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Residents press Highland Falls board over $7.2M school reserve and special‑education outsourcing
Summary
Multiple residents questioned why the district holds a $7.2 million reserve while sending roughly 50 students to out‑of‑district special‑education programs; some urged an independent audit and demanded a clearer breakdown of reserve use and outside placements.
At the workshop, residents repeatedly asked why the district’s fund balance reached roughly $7.2 million and how those reserves interact with uncertain impact aid. One attendee said the reserve figure and continued outsourcing of special‑education students is unacceptable and called for an independent audit of district finances and the unused building on Mount Avenue.
The superintendent responded that some special placements are driven by room and resource constraints and that the district has added special‑education teachers over the years. He also said the district uses impact aid in its revenue picture and that the fund balance fluctuates annually depending on expenditures and reimbursements. "We do use money out of it," the superintendent said, describing past uses for flood recovery and noting that fund balance is a point‑in‑time calculation (speaker 2). Residents argued for a line‑by‑line breakdown of reserves and how interest on those funds is used; one commenter demanded clarity on whether interest earned is being applied to school revenue. The board agreed to follow up with more specifics and noted the state audit context referenced by attendees.
