Byram Hills Unveils $96.9M School Budget for Next Year

A $96.9 million Byram Hills School District budget was proposed last week for 2022-23 that includes several teaching staff editions to address an anticipated enrollment increase.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jen Lamia introduced the spending plan at the Board of Education’s Mar. 8 meeting, ensuring that all students entering the district next year will have at a minimum an education that is equal to current students.

“We really want to make sure that the opportunities that we give are not just flashy, fantastic opportunities but that they will carry these students forward to the changes in their lives,” Lamia said.

Under the proposed budget, spending has been projected to increase by 1.78 percent.

Lamia proposed the equivalent of an additional 4.75 teaching positions throughout the district, mostly as a result of rising enrollment. While the projected increase in Lamia’s presentation estimated an enrollment increase of 19 students to 2,333, late information that arrived too late to be included in her PowerPoint bumped that increase up to about 40 students.

There would be two additional full-time kindergarten teachers as the district is being forced to go from eight to 10 sections in that grade next year, Lamia said. There would also be another elementary school special education teacher for a new program set to begin next year as well as to accommodate out-of-district student placements, she said.

Additional staff increases have all been requested at the high school – a .8 special education teacher, a .75 science teacher and a .2 math teacher.

In addition to rigorous academics, finding ways to have students enjoy their school experience through extracurricular activities, music or sports is important, Lamia said.

“The more that we can have students engage in the school that they are a part of, you feel like you’re part of a community here, and that should be our main goal for them,” Lamia said. “They shouldn’t feel like numbers, they should feel like participants.”

Key lines on the instructional side of the budget include about a 4 percent increase for special education to more than $10.8 million, said Assistant Superintendent for Business Kelly Seibert. Most of that increase reflects about three or four additional students that will have out-of-district placement next year, he said.

Guidance services is forecasted to rise by 5.5 percent to about $1.3 million, but social worker and psychological services will fall sharply, by 49.1 and by nearly 7 percent, respectively. There would be only $100,000 spent on social workers and $629,00 on psychological services.

A $2.9 million expenditure is proposed next year for plant maintenance, or about a 5.8 percent increase, for new equipment in the buildings including air conditioning and exhaust units. Pupil transportation will go up by 9 percent to $540,000, although some of that increased cost is a result of the district’s vehicle replacement plan.

Employee benefits are slated to increase by 1.2 percent as health insurance for the district is projected to jump by only 1.5 percent under the Statewide Schools Cooperative Health Plan, Seibert said.

There will be a relatively modest increase in Teacher Retirement System expenses from 9.35 percent to about 10.25 percent, he said. The Employees Retirement System contributions from the district will slide from 14.6 percent to 11.6 percent.

Seibert said the district will present numbers on the tax levy, estimated tax rates, state aid and use of fund balance at the Mar. 29 board meeting.

Board Selects Interim Member

The Board of Education selected Melissa Jacobs to take over the vacant seat for the next two months following the resignation of longtime board member Ira Schulman at the end of 2021. Jacobs and Gwen Torre, both educators who have volunteered in the district, vied for the board’s consideration to fill the seat.

Board members favored Jacobs by a 5-1 vote giving her the edge for her executive experience while serving on the Byram Hills Education Foundation

She will remain in the seat until the May 17 school board election.

Martin Wilbur

Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/