Superintendent Dr. Giarrizzo Proposes $72.8M Budget

From Pelham Public Schools: Superintendent of Schools Dr. Peter Giarrizzo proposed to the Board of Education on Tuesday, Feb. 7 a $72,783,500 2017-18 budget that preserves all current programming, enhances the curriculum and maintains favorable class size across the District.

The proposal, which calls for a 1.98 percent increase in the tax levy, is compliant with the state-mandated tax cap of 1.98 percent.

“I extend my sincerest thanks to our District administrators, school principals and department heads, for their hard work and input in drafting this budget,” Dr. Giarrizzo said. “I believe this proposal satisfies our goals of being fiscally responsible while strengthening our core curriculum and operations. I look forward to working with the Board and community over the next three months to review and refine this proposal before asking Pelham residents to approve it on Tuesday, May 16.”

The Board of Education will review the budget proposal in depth over the course of several public meetings, starting with the Board’s meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Budget discussions are also scheduled for March 14, March 28, and April 4. Board adoption of the final budget is scheduled for April 18 and the state-mandated public hearing will be held on May 2. All meetings begin at 8:15 pm and will be held in the Pelham Middle School Library.

Please note that the Board of Education will not hold a Saturday line-by-line budget review meeting as in years past, opting instead to review the budget over the course of several evening sessions listed above.

“Over the next several weeks, the Board of Education will carefully review the budget proposal," said Board of Education President Marianne Gilland. "We look forward to working with Dr. Giarrizzo to ensure that the 2017-18 budget is fiscally responsible for our taxpayers and maintains the high level of excellence that our community expects of our schools. We encourage residents to attend our upcoming meetings and take part in this important process."

Dr. Giarrizzo’s proposed budget includes funds for additional teachers at Pelham Memorial High School, where enrollment is projected to increase beyond 900 students in 2017-18. It also calls for 11 sections of Kindergarten, which is unchanged from this school year.

Additionally, the proposed budget would add Spanish to the elementary school curriculum starting in grade 2. This program, which was recommended by the World Language Task Force, would require one new teacher. The budget would also continue funding the School Yoga Project, which was started via a grant from the Pelham Education Foundation this year.

Other new initiatives include piloting a responsive classroom program at Hutchinson School, the creation of a boys varsity swim team, and the purchase of textbooks for new course offerings at the high school, such as Integrated Algebra, Applied Statistics and Calculus.

To view the 2017-18 proposed budget presentation, please visit here and click “Board of Education Reports” under the “Board of Education” tab.

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