Also asks state to study capacity for electric buses

Voters in the Beacon City School District will be asked on May 19 to approve a $91.9 million budget that would allow Rombout Middle School to expand to a nine-period day in 2026-27.

The six members of the board (two seats are vacant and one member was absent) unanimously adopted the budget on Monday (April 13). A public hearing will be held at Beacon High School on May 5; two weeks later, district residents will vote on the budget and three trustee seats.

The budget will increase the tax levy — the total amount the district collects through property taxes — by 4.47 percent, to $52.3 million. That's the maximum increase allowed for 2026-27 under a state tax cap. Going "to cap" will keep in place big-ticket items funded in previous spending plans: reduced class sizes at the district's four elementary schools, increased mental health support for students and expanded extracurriculars and special education resources, among other initiatives.

The most significant expenditure for 2026-27 will be Rombout's shift from eight to nine periods, which comes four years after Beacon High School made the same move. School officials said it will allow the district to add a sixth-grade health class and a "Welcome to Sixth Grade" course for incoming students while giving all grades access to an expanded selection of electives.

In addition to property taxes, the budget will rely on about $33 million in total state aid, a 3.2 percent increase over 2025-26, including $1.1 million for pre-K. That number is significant because it's enough to cover full-day pre-K programs at all four elementaries, saving the district about $450,000.

More than 75 percent of expected spending in 2026-27 will go to salaries and benefits, with medical and dental insurance premiums increasing by more than 15 percent.

The district estimates that the average homeowner, which includes residents in parts of Fishkill and Wappinger, will pay between $213 and $244 more in taxes annually.

Last month, Board Member Eric Schetter asked Superintendent Matt Landahl to cut $250,000 from the budget — enough to get the tax levy increase under 4 percent. Landahl's immediate recommendation was to delay the Rombout expansion to nine periods for a year.

If Rombout goes ahead, he said during the Monday meeting, a handful of other cuts could lighten the budget by about $150,000, but it would be "a slog for me, trying to figure out ways" to get to $250,000. Another option would be to defer debt on the $50 million capital project approved by voters in 2024, but that could cause next year's levy to swell beyond 5 percent, Deputy Superintendent Ann Marie Quartironi said.

Other board members pushed back. "Most of the discretionary things are rising by very, very small percentages, most often less than inflation," said Chris Lewine. "We're managing huge cost increases in a ton of different places and finding a way to do that without making cuts and even doing this thing [the nine-period day] you've been planning for many years."

Schetter ultimately said he would support the budget with the maximum allowable levy increase. "If going to 4.47 [percent] means going to a nine-period day at Rombout, then I would be in favor of that," he said. "I think it's important not only from the students' perspective, but it brings more favorable things for the teachers in regard to professional development."

Schetter's seat is one of three that will be on the May ballot, along with the two that are vacant. Nominating petitions are due by 5 p.m. on April 29; to receive a petition, email [email protected].

Electric buses

The school board on Monday agreed to sign onto the Lower Hudson Education Coalition's request that the state Public Service Commission study whether electric utilities, including Central Hudson, will have the necessary infrastructure in place to support the electrification of school bus fleets.

A state law adopted in 2022 requires that all b...