OSSINING, N.Y. Ossining school officials presented a plan Wednesday night proposing an increase in the districts budget.
While nothing is set in stone, the proposed budget presentation, available on the Ossining Union Free School Districts website, raises the 2012-13 budget to $105,986,570 from the current 2011-12 budget of $103,502,510. The proposed 2.4 percent increase would be below the tax levy cap. The Ossining Board of Education is set to review the budget during a work session from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Roosevelt Elementary School. Superintendent of Schools Phyllis Glassman said Thursday the public is invited to ask questions and present concerns during the Saturday work session.
We value the partnership with our community greatly and worked diligently to balance the needs of our students with needs of the community, Glassman said. Weve provided a proposed budget that offers students an excellent educational program and offers the community a way to continue to maintain a very valuable resource in the community.
Board President Bill Kress said its early in the process, but he was pleased to see minimal cuts to programs in the proposed budget.
We were able to maintain all of our programs with some minor reductions and we are looking forward again to hearing from the public, Kress said. I want to remind people that this is a proposed budget. Were going to be looking to make this budget fiscally responsible while growing students.
Kress said he was also pleased the proposed budget increase was very modest.
We made the most modest increase we could make without sacrificing programs that people hold near and dear to their hearts, Kress said. Id love to see a 50 percent reduction in our budget but thats never going to happen. I think its just as important to keep programs that people love.
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