Brewster Board of Education To Hold Budget Hearing Tuesday

BREWSTER, NY — The Brewster Board of Education will hold a hearing Tuesday on its proposed budget for 2021-22. Voters go to the polls May 18.

The spending plan of $104,903,457 is an increase of $693,210 or just 0.89 percent over the current budget.

One reason is that New York state increased Brewster’s allocation by $1.8 million, mostly due to an increase in Foundation Aid. Brewster has been historically underfunded according to the state's decades-old formula.

Brewster will also save money on personnel in the coming year. School district officials said the number of employees who opted to retire at the end of the school year was twice what they expected, and salary costs for new teachers will be lower. In the budget statement, they noted that all teaching positions, whether traditional classroom positions or interventionist, directly or indirectly lead toward lower class sizes for all students.

The budget therefore includes these new positions for next year:

• 1.0 FTE Teacher (Kindergarten [2020-21 mid-year addition])
• 1.0 FTE Teacher (2nd Grade)
• 1.0 FTE Teacher (3rd Grade)
• 1.0 FTE Bilingual Teacher (JFK [addresses mandate])
• 1.5 FTE Bilingual Teacher (WMS [addresses mandate])
• 1.5 FTE Bilingual Teacher (BHS [addresses mandate])
• 1.0 FTE Guidance & Social-Emotional Wellness Specialist (Teacher: K-12)
• 0.5 FTE Academic Intervention & Parent Outreach Specialist (Teacher: K-12)
• 1.4 FTE Cleaners [2020-21 mid-year addition]

In addition to the budget proposition, a transportation proposition will be on the ballot May 18 asking voter approval to spend $750,000 for bus/vehicle purchases under the district's multi-year replacement plan.

The budget hearing Tuesday starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be held on Zoom. Click here for attendance information.

School board candidates will also be on the ballot May 18, and this year it's complicated. For one thing, voters are filling two normal terms, one one-year term and one term that will start immediately and then last three years.

For another thing, there are four Board of Education seats up for election, but only three candidates filed the required petitions back in April to run for election to the school board.

One seat will be filled by the candidate with the highest number of votes for a term commencing May 18 and expiring on June 30, 2024; two seats will be filled by the candidates with the second-highest and third-highest number of votes for terms commencing July 1 and expiring June 30, 2024; and one seat will be filled by the candidate with the fourth-highest number of votes for a term commencing May 18 and expiring on June 30, 2022.

Candidates:

• Dehisy Jimenez-Vazquez
• Cynthia (MacGregor) Fox
• Erik Grutzner

Voters also have the opportunity to cast write-in votes. As is possible in any election, a write-in candidate may receive enough votes to be elected to a seat on the school board. In the event that there are no write-in candidates, or a winning candidate does not accept the board seat, after 30 days have passed after the election, the Board of Education has the option to either leave that seat vacant or appoint an individual to fill the seat until the May 2022 election.

The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. May 18 at Brewster High School. Click here for more info.