New Rochelle board opens public hearing on 2025–26 budget as residents plead to spare teachers

The City School District of New Rochelle Board of Education convened a public hearing May 20 on its proposed 2025–26 budget, during which Superintendent Dr. Reynolds told the board the district faces a roughly $33 million shortfall and is proposing a 3.95% tax-levy increase to reduce the gap.

Dr. Reynolds said, "if we were to take every operation with every person that we have this year currently in place today, and roll it over to July first of 2025, the new fiscal year, we would see a deficit of $30,000,000 $33,000,000." He said a 3.95% levy would reduce that shortfall to about $20.2 million and that closing the entire gap through taxes would require a 12.53% increase.

The presentation and subsequent public comment period focused on staffing cuts and program reductions outlined by the district as part of efforts to close the deficit. Community members, teachers and union representatives urged the board to spare classroom positions and preserve programs they said are critical for equity and student outcomes.

Resident and frequent commenter Vince Malfitano asked the district for a full accounting of positions affected and questioned some transportation and charter-related spending, saying, "Who do you really represent? The powered interest in town?" Several other speakers criticized administrative staffing levels and asked that the district consider deeper administrative cuts rather than classroom layoffs.

Tom McTigue, a fifth-grade teacher and FUSE building representative, said staffing reductions remain painful even after recent restorations. "Losing even 1 position is too many," he said, and argued that duplicated central-office roles have left fewer resources for frontline educators.

Mary Claire Breslin, president of the FUSE union, said the union opposes cuts to teaching staff but urged voters to approve the budget to avoid a worse outcome. "Despite our disagreement with the choices made, Fuse recognizes a yes vote for the school budget is essential to preserve our public schools," she said, and announced union-led outreach to support the budget vote.

Teachers and parents raised program-specific concerns: Lizette Gongora, a world-language teacher at Isaac Middle School, said reductions have disproportionately affected languages and elementary world-language offerings and warned the cuts could leave students unable to earn promised high-school foreign-language credit. Dr. Reynolds responded the district had planned to remove elementary foreign language but, after reallocating $1.2 million of the $1.9 million set aside for a proposed charter school, had restored some elementary language staffing and planned to apply the restored positions districtwide.

The superintendent said the reallocated charter reserve funds were a deliberate partial drawdown because state charter rules allow a charter operator to open during the school year and the district wanted to hold funds in reserve in case the charter opened earlier than anticipated. He said the reallocation restored staffing that included "5 foreign language teachers, 1 attendance teacher, and 3 reading teachers." An earlier public commenter had referenced the restoration of "7 or so positions," and the superintendent's staff outlined the specific categories restored at the hearing.

Speakers also pressed the district on special education spending and services. Taylor Tanner, a special-education staff member, urged more training and support for special-education staff to reduce reliance on out-of-district placements; another commenter said the district spends roughly $5 million annually on out-of-district placements for about 100 children. The superintendent and other administrators said the budget as presented does not eliminate special-education services and noted state reporting and legal requirements have driven some administrative staffing increases.

On administrative staffing, the superintendent cited New York State Education Department (NYSED) data showing New Rochelle reported 49 district-level administrative titles for the 2023–24 reporting year and said the proposed budget would reduce district administrators by 11 (to 77), returning that figure close to pre-COVID levels. Critics including McTigue and several parents argued the district remains top-heavy.

Questions about local development and payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) also surfaced. Dr. Reynolds said PILOTs are payments in lieu of taxes negotiated with developers over time and told the public the district's budget for PILOT revenue for 2026 is $6,009,276.

Board members and district staff repeatedly told speakers that certain personnel and student information cannot be discussed in public because of privacy and that more detail on individual personnel impacts may be provided after required notifications. Dr. Reynolds said the district must follow the statutory probationary and tenure timelines under New York state law before completing layoffs for employees who are on tenure tracks.

The hearing included several formal board motions and votes. The board moved into executive session earlier in the evening to discuss personnel matters and later reconvened the public meeting for the hearing. During the regular meeting that followed the hearing, the board approved minutes from prior meetings and several consent-agenda resolutions, including multiple personnel and general resolutions as listed in the meeting agenda.

Why it matters: The hearing comes amid what the district describes as a multi‑million-dollar operating deficit and ahead of a May 20 budget vote. Community speakers and union leaders said cuts to classroom staff and programs will directly affect students and the district's equity goals; district leaders said legal requirements, rising costs and constrained revenue options have limited choices.

The board recessed the public hearing and moved to the regular meeting later in the evening, where several consent items and minutes were approved. Several speakers asked for more transparent, earlier engagement in next year’s budget process and for the district to provide additional breakdowns of affected positions and timelines for recalls and reassignments.

Ending note: Board members who moved the formal motions during the meeting included trustees Castellano Minaya, Lewis, Ross and Williams; Dr. Reynolds and district staff said they will follow up with families and staff with additional information where appropriate.