 |
| May 05, 2024 |
Welcome! Click here to Login
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Click to visit the
Official Town Site
|
|
|
|
|
|
General News: Alumni Face Hurdles In NYMA Fundraising
May 05, 2010
A member of a group of alumni at the New York Military Academy says that a dispute over access to financial records is threatening to undermine the group’s efforts to find financial backers to keep the 121-year-old institution open. School officials have said they need $2.5 million to open the school in September and $7 million to keep it viable in the long term.
Richard Pezzullo, who graduated from NYMA in 1976, says that he has contacted several potential investors and is working with other alumni on a business plan to keep the school open but that his attempts to get details of the school’s financial records have been stonewalled. In a series of emails to NYMA superintendent Captain Robert Watts and other NYMA officials and trustees, Pezzullo has requested details of the school’s debt load, information that he says is critical to his ongoing discussions with well-placed financiers. To date, he has received a consolidated financial statement with the first page removed, Pezzullo said, but no balance sheet.
Financial Records are Private, School Superintendent Says
Captain Watts says that it would be “inappropriate” to release the private records to alumni and that he is absolutely opposed to it. “Just because they are alum doesn’t entitle them to that information,” he said in an interview on Tuesday. “If they want it, they need to become a trustee. Trustees have a fiduciary responsibility.”
Watts also said he doesn’t know whom the alumni are talking to and is concerned that their efforts may be overlap with work done by the school’s financial consultant. When asked if he was willing to sit down with the alumni, Watts said he would not be opposed to discussing the new contacts.
Alumnus Says He Needs Tools to Raise Money
Pezzullo maintains that his overtures to meet with Captain Watts or others have been rebuffed and that he was referred to a trustee, Harry Judge, about 10 days ago, a connection that has failed to solve his need for more information.
“There is assembled at your virtual gate a collection of interested parties, alumni, parents, former board members, attorneys, financial specialists, school administrators and operational executives who have offered to assist, fund and negotiate in good faith with the agents and trustees of New York Military Academy,” Pezzullo wrote in a letter to Henry Judge dated May 4thrd that asked “for the tools to do our job.”
Final Decision on NYMA’s Fate Expected Within 30 Days
Captain Watts said that the school supports the fundraising efforts of parents and alumni who are hoping to reverse the negative financial at the school. He notes, however, that the contributions are small to date, in the range of a few hundred dollars a day. Watts added that a final decision on whether to close the institution will be made in the next 15 to 30 days and that the prospect of that move has already attracted interest from real estate investors who see a prime opportunity in the school’s location.
Alumni to Hold Public Meeting in Cornwall
Meanwhile, some of the alumni working with Pezzullo are planning a public forum at Munger Cottage on Saturday, May 15, for members of the Cornwall community who want to get involved in keeping open the 121-year-old institution. Alumna Lana Melendez reports that during alumni weekend she and others on an ad-hoc financial committee will present their proposal for saving NYMA to parents and alumni at 10:30 am, then welcome members of the public from 1:30 to 3 pm.
Comments:
|
NYMA needs to see a strong show of support on Saturday. The parents, teachers, staff members and alumni clearly love the school. We need everyone to help keep the dream of NYMA going for another 120 years. WE CAN DO THIS!
posted by Lisa E. on 05/05/10 at 1:31 PM
|
|
how is one able to contribute and put the academy in stable footing if the very ones who are trying to save the school can not obtain vital records?
posted by J Buescher on 05/05/10 at 5:45 PM
|
|
I'm happy to report that the NYMA Board has invited representatives of our group to meet with them at our earliest convenience. Arrangments are being made.
posted by Richard Pezzullo on 05/05/10 at 6:13 PM
|
|
If you want to see NY Military Academy alive a message has to e sent to the school that overwhelmingly supports keeping the school open.The best way to do this is to donate to www.helpsupportnyma.com and MAKE SURE you indicate use funds 'for future operations'. If you put the donation on a credit card, then check off 'For Sept 2010-2011" so it will be used to reopen the school. If enough people donate to keep the school open -- and if many donate even a small amount like $25 or $100 I think the Board of Trustees will have more leverage when restructuring their current loans, and the project to keep NYMA open will be successful. Just remember actions will do it, and not thinking someone else will be the ne to participate.
posted by Doreen Denice Syed on 05/05/10 at 9:34 PM
|
Add a Comment:
Please signup or login to add a comment.
|
 |
|
|
|
