn larger incomes,” she said. “College graduates have $524-$1,112 higher median weekly earnings than people with a high school diploma and no college experience, depending on the degree.”

Gonzalez also offered advice on how to support underprivileged school districts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“To support underprivileged school districts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we should make sure that all schools have the resources they need to provide a robust education in the coming year. The pandemic has caused a great amount of learning loss for students, with some months behind where they should be in a normal year,” she said. “No matter how affluent a school’s community is, it should have enough funding for an effective catch-up year, including tutoring resources for students who have fallen behind.”