White Plains School Board Meets and Budgets in 2012

• An update was made to the second paragraph of this article to offer more information on the special education STAR program, as well as calendar changes

The White Plains School District will remember retired staff member Alice Neumann at the ’s first meeting of 2012 on Monday, Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the .

Superintendent of School Dr. Christopher Clouet will offer his report on the special education STAR program for the board to discuss along with other special education initiatives as budget season progesses.

The superintendent will also explain calendar changes, to change the date of a conference day in light of recent changes to state testing schedules. 

and calendar changes. The school board will vote on setting the 2012-13 budget vote and election on Tuesday, May 15.

“Next year’s budget will be a tremendous challenge, responding to the state-imposed 2 percent property tax levy cap, in addition to the difficult economic situation," said Board President Rosemarie Eller, on the district’s website. "With proposed carry-forward increases of $4.5 million in salaries, pension costs and reductions in aid—the district will need to consider about $1 million in budget reductions to remain within the cap.”

The board will hold four public budget forums, where the district will seek input on the budget from the community. The budget forums will be held on:

• Wednesday, Jan. 11:  7:30 p.m. at (B-1 Room)
• Wednesday, Jan. 18: 7:30 p.m. at 
• Wednesday, March 14: 7:30 p.m. at
• Wednesday, March 21: 7:30 p.m. at (B-1)

The board will have its final review of the proposed 2012-13 budget on March 26 and will adopt a budget to go to voters on April 16. Copies of the proposed budget will be available at each school on April 30. The district will have a public hearing on the budget on May 7 before voters weigh in on it on voting/election day. 

Click here for the full 2012-13 budget calendar

Additional meetings will take place with staff and within the community—groups and organizations interested in hosting a meeting can contact the superintendent’s office at (914) 422-2033.   

All are invited to attend meetings to focus on how to prioritize and spend funds efficiently and creatively in light of the current local and state financial realities relating to the budget.

“We hope to work together with the community to develop a budget that maintains the high quality of education in White Plains and that is fiscally responsible and can be supported by the taxpayers in the May 15^th vote,” said Clouet, on the district’s website. 

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