Mahopac board hears budget presentations: buses, safety upgrades and special-education staffing among top requests

Board members at the Mahopac Central School District meeting on March 19 heard a sequence of departmental budget presentations that together outlined capital, safety and staffing requests the administration said are driving next year’s spending plan.

Supervisor of Transportation Nina Volpe told the board the district is continuing a 12-year replacement plan and is asking to purchase five 65-passenger and four 30-passenger buses; she said the bus request totals about $1,200,000. Volpe also cited equipment and software upgrades, including a routing-system upgrade she estimated at about $71,000.

Troy Bilyeu, the district’s K–12 safety, security and compliance administrator, described completed work (swipe-door access and staff ID systems) and planned investments: a district-wide blue-light external alert system, a ranger vehicle to assist daily campus patrol, a district safety and security assessment with BOCES, and the installation of security film on main-entrance glazing in coordination with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department to slow forced entry.

Director of Special Education Jeffrey Cole said the district is projecting an increase in students who require intensive services; he described over 1,200 CSE meetings to date and requested additional occupational, speech and physical therapy capacity and a school psychologist at the high-school academy to address rising demand and to support placements the district provides that also generate tuition revenue.

Dr. Lawrence (Curriculum & Instruction) said the district plans to add another elementary-library media specialist, expand balanced-literacy resources into eighth grade, and continue the Project Lead The Way engineering program expansion; he also flagged a potential Air Force Junior ROTC program pending final approval that would require budgeting for two instructors.

Assistant Superintendent for Finance Operations Alyssa Murray reviewed revenue assumptions tied to the governor’s executive budget, characterizing a roughly 4.52 percent increase in the governor’s foundation-aid line used in planning. In the presentation she described a draft total budget figure characterized in the slides as roughly $142 million and a 3.25 percent budget-to-budget increase, with a proposed tax-levy increase of about 2.15 percent — all numbers presented as preliminary and contingent on final legislative and state-education decisions.

Trustees asked follow-up questions about how last year’s unexpected state-aid increases were used, the district’s reserves (including the tax-certiorari reserve set aside for ongoing litigation), and the accuracy of current enrollment projections after administrators reported a mid-year increase of about 148 students in several grades.

What this means: If approved, the administration’s requests would fund continued fleet replacement, expanded security measures and targeted staff additions in special education and curriculum. Administrators and trustees stressed that several figures remain tentative until the legislature finalizes state aid and until the board reviews the full budget at the April adoption meeting.