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Pelham board and staff debate budget trade-offs, residency reviews and a small clerical hire to speed e-registration
Summary
At its April 9 meeting the Pelham Union Free School District board and staff reviewed the 2025-26 budget proposal, discussed a projected drop in building aid, considered using additional debt-service reserves to lower the tax levy, and weighed adding a part-time clerical role to accelerate electronic re-registration and residency verification.
The Pelham Union Free School District Board of Education and district staff spent the April 9 meeting focused on final questions about the 2025-26 school budget, a planned move toward more electronic student registration and how the district handles residency investigations.
Board President Jackie (last name not specified) opened discussion by reminding the public that the board will vote on the budget next Tuesday and said the proposal aims to “control our biggest expense — our teachers — while not disturbing robust programming.”
District staff described the budget drivers and options. A major revenue shift in the proposal is the scheduled decline in state building aid tied to prior capital projects; staff said that drop is roughly $850,000 and was expected. Finance staff noted the district’s foundation and transportation aid came in favorably this year, and that overall state aid remains positive despite the building-aid reduction.
“Absent that drop off, you could see a year-to-year increase of about 2.4 percent,” said a finance staff member identified in the meeting as Jim. The…
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