In 2012, the Newburgh School District faced a $14M gap. As a result of the budget gap at that time, 155 teaching and support staff positions were abolished. People lost their jobs that year. Taxes increased. This information is chronicled in our local media.

In 2023, during my first year as Superintendent, the District faced a $16M gap. As a result of my leadership, zero people were laid off. Nobody lost their job as a result of the budget. The tax levy remained flat.

In 2024, during this budget season, the District faced an initial gap of approximately $20M. As a result of my leadership, only two part-time employees were laid off as a result of the budget and we hope to secure positions for them in the near future. The tax levy increased slightly for the first time in 9 years.

Before my time here, the District utilized temporary COVID funding to support positions. Despite the temporary funding ending in September, the district has absorbed as much of those costs as possible while maintaining as many of those positions as possible.

The District recently received the results of an audit conducted by representatives from the New York State Education Department that reviewed the use of American Rescue Plan monies, the temporary COVID funding. The audit found that the District met the requirements outlined for proper use of the five federal funding streams.

My education and professional experience include school finance, human resources, curriculum and instruction, student support services, school leadership, and classroom instruction. Having performed in these various roles has provided me with the knowledge, skill, and will to drive this district forward. When I first arrived in the district, I began my focus on fiscal health and human resources, as requested by the Board of Education that hired me. I led my team as we reviewed our circumstances at the start of my leadership of the District and began strategically planning for the future.

I have recently completed a staffing review and mini-audit that led to the decision to abolish pedagogical (teaching) and non-pedagogical positions (support staff) that were no longer needed to support our students.

In order to address literacy and numeracy across the district, we will continue to build the capacity of our faculty and staff to meet the needs of our students. Specialized training and supplemental resources will continue to be at the forefront of our planning.

I would like to reiterate the primary focus of developing this year’s budget - fiscal responsibility. I have focused on the fiscal health of our school district, with two concepts at the forefront.

First, I have focused on tightening our human resources to ensure we are properly supporting our scholars while minimizing redundancies and combining classes with low enrollment. We continuously do this by analyzing our needs. This year, we offered retirement incentives, that are strategically used to reduce payroll costs.

Second, I have also focused on best practices. It is not fiscally responsible to continue to drain our reserves without going out to our local share.

During this budget season, my team and I shared at least eight presentations and at least 10 communications specifically on the budget. It is concerning that members of our community are being led by disinformation, when our process has been clear, transparent, and readily available on our website.

Can we do better? Absolutely. However, we are better together. My hope for our community is that we focus on credible sources of information and become more actively involved in supporting our children. We each play a critical role in educating our students. I am hopeful for the spirit of collaboration that I know our community is capable of achieving.