East Ramapo presents 2025–26 budget that holds tax levy flat while funding staff and repairs

Interim Superintendent Anthony DeCaul and Assistant Superintendent for Business Eric Stark presented the East Ramapo Central School District’s proposed 2025–26 budget at a board meeting, saying the draft holds the property tax levy flat while increasing the overall spending plan to address staffing and facility needs.

DeCaul said the budget “really looks at investing in the future of our students,” and framed the proposal as a multi-year strategy rather than a one-year plan. He told the board the district is prioritizing instructional supports, social‑emotional services and targeted building repairs.

The administration said the draft revenue budget relies on a large state aid increase that allows the district to avoid raising the levy. "We are keeping the tax levy, flat at 0% increase," Eric Stark said, explaining that the state provided roughly $16.19 million in additional aid for the district overall, including about $12.8 million tied to Foundation Aid increases. Stark said the district’s total revenue budget shown in the presentation is about $167 million and that the proposed expenditure budget rises by $9.64 million.

Stark and DeCaul described how adjustments and reclassifications reduced some line items without cutting services. Stark said general education and special education lines fall largely because prior years’ expenditures were miscoded and have now been corrected. The presentation also shows a near $10 million reduction in the transportation line and roughly $2 million removed from debt‑service estimates for revenue anticipation notes because of a healthier fund balance.

DeCaul outlined specific staffing and program priorities that the administration proposes to fund within the increased budget: additional teacher assistants in elementary kindergarten classrooms, district‑level clerical and human resources support, expanded social‑emotional staffing and instructional coaches. He said the district plans to fill “more than 200” positions overall to restore capacity the district lost in prior years and to match current enrollment, which he cited as about 10,200 students.

Stark warned of a funding risk tied to federal grants: “We will not be receiving some of the federal aid money that was promised through the ESSER ARP grant,” he said, adding that changes at the federal level have put some grant‑funded positions at risk and that districts statewide are monitoring that situation. The administration described an explicit objective to shift positions previously paid from federal grants into the general fund where possible, but said ongoing federal decisions could affect that plan.

On recruiting and compensation, Stark said the district settled four contracts this year that raise wages to roughly market rates in Rockland County, which he said will help hiring. The administration also described active recruiting efforts—local job fairs, partnerships with universities and hiring committees intended to speed filling priority roles.

Capital and facilities needs were emphasized. DeCaul cited deteriorated parking lots and aging boilers; the presentation shows an interfund transfer plan that would direct about $5.5 million toward capital repairs including parking lots and boiler replacement. Stark said the district also allocated funds to replace two boilers that he described as more than 50 years old.

DeCaul emphasized budgeting method and transparency: "This was all based on a 0 based budget... We started from ground 0," he said, noting the administration reviewed needs rather than rolling prior budgets forward. He urged community engagement on the budget, saying residents should evaluate whether the plan is "fiscally responsible" and meets student needs.

Next steps the presenters described include ongoing communications with the public (newsletters and informational material) and continued monitoring of federal grant developments. The presentation contained no formal vote on the budget during the portion of the meeting in the provided transcript.