An $850,000 federal funding award will help Valley Stream South High School move forward with a long-planned shoreline stabilization project designed to stop worsening erosion along Valley Stream Creek that school officials say threatens athletic facilities, maintenance buildings and other campus infrastructure.
The funding, secured through the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations process by Rep. Laura Gillen, will support repairs along the northern edge of the campus, where years of erosion and storm damage have steadily narrowed the distance between the creek and school property.
The project is intended to protect areas including the track and football field, scoreboard, north parking lot and storage buildings from future damage and flooding during severe weather events.
Superintendent Wayne Loper said the district first realized the extent of the problem more than three years ago while planning to replace a deteriorating maintenance garage near the creek at Valley Stream South High School.
“We could end up having to replace everything and move to another field, which would mean you’d have to reconstruct the entire thing again,” Loper said. “Millions of dollars of investment in our school are in jeopardy if we don’t do this project.”
During the early stages of that project, architects surveying the site determined the shoreline had eroded so close to the building that reconstruction could not safely proceed without first stabilizing the embankment.
District officials expanded their assessment and found the erosion stretched across several hundred feet of school property. In some areas behind the athletic track, the creek had advanced to within 10 feet of the fencing near the scoreboard, raising concerns about future damage to athletic facilities if conditions worsen.
“It’s a very slow erosion process,” Loper said. “It’s because it’s not a very busy waterway, the canal. However, anytime there’s a big storm, that’s really the danger, especially if there is ever any real nor’easter or anything.”
He identified Superstorm Sandy as a major factor in the loss of land behind the school.
Portions of the property that once lay between the creek and the school infrastructure have steadily disappeared. Loper said areas that had significant buffer space are reduced to almost nothing in some locations.
To combat the erosion, the district developed a stream bank reconstruction plan that involves reinforcing the shoreline with stone along the embankment. The work will include filling in eroded areas and installing protective rock barriers designed to absorb rushing water and prevent additional soil loss.
Loper compared the stabilization method of rock barriers is commonly used along coastlines and waterways to slow erosion. The goal, he said, is to stop the creek from cutting farther into school property and stabilize the shoreline enough to safely move forward with rebuilding the maintenance garage and protecting nearby facilities.
The district estimates the overall project will cost approximately $2.5 million. The newly secured federal funding will cover part of the cost, while the district plans to use reserve funds it had already set aside for the repairs.
“I was shocked to see how close the stream is to the perimeter of the school property and that the school has installed pylons to block off corners of the campus because the ground was sinking into the water,” Gillen said. “It demonstrated how quickly this erosion could spread to the track and football facilities and why the project cannot be delayed.”
Gillen also emphasized that the campus facilities are community assets used beyond the school day for athletics and local events, making the stabilization project important not only for students and staff but for the Valley Stream community.
The congresswoman secured the funding through the Economic Development Initiative program within the Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the FY26 appropriations process. Gillen said her office worked with school district leaders throughout the application process and helped build bipartisan support for the proposal.
Support for the project came from leaders across party lines, including Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, State Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick and the Valley Stream school board.
Although the funding has been secured, construction cannot begin until the district receives several regulatory approvals. Because the project involves work along a waterway, plans must undergo environmental review and permitting with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and other agencies. The district must also receive approval from the State Education Department before the project can be put out to bid.
Loper said officials hope to complete the permitting process by the summer and begin construction as soon as possible.
