East Ramapo plans 0‑based budget, urges public to press for full Foundation Aid before May 20 vote

Interim Superintendent of Schools Anthony DeCarlo and Assistant Superintendent for Business Eric Stark said the East Ramapo Central School District will pursue a 0‑based budget this year and asked the public to press state officials to fully fund Foundation Aid as the district prepares for a May 20 budget vote.

DeCarlo said the district has not received its full share of state Foundation Aid and called the shortfall "tens of 1,000,000 of dollars," urging residents to "write letters to call your local officials" about full funding. He framed the appeal as central to what the district could accomplish with additional resources.

The district’s budget differs from many others because of a large nonpublic student population, officials said. "In most districts, your salaries and benefits make up approximately 85% of your budget, but because we have such a large transportation budget, in our case, that's probably closer to 65 70%," Stark said, explaining that transportation and special education drive a larger share of expenditures in East Ramapo.

Officials described the process and timeline for the 2025 budget. Stark said the budget process begins in November with administrators and principals; presentations to the board start in January. "In early March, we have to send a draft of our budget up to commissioner Rosa. In early April, we will ask the board to adopt the budget and put that budget up to vote in, in May," Stark said. DeCarlo reminded listeners to "mark your calendars as May 20th" for the budget vote and trustee elections.

Stark said the district is adopting a 0‑based budgeting approach, asking each director, supervisor and principal to justify what they need rather than simply building on last year’s numbers: "We are going back to 0 and we're doing a 0 based budget, which means we're not taking last year's number and then building on it." DeCarlo and Stark said that staffing in transportation and special education has been reduced following several years of 0% tax levy increases and that those departments are currently understaffed, contributing to longer response times for services.

DeCarlo said a recent town hall at Spring Valley High School included student requests for more honors classes and electives; he said planned staffing additions in the budget would respond to those requests and aim to help students be more competitive for college and the job market. "The students voices were very clear and they specifically talked about honors classes and they specifically talked about electives," DeCarlo said.

The district described these steps as preparatory work: staff will continue refining revenue estimates as the state releases aid figures, the board will review drafts, and the public will vote on the final budget and trustees on May 20. No formal board action or vote occurred during this Superintendents Corner discussion.

The district asked the public to engage with elected officials on Foundation Aid funding and noted that final revenue numbers from the state will determine the expenditure side of the budget before the board adopts a proposal in early April.