East Ramapo School Budget Proposal Restores Past Cuts

The East Ramapo Board of Education will present a $218.2 million spending plan for the 2015-16 school year to voters on May 19.

District officials said this is the second consecutive year within in the past few years in which no programmatic or staffing cuts were made. Rather, the approved budget restores nearly $1.2 million dollars in cuts made by recent previous boards and replenishes the reserve fund with a $2.6 million surplus.

The district has been embroiled in political and financial controversy in recent years, much of it fueled by the gap between the public-school community, largely poor and black, and the larger yeshiva-school community, whose representatives control the school board.

State-appointed fiscal monitor Hank Greenberg told the New York Education Department in November that he believed some form of state intervention was needed to repair the school system and reverse bad decisions by the Board of Education.

“The district’s finances teeter on the edge of disaster,” he wrote in his report, East Ramapo: A School District in Crisis.

Program restorations throughout the school district include two full-day kindergarten classes, athletic programs, coaches at elementary schools, instructional leaders at secondary schools, additional funding of art and music programs, and capital repairs and maintenance of school buildings.

Additional budgetary support was provided to create a new reading program to address elementary Common Core curriculum implementation, fund increased enrollment in bilingual/ELL classes, provide for additional transportation costs, and professional development of faculty members.

“Restoring programs lost to previous budget cuts was a priority,” said Yehuda Weissmandl, board president, in a prepared statement. “We know these programs are vital to provide a quality education for our children.”

The proposed budget increases funds by $7.3 million, and includes a 1.26 percent increase in the tax levy, remaining under the state’s 2 percent tax cap. Residents eligible for the state’s tax freeze credit would receive a rebate on the increase.

The Board achieved a balanced budget, while making restorations, through the support of additional state aid and a number of actions to identify savings. Transportation contracts were re-bid and a new system was implemented to improve efficiencies in bus routes resulting in cost savings.

The tax levy comprises $146.7 million of the budget, while state aid accounts for the remainder.

The proposed budget will go before voters on Tuesday, May 19th for final approval. Voting will be held in each school election district from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.

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