Newburgh nonprofit sues school district for $4 million over after-school deal

A Newburgh nonprofit says a promised after-school partnership with the Newburgh Enlarged City School District, the Child Care Council of Orange County and Superintendent Jackielyn Manning-Campbell collapsed, leaving a $4 million lawsuit and a dispute over who mishandled the project that was supposed to help local children after school.

Best Resource Center Inc. filed the case March 2 in Orange County Supreme Court, then moved it to federal court April 8. The complaint, handled by attorney Michael Sussman, alleges breach of contract, tortious interference and a violation of a staff member’s First Amendment rights, turning what might have been a routine contract dispute into a broader fight over public-agency conduct and a failed children’s service agreement.

The nonprofit says the parties discussed expanding after-school programming in late 2023 and early 2024, and that Manning-Campbell signed a formal agreement in April 2024. Best Resource says it then relied on that agreement when it applied for a state LEAPS grant, a program New York launched with more than $100 million in funding to expand after-school services in high-need areas.

The complaint says the relationship soured later in 2024 after a school employee allegedly asked former board member Edward Lawson and Best Resource director Vera Best to appear at a school board meeting in support of Manning-Campbell. The two did not attend, and Best Resource says the district then stopped cooperating, failed to provide documents needed for licensing and certification, and ultimately prevented the program from opening. The complaint says the Child Care Council of Orange County later declined to approve a child care license because that paperwork was missing.

The district told the public it first learned Best Resource had identified it as the LEAPS collaborator in June 2024. It also said the LEAPS grant had been awarded in April 2024 to community-based organizations, and that a district-community collaboration was a basic requirement of the initial application. In a public statement posted April 18, 2026, the district said the lawsuit’s allegations of impropriety were unfounded.

The stakes are larger than one failed contract. OCFS says LEAPS was meant to support community-based after-school programs that provide academic support and enrichment, with the initiative expected to serve more than 40,000 children. The request for proposals included a proposed $97.5 million budget for the program.

Best Resource Center, listed by state education records at 49 Grand Street in Newburgh, was first filed with New York State on November 10, 1999. The district serves students from the City of Newburgh, the Town of Newburgh, New Windsor and a small portion of Cornwall, making the dispute a local issue with direct implications for how Orange County families access after-school care.

The federal case, Best Resource Center, Inc. v. Newburgh Enlarged City School District et al., is assigned to Judge Nelson Stephen Roman in the Southern District of New York. The defendants filed answers April 15 and April 17, and the court has ordered the parties to submit a proposed case management and scheduling order by May 11.