Beacon City School District Superintendent Matt Landau said the district will put an $87,720,000 budget on the ballot for a May 20 vote that represents a 4.61% budget-to-budget increase and leaves the district’s tax levy at the state cap.

The proposed spending plan, Landau said during a recorded webinar presentation, funds classroom staffing and student supports and includes continued work on a voter-approved capital project. “This budget that we’ve been developing represents our values as a district,” Landau said, adding that the plan emphasizes academic excellence, communication and outreach, a culture of care, and facilities and fiscal sustainability.

The budget funds initiatives Landau and Deputy Superintendent and Business Official Ann Marie Cortorone described as new or expanded for 2025–26: summer transition and AP/college-prep workshops for high-school-bound students, a site-based mental-health clinic at Roundabout Middle School in partnership with Aster, a secondary-level program called Bright to help students return from hospital settings and those with school reluctance, a half-time speech teacher to support students with IEPs, additional elementary intervention teachers, and professional development focused on the science of reading.

The presentation also summarized multi-year capital work voters approved in 2024. Cortorone said the roughly $49.9 million capital project will be implemented primarily in 2026–2028 and highlights include additional secure school entrances (after prior work at Glenna), cooling centers and air conditioning in classrooms (the district hopes to reach about 50% of rooms), roofing and HVAC upgrades, drainage and playing-surface work for Beacon High School baseball and softball fields, resurfacing of tennis courts, and renovations to the Seager Theatre used by the district and community groups.

On the revenue side, Landau and Cortorone said the levy is at the allowable cap under New York’s tax-cap calculation, which includes a tax-base growth factor (allowable increases tied in part to new construction) and a capital exclusion that restores debt-service payments for principal and interest. Cortorone said Beacon’s tax-base growth factor is the highest in Dutchess County because of local new construction and that voter approval of the capital project in May 2024 increases the capital exclusion this year.

The district offered several illustrative tax-impact scenarios using current assessment values from the prior year: with a median assessed home value of $420,200, the presenters estimated an annual tax increase of about $240 (roughly $20 per month) under that calculation. Cortorone also showed a “5% assessment” scenario—intended as a conservative projection—where the same median home would see an estimated $31 annual increase (about $2.58 per month) because rising assessments and new properties on the tax roll spread the levy across more taxable value. The presenters repeatedly noted that assessments for the coming tax calculations are not yet final and called the slide-set a worst-case illustration using last year’s values.

Cortorone warned that a failed budget could force steep program cuts. If voters reject the budget and a second proposed budget also fails, she said the district would be required to adopt a contingency budget. For this year, Cortorone said the contingency cuts would total approximately $2.4 million and “would severely impact our program,” including possible reductions to class-size initiatives, extracurricular clubs and other services described earlier.

On outside funding and program risk, Cortorone said the district receives federal funding—Title funds and special-education aid, which she identified as Sections 611 and 619—totaling about $1,384,000 and that those federal funds are not part of the proposition voters will see. “If for some reason the federal government does not give us this money, then we would have to incorporate at least $1,300,000 of things into the general fund budget,” Cortorone said.

Transportation items discussed included previously approved bus propositions. Landau said last year voters approved two propositions that together fund five buses—some diesel/gas and two battery-electric vehicles—and that those five buses are expected to be delivered in the summer and early fall. The district received a New York State grant to offset the EV buses and charger costs, Landau said, and added that all school buses are eligible for transportation aid at the district’s aid ratio of 54.2 percent. He also noted the state budget bill updated the timetable for a statewide EV-bus purchase requirement, extending the effective date to 2029 for most districts.

Landau flagged a late-breaking change to state law that will affect daily student routines: a statewide ban on student possession of internet-capable devices during the school day. “Students will have to store away…cell phones, Apple Watches, all that kind of stuff for the entirety of the school day,” Landau said, adding that the state budget includes some funding for districts that choose to purchase device-storage systems such as pouches. He said the district is reviewing options and the community will receive additional details by email and on the district website.

The presenters closed with outreach plans and voting logistics. The district recorded the webinar and posted the slide deck on its website, said Landau. Voting locations for the May 20 election, Landau said, are Beacon High School for City of Beacon residents and Glenum Elementary for Town of Fishkill and Town of Wappingers residents; polls open 6 a.m. and close 9 p.m. The district also noted three unopposed candidates for the Board of Education on the same ballot: Meredith Ewer, Catherine Beshemi and Semra Eerson.

Landau and Cortorone encouraged questions via the webinar Q&A and follow-up by email and said staff will continue community outreach through PTO meetings and an in-person session the district planned for the week before the vote. No board action or vote took place during the webinar; the presentation was informational and intended to inform the May 20 ballot question and related community decisions.