Horseheads school board sends revised budget to voters after debate over cutting seventh‑grade Spanish

The Horseheads Central School District Board of Education voted on May 28 to present a revised 2025 budget to the public that lowers the proposed tax‑levy increase to a 4.56% change and an estimated full‑value tax‑rate change of about $0.005 per $1,000 (roughly $5 per $100,000), while board members and teachers pressed administrators about program cuts that would reorganize the district’s world language offerings.

"The budget must be adopted tonight in order to meet statutory requirements," Dr. Douglas said as the administration presented the revised numbers and carried staff through explanations of levy calculations and contingent‑budget rules.

The presentation explained how the district’s tax levy is calculated using the New York State Comptroller’s formula, equalization rates supplied by the Office of Real Property Tax Services, and assessed values from the seven municipalities in the district. Administrators told the board the revised proposal reduced the district’s previously defeated levy proposal by about $1.36 million, lowered the projected full‑value tax‑rate impact from roughly $0.07 to $0.05 per $1,000, and used a combination of state aid, reserves and $1.3 million in debt service adjustments to close the gap.

Why it matters: administrators said the district must present a budget now that requires a simple majority (50% plus one) to pass; if a second budget fails, state rules force the district onto a contingent budget that would bar certain purchases, limit allowable administrative growth and cap the allowable levy at last year’s amount — potentially reducing available revenue by roughly $2.13 million and forcing difficult program and equipment cuts.

During more than an hour of board discussion and public comment, several board members and teachers pressed administration about a recommended restructuring at the middle school that would move world language instruction to a one‑year, eighth‑grade‑only model (with students taking the State Checkpoint A exam in eighth grade for one unit of high‑school credit) rather than the current two‑year seventh‑and‑eighth‑grade sequence. Christine Fisher, world‑language department chair, told the board the department had designed a two‑year curriculum and that the change would reduce the department’s staffing over time: "Our department will go from 10 to 8 teachers due to attrition, but will that ever be gained back in reality?" she asked during public comment.

Administrators said the restructuring recommendation was driven largely by unfilled vacancies and retirements: two language positions were listed as open for months with few viable candidates, and administrators told the board they could not reliably hire replacements in time if the budget forced them to preserve currently funded but vacant positions. District staff emphasized that the revised budget, as presented, did not cut any existing employees currently working in the district and that the proposal aimed to preserve academic, arts and athletic programming while reducing new hires and equipment purchases.

Board members expressed divided views. Several members said they preferred the lower levy that administration produced and noted the risk of a failed budget leading to a contingent budget with deeper, across‑the‑board cuts. Others said they were reluctant to approve any change that would delay or curtail seventh‑grade language instruction and asked whether alternate cuts — for example from administrative or capital lines — could preserve the language positions. One board member noted the district was about $65,000 under the statutory maximum allowable levy and asked whether that amount could be used to restore a position; administration said that amount alone would not cover the first‑year cost of a new hire and that restoring both positions would push the levy above the figure the board had directed staff to meet.

Public comment amplified the teachers’ concerns. Christine Fisher and Kelly Fesich, both world‑language teachers, urged the board to avoid disrupting the two‑year middle‑school sequence and warned that altering sequencing would ripple through high‑school course offerings and student readiness for upper‑level classes and AP work. "On behalf of the world language department, we would continue to advocate for our students," Fisher said in a prepared statement read to the board.

Formal action: the board voted to approve finance agenda items 3.02–3.05, which include the revised budget documents and related notices to the public, and to set the public hearing and vote schedule (public hearing June 5; budget vote June 17). The board also approved a procedural change to move the June 5 presentation start time from 6:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. during the meeting’s business motions. One board member recorded an abstention on the finance items vote and explained the abstention as a desire for more time to review full line items; no vote count by name was recorded in the transcript.

Discussion versus decision: the decision to send the revised budget to voters and to set hearing and vote dates was approved by the board. The proposed restructuring of the middle‑school language program remained a staff proposal and topic of board debate and public comment, not a separate formal action that night. Administrators said final staffing and program placement decisions would be implemented only after the voter result and additional administrative review if necessary.

What’s next: the district will publish the legal notices and hold a public hearing on June 5 (rescheduled to 5:30 p.m.), and the budget vote is scheduled for June 17 at the high school. Administrators told the board they will continue to recruit for open language positions and will report back if a hire or other financial changes allow restoration of proposed reductions.

Ending: Board members repeatedly urged unity in presenting the budget to the community and encouraged public attendance at the June 5 hearing and the June 17 vote so voters can decide whether to approve the revised levy and revenue plan.