Voters Approve $298.8 Million Budget and Hurricane Ida Repairs Bond Issue, and Elect Cooper and Peters to the Board of Education

Last month voters approved the City School District of New Rochelle’s $298.8 million budget for 2022-2023. The budget, with a focus on unfinished learning and wellness, supports our students’ academic, social, and emotional learning needs while balancing fiscal responsibility for our community.

The vote was 2,458 to 903, according to unofficial figures.

Voters also approved a $24.3 million capital bond proposition to provide necessary cash flow to complete post-Hurricane Ida repairs to the New Rochelle High School library and pool and Isaac E. Young Middle School until state and federal reimbursement is received. The vote was 2,501 to 710, according to unofficial figures.

In addition, Adam Cooper and David Peters were elected to five-year terms on the Board of Education. Cooper has been filling an unexpired term on the Board. The newly elected Board members start their terms on July 1, 2022, which is when the new budget goes into effect.

“We thank the community for its investment in our students’ futures,” said Board of Education President Julia Muggia Ochs. “This financially responsible budget is consistent with our school district’s values of excellence and equity for all students, and makes judicious use of federal, state, and local resources to advance learning for all our students.”

The $298,760,957 budget carries a spending increase of 2.79% over the current year. The budget is supported with $64.3 million in state aid, $12 million from other sources including the federal government, and the appropriation of $1.7 million from the fund balance. It does not tap into the school district’s reserves. The tax levy increase is 0.98%, significantly below the New York State tax cap of 2.345%.

Highlights of the budget include:

• The addition of 15 teaching/staff positions to further address unfinished learning and wellness, including creating a Dean of Students position for each middle school to focus on attendance, conflict resolution, and social-emotional learning.

• Adding a dance teacher at Isaac E. Young Middle School to open pathways for more students to access our Performing and Visual Arts in Education (PAVE) program.

• Adding a second Science Research teacher at New Rochelle High School who will expand the program’s reach into middle and elementary schools.

• Bringing the school district into compliance with state regulations by hiring 21 special education and English as a New Language teachers.

• Retaining 25 newly hired full-time security staff for our middle and high schools.

• Adding laptops, Chromebooks, and smart boards for our students and classrooms.

• Leveraging pandemic relief dollars to support:

• Adding teachers at Huguenot Academy to create access for more ninth-graders.

• Expanded after-school and summer school programs.

Learn more by visiting https://nred.org/page/budget-copy. View a thank-you video from Superintendent Jonathan Raymond at Facebook.com/newrochelleschools/videos/380974340467708.