Emergency Service Volunteers Eligible for Tuition Relief

Suffolk residents who volunteer their time as firefighters or EMS personnel are eligible to have part of their college tuition covered under the Suffolk Educational Program for Retention in the Voluntary Emergency Service (SERVES).

Up to 120 credit hours will be picked up by the county for classes at accredited schools in Suffolk and Nassau counties. The assistance comes on a sliding scale with the maximum available if the volunteer aces their class. B grades will qualify for 75% reimbursements, while C’s will net 50%, according to Suffolk’s Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services, which administers the program. About 60-70 students earn a total of about $100,000 in college aid each year, county officials said.

“SERVES is an important incentive for local departments to recruit and retain their volunteers,” said Medford Fire Commissioner Joseph DeStefano. “The number of people who have the time and ability to volunteer is decreasing, and we should do everything we can to reward them for their service.”

File Photo

File Photo

A funding snafu threatened SERVES as the cyberattack that shut down the county’s computer network was blamed for Suffolk dropping the ball on a federal grant for the program. “This is something that the Bellone administration should be chastised for,” said incoming county Executive Edward Romaine, who pledged to keep the program going. “Suffolk taxpayers are going to have to make up the difference because the Bellone administration did not apply in a timely fashion for a grant that they knew existed because this program is not new. It's been around for a while and they did not reapply. It speaks to the fact that no one seems to be watching the store.” On January 1, Romaine will take over from Steve Bellone, who was limited to 12 years of service as the county’s top administrator due to Suffolk’s term limits.