Board reviews technology and curriculum budgets; agrees to fund one AP exam per student

The Eastport South Manor Board of Education received concurrent presentations March 26 on the technology and curriculum portions of the proposed 2025‑26 budget and reached a unanimous consensus to include district funding to pay for one Advanced Placement exam per student.

Doctor Carol Polney, director of technology, reviewed instructional and infrastructure work completed and planned for 2025‑26. Highlights included completion of a multiyear BenQ interactive display replacement project (212 installed with 54 additional units expected), the first Chromebook replacement cycle (Lenovo rugged Chromebooks provided to cohorts, with replacements planned for grades 3, 7 and 9), and additions to network security including a Centripetal real‑time filtering engine and continued use of KnowBe4 phishing training. Polney said the district completed a mechanical shutdown and tie‑in for the high‑school solar panels and is awaiting SCADA communications and utility steps to fully activate the system.

Polney described hardware and makerspace investments — Glowforge laser cutters, Dremel 3‑D printers, BECS robotics kits and Cricut machines — and new instructional software such as Brisk Teaching and Google Gemini for administrators. She told the board the district plans a phased phone‑system replacement and to migrate web hosting because the district’s current vendor (Syntax) will stop hosting district websites after June 2026. Polney said a successful E‑Rate filing could return about $31,000 next school year to offset eligible communications and firewall costs.

Assistant Superintendent John Christie outlined curriculum investments and staffing proposals that the budget would support. Christie said ARP‑funded programs the district adopted during the pandemic were scaled to preserve core instructional gains after federal funds ended in September 2024. Proposed staffing additions in the 2025‑26 operating budget include an elementary library media specialist at each building, two social workers (one assigned to K–2 and one to grades 7–8), and two elementary math specialists to support MTSS intervention and enrichment primarily in grades 3–6. The budget also expands Spanish instruction so all grade‑5 students will receive Spanish five days per week beginning in 2025‑26, Christie said.

Board members discussed the cost of AP exams. Christie presented an estimate that paying for each junior to take one AP exam would cost about $26,532 district‑wide. The board asked for and gave unanimous consensus to include funding for the district to pay for one AP exam per student; guidance staff will track exam usage and the district will pay for the first exam only, with families responsible for additional exams.

On the revenue side, business office staff presented preliminary figures showing a proposed total budget of about $119,069,650 (a 2.82% increase) and a proposed tax levy increase of 2.97. Business staff explained that the district’s levy exceeds the 2.0% statutory base because state formulas include allowable exclusions (for tax base growth and debt service) that increase the legal levy limit. State aid figures were not yet final at the meeting.

Board members asked that the finalized 2025‑26 school calendar — which the board approved on the consent agenda during the same meeting — be posted to the district website; staff said the short calendar would be published the following day and a full calendar would follow.