Speaker Heastie Visits Future Site of Riverside Head Start Center with Assemblymember Schiavoni, Announcing $2.25 Million to Build New Modular Units

Speaker Carl Heastie today continued his annual statewide tour in Riverhead with Assemblymember Tommy John Schiavoni, visiting the future site of the Long Island Head Start (LIHS) Riverside Head Start Center. Together they announced $2.25 million to build a new modular facility to restore service to families.

“Head Start and early childhood education is so vital to children’s development, and programs like LIHS are a vital part of our communities,” Speaker Heastie said. “This new location for the Riverside Head Start Center will allow them to restore services for families here in the Riverhead Central School District and prepare kids for school and for bright futures. Thank you to Assemblymember Schiavoni for bringing us here today.”

“The Riverside Head Start Center needs a permanent home so it can continue to give children here in the Flanders-Riverside area a safe place to learn and grow,” Assemblymember Schiavoni said. “I’d like to thank Speaker Heastie for coming today to visit the planned site of Riverside Head Start Center’s forever home. The old building was structurally unsound and no place for children, but here they can start over and resume critical services for our families.”

“We are immensely grateful to Speaker Heastie and Assemblyman Schiavoni for this monumental contribution,” said Ms. Debrah Everett-Garcia, chief executive officer of Long Island Head Start.“Their leadership and support will help restore access to high-quality early childhood education and essential family services for our most vulnerable populations.”

Speaker Heastie and Assemblymember Schiavoni together visited the future site of the Riverside Head Start Center, announcing $2.25 million to aid in the construction of the modular facility. In 2024, renovations on Riverside Head Start Center uncovered severe structure issues and was deemed unsafe, closing before the 2024-25 school year, displacing 88 children, including 55 in the universal pre-k program. The temporary site they secured only allowed services for 28 children, leaving 60 without services. The funding announced will allow LIHS to build a modular facility on the Riverside property to expand and restore services.