Superintendent delivers first 2025–26 budget presentation; board adopts routine personnel, policy and opt‑out votes

The Yorktown Central School District Board of Education heard its first presentation on the 2025–26 budget on Jan. 13, with Superintendent Dr. Hatter outlining program priorities while noting that key revenue and tax‑cap calculations from the state remain pending.

The presentation covered enrollment trends, staffing drivers, health‑insurance and pension projections, the district’s use of reserves, and next steps and timelines for budget adoption. Dr. Hatter said the district will present department budgets through March, deliver a final superintendent’s budget on March 24 and expects to adopt the budget on April 21, with the public budget hearing on May 12 and the budget vote and trustee election on May 20, 2025 (7 a.m.–9 p.m. at French Hill Elementary School).

Why it matters: the district must set spending levels within the state’s tax‑cap framework and without final foundation‑aid numbers from the governor and Legislature. Dr. Hatter told the board the administration is aligning staffing to enrollment and student needs while remaining “sensitive to taxpayers.” He repeatedly emphasized that several inputs—state aid, tax cap growth factors and certain enrollment impacts from local housing—were not yet confirmed and will shape final decisions.

Key details from the presentation

- Enrollment and staffing: the district is forecasting relatively flat total enrollment but cautioned that incoming kindergarten numbers and new residential developments could change projections. A recent 27‑unit development (Krompon Crossing, near the BJ’s area) produced roughly 43 students (about 1.3 students per unit) in prior experience, a figure the superintendent used as a planning reference.

- Student needs: the district said classification rates…