BRADLEY HOPPENSTEIN: Gunshots and unrest in Afghanistan leading to a letter. August 20th, 2021. Leaders in Central New York – namely Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and County Executive Ryan McMahon penning a note to President Joe Biden saying they’re ready and willing to accept Afghan refugees in Syracuse. The exact numbers are still unknown. Estimates between 700 and a thousand families have been thrown around, but the impacts of these new refugee families on Syracuse and Central New York are still largely unknown. Syracuse City School District CFO Suzanne Slack says a major component of this influx of refugees will be educating and budgeting for these new students in the city’s public schooling system.
SUZANNE SLACK: “We end up spending money to make accommodations that we hadn’t planned on…so we’re taking it away from some other program to fund this. And then down the road as we reconcile our enrollments with the state, eventually the kids catch up and then the following year we’ll get aid for them being here this year.”
HOPPENSTEIN: In terms of funding, Slack says the extra state and federal COVID-19 funds will help the district this year, but she says a change due to these refugee families will come down to how many actually come. Slack says the number she’s been hearing is around 900 families, which in turn could alter the city’s curriculum.
SLACK: We have a significant department that’s ready for this. They have folks that can translate the 84 languages or so that are spoken in the district today and can help those families assimilate to where they’re living and where they can buy food they’re accustomed to.
HOPPENSTEIN: But the broader issue of refugees and immigration also shows the stark differences between this administration and the last. Here’s former President Trump during the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal.
DONALD TRUMP: A lot of those people that rushed the planes are not the people that worked with us. They’re people that wanted to get out. You’re going to see some bad things over the coming years. It’s a disgrace.
HOPPENSTEIN: But President Biden says welcoming these families is part of what makes us American.
JOE BIDEN: This is one of those times when we aren’t Democrats or Republicans. It sounds like hyperbole but it’s real. We’re all Americans.
HOPPENSTEIN: As of September this year Catholic Charities of Onondaga County said its already counted 248 Afghan refugees arriving in Syracuse. And New York Governor Kathy Hochul is adding $2 million in state funding to help Afghan evacuees resettle in New York State – with many of those refugees resettling in Central New York. Bradley Hoppenstein, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – On August 20th, 2021, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and County Executive Ryan McMahon penned a letter to President Joe Biden saying they are ready and willing to accept Afghan refugees in Syracuse.
This past summer’s U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan quickly led to large numbers of refugees making their way to the U.S., though the local impacts of these families is still largely unknown.
Local charities and organizations have been resettling Afghans since early September, but the majority of these asylum seekers are still adjusting to life in a vastly different country, let alone a post-war environment.
Catholic Charities of Onondaga County recently said its already counted 248 refugees arriving in Syracuse, but estimates of the total number have been hovering between 700 and 1,000.
Depending on the amount of children and how many families eventually resettle in Syracuse, one of their many impacts could be on the Syracuse City School District, with a focus on funding, curriculum and resources.
“I think technology will be part of the solution…I’m worried that a big influx of kids when we don’t have the technology resources we need for them is going to cause some problems,” said Suzanne Slack, Chief Financial Officer of the Syracuse City School District.
However, Slack did also note that the district will likely see increased funding with these new students.
Also looking to aid these families, Governor Kathy Hochul recently announced an additional $2 million in state funding to help Afghan refugees resettle in New York State. The exact breakdown of how that money will be spent is unavailable at the moment, but many of those resettling will be in Syracuse and Central New York.
