Budget and Ballot Frequently Asked Questions

Each year the annual budget is developed with a view toward the next several school years. We work to identify and address immediate needs, including those for our infrastructure and transportation, and build on our progress to provide an educational experience that enriches each and every student academically and emotionally. Among the areas included in the annual budget are: instructional initiatives, technology needs, counseling services, special education, food services, faculty and staff salaries, facilities maintenance, retirement system costs, health insurance premiums, debt service, transportation, infrastructure, utility costs, and health and safety services.

Various components support the district’s operating budget. Approximately 74% of the district's revenue comes from school taxes paid by residents. The next largest contributor is State Aid, which accounts for over 15% (see more on State Aid below). The remaining 11% is a combination of Westchester County Sales Tax, the district’s Fund Balance and reserves, and miscellaneous revenue and interest. 

State Aid is very significant to the district, as it represents over 15% of our budget. This year, we expect to receive a 2% increase in Foundation Aid and an additional increase in Building Aid, which will cover the costs related to the Future Facilities Project (FFP). Of note, there is a modest projected reduction in other aid areas. 

The tax levy is the total amount that a school district raises each year in taxes from all property owners. The tax rate is the amount of tax paid for each $1,000 of assessed value of property.

No. The district received over $1M in federal relief funding through ARP, CRRSA, and CARES funding. Those revenue sources are no longer available.

Yes, the tax levy for 2025-26 is within the Allowable Tax Levy and proposed at 2.62%. The proposed 2025-26 budget is $60,996,050. 

Our overall objective when developing the budget is to strike a balance between advancing the teaching and learning experience for our students and staff members, maintaining our facilities, and remaining fiscally responsible to our community’s taxpayers.
 
Over the past three years, the district has been focused on the concept of what a future-driven school system looks like and, more specifically, what Croton-Harmon Schools can be in the future. This year's proposed budget is part of a long-term strategic plan to reimagine learning. The district's Vision Map clearly outlines goals to achieve this vision. Our administrative team works closely with staff members, students, families, and community residents throughout the year to get input on where opportunities exist to support our goals as well as identify efficiencies in our current operations. After discussion among the administrative team and the Board of Education, priority areas for the budget are identified.

When we created the Vision Map nearly three years ago, we created a vision for “What School Can Be”.  That vision puts the interests and passions of our students and their teachers at the center of what we do; advances interdisciplinary teaching and learning to reflect the complex ways that our minds and the world work; and dismantles the barriers which impede the development of the schools that we all want for the children of our community.  

Over the past three years, we have refined and communicated that vision, shared our multi-year thinking about how to make it a reality, and designed a staffing plan to make it come to life.  And now, through the 2025-26 school year budget, we anticipate completing that staffing plan to make the Vision Map a long-term reality, in and for our schools.  

The 2025-26 school district budget serves to advance the implementation of the Vision Map by:

• Completing our pedagogical coaching model district-wide by introducing an Instructional Coaching position to PVC;
• Enabling CHHS to offer a significant number of innovative new interdisciplinary core courses through the addition of an English faculty position;
• Strengthening the counseling supports available to students at CET through the hiring of a new Clinical Support position;
• Responding to the increasingly complex academic and social/emotional realities of students at CHHS through the addition of a School Counselor position.

The Vision Map has always been about the potential of our amazing schools, and all public schools.  Through the 2025-26 budget process, we are thrilled to envision how this boundless potential continues to become a product - innovative, joyful, inspiring schools - for all Tigers.

The proposed budget includes the addition or increase of the following positions to support our vision of “What School Can Be” and reimagining learning for our students:

• One (1) English teacher at CHHS
• One (1) School Counselor at CHHS
• One (1) Clinical Staff Member (School Psychologist or Counselor) at CET
• One (1) Pedagogical (Instructional) Coach position at PVC

The district is currently engaged in a Future Facilities Project (FFP). (Detailed information is available here on our website. This budget supports the FFP by adding the following items: smartboard technology in our Innovative Learning Center, digital displays in the HS cafeteria, window tinting at the HS, and additional security cameras. 

The district believes that technology plays a key role in helping students connect, collaborate, and solve real-world problems. It must also optimize security and create bandwidth. The budget funds technology & innovation that focuses on four goals:

• Enhancing infrastructure for improved performance and reliability.
• Ensuring equitable access to devices and tools for all students and faculty.
• Expanding professional development to empower staff and enhance instructional practices.
• Enhancing our ability to provide student-centered, passion-driven, learning experiences