Tioga Central School District Superintendent Scot Taylor speaks by phone with Jeff Gural, CEO of American Racing and Entertainment, LLC and owner of Tioga Downs as Jay Dinga, regional director of business development and governmental relations for Tioga Downs cues up questions from reporters during a press conference at Tioga Central High School on June 10, 2015. (Photos by Rick Stilson)
Tioga Central High School Principal Margo Martin speaks with Tioga Downs’ owner Jeff Gural while Class President Annie Wainwright and Vice President Anna Evanek look on. The 2015 graduating students hold several items for Gural to express their appreciation.
Noah Schumacher, who will graduate soon, and after voters decide the fate of the 2015-16 budget for his soon to be alma mater, Tioga Central School, hits Tioga Downs’ owner Jeff Gural up for a job during a press conference held on June 10, 2015 that announced Gural’s offer of a private donation to the district.
The anonymous donor who has offered to give the Tioga Central School District assistance needed for their upcoming budget was unveiled during a press conference held at the high school’s cafeteria on June 10, 2015.
As first reported in the Owego Pennysaver, Jeff Gural, CEO of American Racing and Entertainment, LLC and owner of Tioga Downs, has stepped forward to aid the district as it tries to save student programs and staffing levels.
The donation is a private donation from Gural, not from Tioga Downs or American Racing and Entertainment.
Gural will donate $294,479 to preserve several co-curricular and extra curricular programs, according to Tioga Central Superintendent Scot Taylor. The offer is contingent upon voters approving the district’s proposed 17.26 percent school tax increase on June 16, and Gural would make the money available for two years – the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years.
Gural said that education is one of his core issues of concern, and the offer to Tioga Central is nothing new for him. Inner city kids have previously been the recipients of this philanthropy, Gural said during a conference call at the press conference. When Tioga Central faced steep cuts, and after the original budget and 30 percent school tax increase vote failed on May 19, Gural said he thought to himself, “Why not do it in Tioga?”
Gural hopes that his donation will help the district’s revised budget proposal pass, while his dollars would go directly to help students, who Gural said were the victims of the potential budget cuts.
He also said that voters should be able to look forward to a more stable tax picture after this year’s 17 percent increase. Tioga Downs is one of the largest taxpayers in the Tioga Central School District, paying $310,000 in school taxes in 2014. Gural’s donation would nearly double that.
Gural and Jay Dinga, regional director of business development and governmental relations for Tioga Downs, stated that the donation did not have anything to do with Tioga Downs’ upcoming application for the fourth casino license in the Southern Tier. Gural said it was not necessary to make the donation to further publicize Tioga Downs’ bid for a license.
Gural said that everyone knows he was disappointed when New York’s Gaming Commission passed over Tioga Downs when granting licenses last December.
Tioga Central High School Principal Margo Martin stepped forward to speak about Gural’s history in the community, which she said went back well before the casino was even a possibility.
Martin recalled the assistance offered to the community by Tioga Downs during the flood in 2011 as one example of what she said was Gural’s partnership with the community. Martin said she did not think that the donation offer was made to sway community opinion.
Martin was accompanied by 2015 Class President Annie Wainwright and Vice President Anna Evanek. The young women bore gifts for Gural ranging from a hat, to a sweatshirt and t-shirt. There was also come camouflage items. “Everyone knows if you come to Tioga Central you have to wear camo,” Martin quipped. Gural was invited by the trio to visit the school, which Gural said he was looking forward to.
Upcoming Tioga Central graduate Noah Schumacher stepped forward next to speak directly to Gural. While Schumacher thanked Gural for his offer, he made other comments as well. “Would you want to hire a local graduate,” Schumacher asked Gural.
Gural answered that Tioga Downs has always done that, especially seasonal workers. Several college students worked at Tioga Downs during their busy summer season, Gural said.
Gural continued to speak about Schumacher after the student stepped away from the podium. Gural said he admired his spunk, and was audibly emotional regarding the student even as he admitted the conversation brought a tear to his eyes. Gural said he hoped that voters would support the budget during the June 16 vote, when it again must garner 60 percent support to pass.
One person who has worked closely with Gural for the past seven years is Tom Osiecki, president and COO of American Racing and Entertainment.
“Gural’s passion for helping kids’ education is authentic,” Osiecki said. “I’ve never met an individual who cares as genuinely as he does,” Osiecki added of Gural.
He noted that Tioga Downs fulfills many requests for donations, most of which the public never knows about, because Gural is aware of the needs of people as well as their communities.
“He encourages us to give back to the community,” Osiecki said of Gural, “he’s got a big heart. I see it every day.”
