Pine Bush Central School District voters approved the $135,629,641 budget, with 61.97 percent of voters supporting the spending plan.
This year’s budget included a tax levy increase of $909,795 or 1.5 percent.
Incumbents Kristi Kheiralla and Cara Robertson ran unopposed for their seats on the board. They will each serve another three-year term for our district.
“I am so grateful to our residents for coming out and supporting this budget,” said Superintendent of Schools Brian Dunn. “It says a lot about a community that continually supports its school district and its students, year after year. I am proud to be a part of this district.
“I also want to congratulate Kristi Kheiralla and Cara Robertson and thank both of them for their service to our community,” said Superintendent Dunn. “These are board members with lots of governance and leadership experience and our district is better because of them. Thank you for your service and I look forward to continuing our work together.”
Voters also agreed to create a capital reserve fund account for a 10-year period. Creating the account does not cost the district any money. It simply creates the account in which unappropriated district funds may be deposited in the future, up to $20 million. These funds may be used to offset a future capital project.
This budget increases spending by $6,870,306. State aid increased by $5,960,511 and the district used $2,896,756 in fund balance in order to fund this budget. All existing programs are maintained in this budget. In addition, special education teachers, speech teachers, an addition pre-K teacher, English as a New Language teacher, a high school counselor, tech support staff, a teaching assistant and nine custodial workers will be added to better serve our students.
BUDGET VOTE/BOARD OF EDUCATION ELECTION UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
BUDGET
Yes – 655
No – 402
CREATION OF CAPITAL RESERVE FUND ACCOUNT
Yes – 656
No – 403
BOARD OF EDUCATION – CHOOSE TWO CANDIDATES FOR THREE-YEAR TERMS
*Kristi Kheiralla – 774
*Cara Robertson – 846
* incumbent