NORWICH – New York schools still don’t know for sure how much they will be receiving as a result of the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act. The bill, signed by President Barack Obama last Tuesday, earmarked $10 billion to help the nation’s schools mitigate layoffs. $607 million of that total is due to come to New York, but state legislators have not yet met to determine how – or when – those funds will be allocated.

Wednesday, Assemblyman Cliff Crouch (R-Guilford) said he’d received “no indication” of when he and other lawmakers would be called back to Albany to make those decisions. They aren’t currently due to return to the state capital until the end of September or early October, to deal with other items.

“There is speculation it will happen before the election,” Crouch said, referring not to next month’s primary, but the general election in November. That timeline leaves little room for districts to reinstate positions before students return on Sept. 8, which is how federal lawmakers indicated they wanted the money to be used.

Crouch called timing of the legislation “troublesome,” as most schools have already determined student, staffing and class assignments for the upcoming semester.

As district’s struggle with the issue, there is some good news. On Monday, Oxford Superintendent Randy Squier told the Oxford board of education he had received details about the initiative which answer two of the biggest questions he and other school officials.