April 2024
Dear Yorktown School Community,
We believe that the 2024-25 budget successfully achieves the necessary balance between providing the educational experience that our students deserve and a deep sensitivity to taxpayers. Most notably, the 2024-25 school budget includes the hiring of teachers and support staff to meet our enrollment needs as well as the specific needs of our students. The budget maintains class sizes at, or below, Board of Education guidelines and keeps all of the outstanding programs currently offered to students intact.
To continue to elevate the opportunities afforded to students, we are also making strategic investments in various areas of our instructional program by:
Adding staffing to our orchestra and chorus programs;
Adding science staffing to offer new middle school programs (including engineering);
Adding new special education programming to meet the needs of students;
Adding a school psychologist to support student needs;
Adding modified sports to our middle school (boys volleyball, girls field hockey, and boys/girls cross-country); and
Adding American Sign Language (ASL) to our middle and high schools.
We believe that we were successful in our goal to provide students with the high-quality of education that has become synonymous with Yorktown while also demonstrating fiscal responsibility and sensitivity to taxpayers. Overall, our budget is within the tax levy cap, and reflects a budget-to-budget increase of 2.97%. This results in the following:
A tax rate increase in Yorktown estimated at 2.07%
A tax rate increase in New Castle estimated 2.95%
A tax rate increase in Cortlandt estimated at 0.02%
We extend our deepest gratitude to the Board and our administrative team for their tireless effort in putting forth a budget that reflects an appropriate balance between providing our students with the well-rounded education that they deserve and maintaining a genuine sensitivity to taxpayers.
The budget vote and trustee election will be held on Tuesday, May 21, from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. in the French Hill School.
–Dr. Ron Hattar
Superintendent,
Yorktown Central School District
February 12, 2024 – Budget Presentation: Budget Overview & Tax Cap, State Aid, and Debt Service & Reserves
March 4, 2024 – Budget Presentation: General Support, Facilities, Benefits, and Transportation
March 18, 2024 – Budget Presentations:
March 25, 2024 – Presentation of Superintendent’s Budget
April 15, 2024 – Budget Adoption
April 22, 2024 – Deadline for Filing Petitions for Trustee Candidacy
May 13, 2024 – Public Budget Hearing
May 16, 2024 – Deadline for Voter Registration
May 21, 2024 – Budget and Trustee Vote at French Hill School, 7 a.m.-9 p.m.
The Annual Budget Vote and Election will be held on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 7 a.m. to 9 pm. at French Hill School, 2051 Baldwin Road, Yorktown Heights.
If you have any questions, please contact the District Clerk at 914-243-8199 or ysegal@yorktown.org
Qualifications for Voter Registration:
Must be a U.S. citizen
Must be 18 years of age or older
Must have resided at least 30 days in the District before the day of the vote
Not be in prison or on parole for a felony conviction (unless parolee pardoned or restored rights of citizenship)
Not claim the right to vote elsewhere
New York State Voter Registration and Process.
Personal Registration for the School Budget Vote and Election:
If you are not registered with New York State, you may personally register to vote in the School Budget Vote and Election by contacting the Office of the District Clerk, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. for an appointment at 914-243-8199 or by email ysegal@yorktown.org. The last day to register to vote on May 21, 2024, is May 16, 2024.
Voters must be able to produce at least one of the following proofs of residency: a driver’s license; a non-driver identification card; a utility bill; or a voter registration card.
APPLICATIONS FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS and EARLY MAIL BALLOTS may be obtained at the Office of the District Clerk at the Administration Office of the District, 2725 Crompond Road, Yorktown Heights, New York, on weekdays between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. (prevailing time). Such applications for absentee ballots and early mail ballots must be received by the Clerk of the District no more than 30 days and at least 7 days before the election if the ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or the day before the election if the ballot is to be given directly to the voter or the voter’s authorized agent set forth in the application, at the Office of the District Clerk.
The original Absentee Ballot Application, Early Mail Ballot Application must be mailed or delivered to the Office of the District Clerk: YCSD/District Clerk, 2725 Crompond Road, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598. The Clerk is not permitted to accept photocopies or electronic copies of the application. All absentee ballots must be received by the District Clerk by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
School Board Trustee Candidate Information
Anyone who is a qualified voter of the community wishing to run for a seat on the Yorktown Central School District Board of Education may request a candidate petition packet. Seats are at large, meaning candidates do not run for specific seats.
A school board candidate:
must be a US Citizen
must be at least 18 years old
must be able to read and write
must be a resident of the district continuously for one year
cannot be employed by the school district
cannot live in the same household with a family member who's already a member of the school board
A board member's term is three years. The new term begins July 1, 2024 and ends June 30, 2027.
Nominating petitions must be filed with the District Clerk of the Yorktown Central School District. The deadline for filing is 5 p.m., April 22, 2024. Please call the District Clerk's office at 914-243-8199 or email ysegal@yorktown.org to obtain a petition.
Anyone interested or thinking about running might want to attend this free workshop by Westchester/Putnam School Boards Association: Prospective Board Members Virtual Workshop by WPSBA
Please also visit the New York State School Board Association website for more information on becoming a member of the school board.