Katonah-Lewisboro board reviews instructional budget, recommends 3 FTE additions and cuts contingency slots; parent raises safety concerns

The Katonah-Lewisboro Union Free School District Board of Education reviewed the instructional side of the 2025–26 budget in a workshop meeting, with administrators outlining curriculum investments, enrollment projections and staffing recommendations.

Administrators told the board they are proposing two additional elementary sections—one at Katonah Elementary and one at Increase Miller—and a 1.0 full-time-equivalent to support eighth-grade teams at John Dean Middle School. The presentation also recommended reducing the number of contingency positions from four to three and monitoring 3–5 nonclassroom reductions through attrition before any final staffing decisions are made.

"We try to keep our non-salary budgets relatively flat while directing resources into textbooks and instructional materials," said Lisa (Speaker 6), an administration presenter who led the instructional overview. She highlighted professional learning investments—PLC training, consultants and partnerships with BOCES—and the district's move to purchase decodable texts, Amplify Science materials and math manipulatives.

Administrators described the enrollment basis for staffing: kindergarten is projected at 208 students for September 2025 with 11 staff, and demographers (BOCES) supplied the projections after reviewing multi-year trends. A district presenter (Speaker 12) said the demographers use three- to seven-year historical movement to estimate cohort sizes and cautioned that small swings of two or three students rarely force immediate staffing changes.

Board members sought clarity on the projection methods and the drivers of rising salary lines. One board member asked whether the roughly $746,000 increase in the elementary salary line was driven mainly by step movement; administrators replied that contractual step increases plus two added FTEs and other step-related movement explain most of the change. The board was told retirements also affect where salary pressure appears in school-specific lines.

On district revenue, the administration said planning has been adjusted after an "unanticipated drop" of about $850,000 in state aid tied to the wealth factor and enrollment adjustments. The administration stressed it is trying to protect classroom services while meeting the expenditure target.

The presentation covered middle- and high-school materials, too: John Dean Middle School leaders described community-building events and a proposal to convert two 0.5 positions into 1.0 positions to enable eighth-grade teams. High-school presenters outlined a projected enrollment decline (from roughly 912 to about 874 projection), retirements that moderate salary line increases, and textbook purchases (notably in world languages).

Administrators also reviewed special-education staffing, saying the district has developed an in-district continuum of services and has brought some previously contracted positions (for example, a BCBA) in-house, producing cost and programmatic effects on the special-services budget.

Formal actions taken during the meeting included a resolution on a school-physician decision. "Motion by Rory, seconded by Lorraine," the chair recorded, and the board voted to uphold the physician's decision by a 7–0 tally. The consent agenda was later approved unanimously as well.

During public comment, parent Craig Carroll (Speaker 17) said he has repeatedly raised safety concerns and pressed the district for clearer budget transparency on security and monitors. "This district clearly prioritizes kindness, openness, and inclusion over safety," Carroll said, and asked the board to consider assigned bus seating, bus monitors and more explicit budget line items for security. He said he expects the forthcoming Alteris assessment and urged more direct responses to parental concerns.

The board did not register a formal response to Carroll’s detailed FOIL and transparency requests within the meeting; administrators said an external safety assessment is forthcoming. The board plans to revisit staffing and budget details at its March meetings, and administrators said they will refine the tentative reductions and contingency usage as enrollment numbers and retirements crystalize.

The board adjourned after approving the consent agenda; next regular business and further budget detail are scheduled for the March 13 board meeting.