Administration presents revised $92.7M budget; board debates levy strategy and long-term fiscal trade-offs

Cornwall Central School District administrators presented a revised 2025–26 budget of approximately $92,700,000 at the Board of Education's March 10 work session and recommended a preliminary tax-levy increase of 2.5 percent, down from an earlier 3 percent figure.

The revised budget figure and levy recommendation framed an extended board discussion about long-term fiscal strategy. Administration said the $92.7 million figure reflected personnel changes driven largely by attrition: the district reported 10 teacher retirements this year, five of which administration said they would replace through the standard hiring process and five that could be backfilled through staff redistribution as enrollment and program needs shift.

“By doing this there's no teachers or staff who are cut or eliminated and we have…