Rye School District Public Budget Vote On Tuesday

RYE, NY — The voters will have the final say on the proposed school budget on Tuesday.

The proposed budget is $99,477,734, with a 5.56 percent increase over the 2021-22 spending package.

School officials said the tax levy will increase by 2.54 percent if the budget is approved by voters later this month. This will amount to about $504.85 more a year per average homeowner.

"In addition to maintaining all current programs and supporting class sizes, the budget includes funding to support increased mental health services by adding a full-time school counselor to be shared between the elementary schools and to fund the continued use of contracted ESS counselors at the Middle and High School. It also funds a Therapeutic Support Services social worker who will provide acute mental health support and transitional services for students and families," said Superintendent Eric Byrne.

Other highlights include:

• three staff for special education support
• funding of debt service payment for the district's capital project which resulted in secure vestibule entrances at all schools, the new turf field, tarp and track at Nugent Stadium, HVAC upgrades to improve air ventilation, boiler replacement at Milton School, the High School and Middle School, roof repairs, bathroom renovations, ADA-compliance work and technology needs.

There will also be a proposition on the ballot to authorize the use of unspent lunch fund reserves to fund an HVAC project in the Rye High School Cafeteria. This is a tax-neutral proposition and will result in no additional cost to taxpayers.

There are two available Board of education seats. The candidates for the Rye school board seats running unopposed are:

• Jennifer Boyle (BOE President)
• Jane Anderson (BOE Vice-President)

The annual budget vote and board election will be from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on May 17 at the Rye Middle School gymnasium.

Voting information can be found here.