MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. — The Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education voted 5-4 Tuesday to approve “Option 2,” a school building reconfiguration plan that calls for closing three district schools and advancing a reorganization needed to address enrollment and budget pressures.

The vote followed more than two hours of debate among trustees who said the board needed additional analysis, clearer communication with the public and more time to vet competing data before deciding. The motion passed after a roll-call poll that recorded five affirmative votes and four nays.

Why it matters: The board’s choice to move forward with Option 2 starts a sequence of budgeting, staffing and state-submission steps that trustees said must be completed before the district’s March 1 deadline to submit a final reorganization plan to the New York State Education Department. Opponents said the district has not answered key questions about enrollment counts, outstanding bond debt on buildings and whether prekindergarten enrollment was included in BOCES demographic numbers.

Trustees who pushed for a delay said they had received new documents only the previous weekend and that public stakeholders — including the PTA council — had asked for more time. “I would like to just ask the board to consider maybe delaying the vote tonight for, maybe for our next board meeting possibly,” said Trustee Maribel, who urged additional work sessions. Trustee McDonough, who provided a written analysis to the board, said in part, “considering the request from the PTA, I suggest post postponing tonight's special meeting. My understanding is that the final reorg plan is not due to the New York State Education Department until March 1st.”

Concerns raised during debate included:

- Enrollment discrepancies: Trustees asked why the BOCES reorganization report dated Dec. 3, 2024 showed 6,907 students while a December 6 town-hall presentation used a lower November figure of 6,578. District staff and an administrator said the differences largely reflect whether prekindergarten and certain grant-funded seats were included and that enrollment is a snapshot that fluctuates over time. The district noted pre-K is grant-funded and that the district currently supports about $3,000,000 of pre-K costs from the general fund.

- Bond debt and repair history: Trustees asked for the outstanding bond debt tied to particular buildings so the board could weigh closure decisions against reimbursement and financing constraints. District staff said only very large outstanding debt (roughly $10 million or more) would be treated as a dispositive reason to keep a building open, while amounts of $1–2 million would be unlikely to be considered significant in that calculation.

- Process and transparency: Multiple trustees and public commenters said reorganization work had proceeded in committees and occasional executive sessions, leaving some board members and the public without the same materials. Trustee Mitchell and others argued for two public work sessions to allow stakeholders to ask detailed questions before finalizing the plan. Trustee Mitchell said, “We have not presented it in a fashion that is acceptable and tangible, digestible to the public, to the stakeholders.”

- Authority and timing: Trustees asked whether the acting superintendent had the legal authority to bring reconfiguration proposals forward. District legal counsel (on the record as in-house counsel) told the board that an acting superintendent “has all the powers of the superintendent to do everything and anything that the superintendent will do,” and that the superintendent’s role is to present proposals for the board to decide.

- Layoffs: Trustees said they had been told by leadership that delaying a vote could increase layoffs. When asked if delaying one week would change layoff outcomes, the acting superintendent said the week would not affect whether layoffs occur: “the week will not make a difference in terms of laying off people.” Human-resources staff told trustees they were not prepared to provide an immediate, reliable estimate of the number of layoffs at the meeting.

Votes and motion: The motion on the floor was to approve Mount Vernon City School District Option 2, the school building reconfiguration plan. The clerk polled the board; trustees Saunders, Kelly, Kerwin, White and Njenga voted yes. Trustees Middleton, Mitchell, Maribel and McDonough voted no. The motion carried, 5–4. The resolution language recorded at the meeting directed the district to proceed with Option 2 and related reorganization steps. The motion’s mover and seconder were not specified on the record during the meeting.

What the vote does and does not say: The board approved the district moving forward under Option 2 and the associated reconfiguration process. The recording and discussion named two schools specifically as part of the proposal — Parker and Honor Academy — but speakers also said three schools would be closed under Option 2; the meeting record did not spell out the third building by name during the discussion. Trustees opposing the motion said the specific selection of buildings needed more public vetting and written evidence, including BOCES reports and bond accounting.

Next steps: Trustees and staff discussed preparing the budget and state submission materials that follow a reconfiguration decision. Several trustees urged the board to schedule public work sessions to address outstanding data and to provide greater transparency ahead of implementation. The board has a regular meeting scheduled the following week, and trustees may raise reintroduction or procedural motions consistent with Robert's Rules if they seek to revisit the matter.

[Votes at a glance]
- Motion: Approve Mount Vernon City School District Option 2 (school building reconfiguration; close three schools). Outcome: Approved 5–4. Yea: Saunders, Kelly, Kerwin, White, Njenga. Nay: Middleton, Mitchell, Maribel, McDonough.

The board’s discussion and the vote will lead to administrative work on the district budget, staff assignments and the March 1 submission to the New York State Education Department.