North Salem Board of Education weighs $53.8M spending plan

NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - The North Salem Board of Education is deep into its review of the school district’s proposed $53.8 million budget for 2026-2027.

At its first meeting in March – and the subsequent three sessions – it heard presentations from schools Superintendent Dr. Adam VanDerStuyf and members of the administrative team.

Like last go-round, ways of measuring and achieving the district’s “mission” -- literacy and math programs, multi-tiered levels of support, student independence and leadership, and district operations and oversight  -- were highlighted.

A recap of the spending plan is scheduled for Wednesday, March 25. The board is expected to vote on its adoption on Wednesday, April 8.

The public will get a chance to chime in at a budget hearing on Wednesday, May 6. The budget vote and school board elections are set for Tuesday, May 19.

There are two board seats up for grabs this year.

Board Vice President Kurt Guldan’s and Trustee Andrew Brown’s terms run out this June.

Petitions by folks seeking to run for the school board have to be filed with the district clerk no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, April 20.

VanDerStuyf reminded the board that the budget process starts with the district’s “mission,” which is to engage students “to continuously learn, question, define, and solve problems through critical and creative thinking.”

The budget’s goal is to “align leadership, teaching, learning, and assessment systems” and the way resources are allocated with that mission.

Also important is communicating that mission to -- and engaging with -- the entire community, he said.

ENROLLMENT STABILIZING?

The district, like many others around the nation, saw a noticeable decline in overall enrollment from school year 2010-2011 (1,343) to 2022-2023 (978), but those numbers appear to have since stabilized.

This year there are a total of 963 students. Next year’s enrollment is projected to be 966.

VanDerStuyf broke the numbers down by school.

The current enrollment at the Pequenakonck Elementary School is 446 and is estimated to rise slightly in 2026-2027 to 455.

It’s a similar story at the Middle School level. This year, there are 214 students and next year, there are expected to be 225.

At the high school, a dip from 301 students to 286 next year is forecast. In 2011 to 2012, at its highest, enrollment there was 422.

BUDGET TO BUDGET HISTORY

The district uses “prudent decision-making” to keep expenses “under control,” according to VanDerStuyf’s presentation.

The proposed plan represents an increase of $1,461,504, or 2.79 percent, over the current $52,377,964.

Looking back five years, the district’s average budget expense increase is 3.24 percent.

At its highest (2022-2023) that change was 4.24 percent and at its lowest (2024-2025), 2.44 percent.

Of that $1.4 million revenue increase, benefits (health insurance, etc.) account for $904,241; debt service, $431,437, and “general budget increase,” for $125,826.

(The “general budget increase” refers to all costs associated with delivering the district’s programs and services, not including benefits and debt services.)

LEVY MATH

So what do the numbers mean to property owners in the district?

Expenses minus revenue equals the levy, or the amount of money raised by taxes.

So with expenses of $53,839,468 and revenues of $7,947,993, that leaves $45,891,475 for folks to foot.

The proposed increase of 2.9 percent over the current levy is the maximum allowed under state law.

It’s arrived at through an eight-step calculation, including adjustments and exclusions.

To override the tax cap, school districts must obtain approval from at least 60 percent of voters.

VanDerStuyf told Halston Media later that the district has “no intention of exceeding the tax cap/maximum allowable.”

The tax rates themselves won’t be known for a while.

North Salem’s school district is somewhat unique in that it covers four towns in two counties: Westchester and Putnam.

Assessment rolls and equalization rates aren’t finalized until the summer.

Tax rates are different for each of the district’s towns.

The past five years’ average levy increase – including the proposed one – is 2.67 percent.

SLICE OF THE PIE

VanDerStuyf’s presentation included a pie chart showing how next year’s expenditures were being divvied up.

Salaries claim the largest slice, or 53.45 percent. Benefits come next with 24.92 percent.

BOCES costs come in at 3.69 percent, debt service at 5.36 percent, contractual costs and supplies, 2.28 percent; transportation, 0.83 percent; special education, 4.41 percent; equipment, 0.32 percent; technology, 0.83 percent; transfer to special aid, 0.26 percent, and facilities, 3.65 percent.

MISSION POSSIBLE

Asked if there was anything more he’d like to the school community to know about the proposed budget, VanDerStuyf said that it was  “the culmination of months of collaborative work with and between all members of the Administrative Council, and like last year, ties directly to our district goals and moving our goal work forward.”  

HOW TO STAY INVOLVED

All school board meetings are streamed live and are also available for on-demand viewing through the digital platform SportsEngine.

All budget presentations are posted on the district’s website.

Questions can be sent to the superintendent’s email, avanderstuyf@northsalemschools.org, and/or to the Board of Education’s, boe@northsalemschools.org.