The East Ramapo School District continues to face a budget crisis, with fewer tax dollars and resources at its disposal. Last year, the district endured a drawn-out budget process that voters eventually rejected. That $200.5 million budget included an 8.8 percent property tax increase and raised spending by 2.31 percent.
The Ramapo Central School Board is currently holding budget workshops related to its 2012-2013 budget proposal, which is scheduled to be presented to the public in April of this year. Currently, the Ramapo Central School Board is reviewing budget impacts the new New York State Tax Cap will have as well as the cost of total employee benefits. The board recently determined to opt-out of the Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee Assessment Relief Act.
The district’s poverty level has reached an all-time high, with 70.3 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. At the same time, the Title 1 funds that help poor students have been cut back because poor academic performance — regarding the economic environment of the East Ramapo School District.
SPRING VALLEY — The East Ramapo school district has a hard road ahead as it seeks to provide effective education with fewer resources while meeting the state’s new tax levy cap next school year. That was the message of Superintendent of Schools Joel Klein, who floated a $202 million budget proposal for the 2012-13 school year tonight.
The proposal would increase spending by slightly more than 2 percent, or about $4 million. But even if the district keeps expenses flat, it faces a $15 million budget shortfall in order to keep within the tax levy cap, Klein told the Board of Education and members of the public.
