Superintendent Discusses Budget Realities at BOE Meeting

A Board of Education meeting that began with the celebration of student accomplishments and the recognition of programs vital to the health of the Eastchester Union Free School District ended with a frank warning from EUFSD Superintendent Dr. Alison Villanueva on Tuesday night.

While touting the significant progress Eastchester has made in the fields of academics, the arts, and student wellness, the superintendent noted that the stark financial realities currently facing the district will only be compounded should the proposed budget fail.

The proposed 6.31% tax levy increase this year marks the first time that the district has sought to pierce the tax levy cap. But even though this proposed budget represents a significant reduction from the 7.35% that was initially floated in March—a decision made after discussions with community groups highlighted concerns about onerous tax hikes—it will still result in significant cuts to personnel and programming, leading to the elimination of 25 full-time positions across the district, including the loss of roughly 10 instructional positions district-wide. 

Several programs, projects and purchases, including special education programs like DBT and All Points, as well as updates to classrooms and STEM lab equipment will either be paused or eliminated entirely. 

But those cuts, say Villanueva, may only be the tip of the iceberg if the proposed budget does not pass with a supermajority of 60% or more.

“You saw the numbers; it’s dire, we’re cutting a lot,” said the superintendent. “And if we don’t get this 6.31% budget passed, we’re going to have to go in and cut more.”

If the school budget fails to pass on May 19, the district will have one more chance to propose a new plan to the community. Any further reduction in the tax cap increase would lead to more programing cuts, including—but not limited to—the elimination of the K-5 Foreign Language in Elementary School (FLES) program, the loss of Tier 2 and 3 Reading/Math Academic Supports for K-8 students, a freeze in secondary extracurricular clubs, and sizable reductions to athletic offerings that would affect JV/Modified/Freshman teams. 

If that amended proposal also fails, the district will be forced to adopt a contingency budget, which will represent a scant .6% increase in the year-to-year budget from this school year to the next.  

Villanueva noted on Tuesday that a contingency scenario would represent a “dismantling” of the current Eastchester school system, forcing the EUFSD to make an additional $5.2 million more in cuts to existing programs and personnel. This would result in the elimination of 66 full-time positions, leading to a dramatic increase in class sizes and the loss of more programs.

Furthermore, explained Villanueva, a contingency budget would make it exceedingly difficult for the district to reintroduce these vital programs in the future without drastically exceeding the tax levy cap in coming years. To that end, she said, the district’s current proposed budget can serve to maintain Eastchester’s record of academic excellence while also providing a roadmap to responsible spending that would ensure the long-term health of the district.

“School districts think of their budgets in one-year timeframes, but really, we want to project out to the next three-to-five years,” she said. “In order to recover from a year of going into contingency, the following year, we would have to go much higher than what is presented this year in order to make up for what we will lose.”

Villanueva encouraged Eastchester residents to learn more about the budget process by visiting www.eufsdk12.org and turning out to vote on May 19. Board of Education President Matthew Fanelli concurred, and thanked the EUFSD Superintendent for her tireless work in reaching out to the community, citing her in-person discussions as critical resources for stakeholders who still have questions about the proposed budget. 

“There are still upcoming conversations that Dr. V will be having with the community; she takes that feedback very seriously, as do we,” said Fanelli. “Nobody wants to move backwards. We have made a tremendous amount of strides here, keeping students at the center of the EUFSD experience.” 

To learn more about the 2026-2027 budget, please click here for presentations and budget documents. The next Budget meeting will take place at Anne Hutchinson School on Monday, May 18 at 8 PM in the cafeteria.