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School officials announced that the Board of Education has approved the proposed $251,979,860 budget for the 2018-19 school year, representing a .89 percent tax rate increase, the lowest in Westchester or Putnam, and the first tax rate increase since Schools Superintendent Kenneth Hamilton took the helm in 2014.
The spending plan is $5.8 million (2.36 percent) more than last year’s budget, and includes staff, programs and capital improvements that “will keep the district moving toward the goals set forth in the Superintendent’s 20/20 Vision for Academic Excellence,” according to school officials.
Improvements proposed in the budget include the addition of five pre-kindergarten classrooms, including staff. Facilities, safety upgrades, a restoration of the Edward Williams and Columbus schools and a renovation of the Mount Vernon High School Culinary Arts kitchen. It will also continue the district’s transition to a pre-K through eighth-grade model.
The budget will now be put to a public vote on May 15. Presentations from the district can be found here.
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