The Outcome of the BOE Meeting

At tonight's Hudson City School District Board of Education meeting, the board was presented with two options: adopting a budget that increased the tax levy by 5.8 percent, or adopting a budget that increased the tax levy by 6.94 percent. In either case, the total proposed budget would be $59,171,704. 

The board unanimously opted for the plan that increased the tax levy by 5.8 percent, which is the maximum allowed. Had they chosen to go with the 6.94 percent increase, it would have required 60 percent approval from the voters.

But closing the $2.58 million budget gap recently discovered and attributed to using financial planning software incorrectly for the past ten years does not come without sacrifice. Interim superintendent Brian Bailey outlined those sacrifices. Twenty-seven positions will be cut--six fewer than originally proposed.

The cuts to instructional and support staff are not quite as deep as originally proposed. The new proposal cuts two fewer teachers and four fewer aides.

The proposal also reduces by half the number of "executive level" positions in the Central Office.     

The proposal also involves having a single principal of the junior and senior high schools rather than two, although there would still be two assistant principals, one for the junior high and one for the high school.

At the end of the meeting, Bailey announced that Cheryl Rabinowitz, who served as interim superintendent after Lisamarie Spindler resigned in 2023 and who currently has the title of Manager of Instructional Technology, will, as part of the consolidation of the district's upper level administration, become Director of Curriculum and Technology. 

The videorecording of tonight's BOE meeting can be viewed here. The public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Tuesday, May 5. The budget and BOE election will take place on Tuesday, May 19.

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