Bedford Central School District Public Vote Tuesday

BEDFORD, NY — The voters will have the final say on the proposed school budget on Tuesday.

The proposed budget is $148,390,691, with a 2.72 percent increase over the 2021-22 spending package.

School officials said the tax levy will increase by 2.69 percent if the budget is approved by voters later this month.

"I offer you this Superintendent’s Budget, my last budget as the BCSD Superintendent of Schools, with pride in all that we have accomplished in the return of all of our students, full-time, in-person, together," Superintendent Joel Adelberg said. "While the impact of the time we have lost due to the pandemic will continue to drive our programming and instructional models for a number of years, I propose that we are in a solid position, that our students and staff have accomplished and demonstrated significant achievement, and that the budget for 2022-2023, while still addressing the social, emotional and academic needs of students, is one that is both proactive and progressive. This budget presents a blueprint for the Bedford Central School district that is one of forward visioning with the pandemic optimistically in our rearview mirror."

There are five candidates running for three board of education seats for three-year terms:

• Gilian Goldman-Klein
• Chris Kramer
• Blakely Lowry
• Roger Nadal
• Amal Shady

Two bonds will also be on the ballot. Bond 1 will be for $59 million to upgrade the aging infrastructure of school buildings and significantly reimagine and improve shared learning spaces on the Fox Lane campus. Bond 2 will be for $3.6 million for air conditioning in the "A" and "C" wings of Fox Lane High School. The total cost of all the renovations and improvement projects is $62.6 million to be paid over 15 years.

The annual budget vote will be from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on May 17 at your zoned elementary school.

Information on voter registration can be found here. Absentee ballots can be found here.