Bedford School District Schedules Second Budget Vote

Voters in the Bedford Central School District will have another chance to vote for a budget for the 2016-17 school year June 21.

On Wednesday, the board of education adopted a $126,804,885 spending plan, which is $2.85 million less than the budget that failed to receive a supermajority of votes May 17.

Interim Superintendent John Chambers said the new budget is within the state-mandated tax cap and will only require a majority of votes to pass.

The previous budget fell short of the 60 percent of the vote by 1 percent.

Chambers said if this new spending package is not approved by a majority of the voters the contingency budget will automatically go into effect.

To achieve the new budget, Chambers said cuts had to be made to bring the spending plan down.

Reductions were made to all departments and all schools, including library services for kindergarten through fifth grade.

There will be more than 50 fewer full-time employees than currently on staff, including four administrators, 22 teachers and 28.46 support staff.

Details can be found on the district’s website by clicking here.