Hoosic Valley board approves 3% tax levy, adopts budget cuts and reserve draws ahead of June 16 vote

The Hoosic Valley Central School District Board of Education approved a package of budget measures that relies on a 3% property‑tax levy increase and $134,109 in reserve draws to reduce a previously reported deficit and place related propositions on the June 16, 2026 ballot.

Superintendent (identified in the meeting as the district superintendent) told the board the administrative team had worked to find reductions "that would have the least effect on our students," and summarized six recommended cuts totaling $283,490. He said the originally presented deficit of about $417,599 would fall to roughly $134,109 if the board adopted those reductions and the 3% levy passed.

The recommendation included eliminating one elementary reading‑teacher tenure position (the district currently reported five reading teachers across buildings), reducing a .6 physical‑education position used for class coverage and substitute duties, contracting IT support to Questar III to replace a planned district IT administrator (estimated $40,000 savings), and cutting $40,000 from the Chromebook replacement line to extend device replacement cycles. Administrators also proposed reducing the outsourced Young Scholars Program in elementary grades and suspending second‑year mentoring for newly hired administrators.

Business manager Jody Barcher explained recommended reserve draws to finance the shortfall: "We would pull from our savings accounts or reserve and I would make the recommendation to take $100,000 from the ERF reserve," which she said would leave an estimated balance of about $975,000. She also recommended $34,109 from the debt‑service reserve, describing that fund as mandatory and noting the projected year‑end balance after the draw would be about $650,000.

Administrators said the proposed budget, after the reductions, would reduce total expenditures to just under $25 million and that updated state aid calculations (an increase noted from a previously assumed 1% to 2% state increase) add roughly $90,000 in revenue to the district. The superintendent said the 3% levy equates to a levy increase of approximately $276,871; he and staff warned that if voters reject the levy on June 16 the district would revert to a contingency budget and need to identify roughly another $400,000 in cuts.

The board unanimously approved procedural motions to establish a special meeting for June 16, 2026 for the budget votes, to adopt the 2026‑27 budget at a 3% tax‑levy increase, and to place a capital‑reserve proposition on that same ballot. Each motion was moved, seconded and carried by voice vote; the transcript records board members responding "Aye" but does not record individual vote tallies or identify movers and seconders by name.

A resident offered public comment at the meeting's end, thanking the board for its work while urging that the district reduce the school resource officer (SRO) position rather than cutting a teacher: "I would have liked to see the SRO reduced rather than a teacher." The board adjourned after public comment.

Next steps: the district will present more detailed budget materials at the next budget hearing and the special meeting and ballot on June 16 will determine whether the 3% levy and the capital‑reserve proposition take effect.