Superintendent Weekly Update March 16, 2025

 Hi everyone, I wanted to update you on where we are with the budget, include a technology update, and share our Star Student and Star Employee!

Budget Update

Capital Project Impact

Last year, BCSD voters approved a $49 million capital project for the school district. This is a much-needed project, and the work will take place from 2026 to 2028.  The project will improve infrastructure across all six of our buildings, like roof repairs, new windows, and HVAC upgrades, and also add cooling centers to our buildings, more secure entrances, theater upgrades, and improvements to the baseball and softball fields at BHS.  It will also have a tax impact over the next three years.  I will keep you updated regularly regarding our work on this project and share more details about the tax impact of this project in the coming weeks.

Tax Levy Rate and the Projected Tax Impact

Beacon’s tax cap calculation this year has our tax levy rate at the tax cap at 5.15.  “The tax levy is the amount of money the school district can raise through property taxes. The amount an individual will pay to contribute to the levied amount is the tax rate. Tax rates paid by individual taxpayers may differ greatly from one household to another, based on such things as equalization rates and assessed property values, and may exceed 2 percent” (from NYSSBA).

This year’s tax levy rate at the tax cap includes the tax increase from the new capital project approved last year.  A tax levy rate at or under the tax cap requires a simple majority of voters to approve.  

 This is the tax impact information we shared at the March 10 Board of Education meeting:

Estimated tax impact on average home

Beacon - $122/year

Fishkill - $159/year

Wappingers - $161/year

Budget Next Steps

Through our work with staff and the results from the community survey, we are working on a plan to increase professional development, add reading/math intervention teachers at the elementary level, and increase offerings at Rombout Middle School.  This plan will have to be phased in over a few years due to the potential instability of state and federal funding. We want to make sure that any planned improvements are sustainable.

At the March 24 and April 7 board meetings, we will go into this in greater detail, and I will also keep you updated regularly.  The Board of Education adopts the budget on April 22. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Technology Update

This week, starting on Tuesday,  students in grades 6-12 will no longer have access to Google “Additional Services” like YouTube and Google Translate.  New York State's Chief Data Privacy Officer has advised districts that these additional services no longer comply with New York’s Education Law 2d.  We are still using Google Classroom, which is compliant, and teachers can still assign these services, like a YouTube video or Google Translate,  through Google Classroom as a classroom assignment.  Students will not be able to access these services outside of an assignment.

Star Student

One of many star students at JVF is third grader, Aubrey M, She is caring, helpful, and demonstrates kindness toward her peers! Last year, our school launched a snack cart, where students could apply their social-emotional learning skills by collaborating with their teacher and class team to organize the cart and offer coffee and snacks to staff each week. Aubrey enjoys helping to lead the snack cart and serves as a model to her peers! 

Aubrey takes on new challenges with a willingness to learn and grow. She has helped both her class and our school community increase our awareness of various communication modalities, including the importance of assistive technology like her AAC device and its role in student learning and relationship-building. Aubrey enjoys music, plays the recorder, and loves reading, cooking, rock climbing, and spending time outdoors! Aubrey's positive attitude and the ways she helps others truly make her a shining example of a star student at JVF, and we are so proud to have her as part of our school community!

Star Employee

Theresa Lucarini is the DCC Pre-Calculus and DCC Calculus teacher at BHS. Ms. Luc pours her heart into everything she does for our school community. Her classroom is always filled with students—whether they need extra help with a challenging concept, a quiet place to study, or simply someone to talk to, Ms. Luc is always there with patience, encouragement, and an open door. Ms. Luc’s commitment extends beyond the classroom. She is a constant presence at our after-school events—cheering on athletes, applauding performers, and celebrating our students’ achievements (and occasionally challenging them to a Pickleball match).

Ms. Luc is our Math Department Coordinator and is a pillar of support and mentorship for her colleagues. She lifts up everyone around her, and our school is a better place because of her boundless energy and genuine care for students and faculty.

Have a great rest of your day!

Matt Landahl