Guide To Brewster School Board And Budget Vote

BREWSTER, NY — Voters go to the polls May 17 in Brewster to weigh in on the proposed budget for 2022-23, the purchase of new school buses, the creation of a capital reserve fund for improvement projects, and two school trustees.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Brewster High School.

The Brewster Board of Education has proposed a $110,551,974 spending plan for the 2022-23 school year, a 5.38 percent increase over the current budget.

If approved by voters, the tax levy would go up just 1.69 percent, which is under the state's budget cap for this year. Learn more about the budget here on the district's website.

There are three propositions on the ballot.

• PROPOSITION 1 - General Fund: $110,551,974
• PROPOSITION 2 - Purchase of Buses/Vehicles: $777,000
• PROPOSITION 3 - Capital Reserve Fund Establishment: $25,000,000

The creation of a $25 million Capital Reserve Fund is explained by the district's finance committee on the website:

Nearly $6M of Federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations
(CRRSA) Act and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act funds are anticipated to be received within the year and must be set aside in a Capital Reserve to restrict its use for a future capital improvement project, expected to be proposed in Fall 2022. This consideration was discussed in detail over the past year with the District’s Finance Committee, which is a group of staff and community members who assists the Board of Education with oversight of financial activities.

An expenditure may be made from the reserve only for a specific purpose specifically authorized by the voters. The district's Facilities Planning Task Force has been identifying possible improvement projects for voters to consider once the New York State Education Department has confirmed the estimates of NYS Building Aid reimbursement each project would generate.

Board of Education

Three people are running for two seats on the school board: incumbents Leonor Volpe and Scott Seaman and parent and activist Jamie Callanan. Callanan and Volpe are running together. Callanan was one of the organizers of Reopen Putnam Schools, an advocacy group seeking an end to pandemic-era remote instruction in the spring of 2021, and a member of Pro-Choice Masks Putnam County STOP the MANDATES (along with Chris Harrigan, who is running for a seat on the Carmel Board of Education.)