Please find a March 14, 2025, BCSD Budget Communication from Interim Superintendent Dr. Maureen Long below. This message was also emailed to all BCSD families on March 14th.
Dear Berlin Community Members,
On January 21, 2025 Governor Hochul released her Executive Budget. Since that time, like districts all across the state, we have begun developing our 2025–2026 Berlin Central School District Budget, which will be proposed to our voters in May.
To date two budget development presentations have been shared at recent Board of Education meetings:
- The January 21, 2025 presentation outlined administrative assumptions and priorities.
- The February 25, 2025 presentation focused on revenue projections.
The next presentation is scheduled for the March 18 board meeting in the Berlin MSHS Auditorium; the focus will be on expenses.
All information related to the budget development, the budget vote, and running for the Board of Education (there are 3 open seats), including the Budget Development Calendar, is easily accessible at a dedicated page of the district web page, titled: 2025–2026 Budget Information. This page will be regularly updated throughout the budget development process.
While the district has made progress in addressing fiscal challenges and uncertainty, budget development will continue to be difficult, and may require some tough conversations and decisions. It is imperative that we focus not only on the coming year, but on the fiscal stability and sustainability of the district for the future.
While we continue to work through our budget development process, New York State will simultaneously be working toward a finalized state budget. The Senate and Assembly released their “one house” budgets this week, which will commence negotiations leading to a final state budget. We are hopeful for an on-time state budget that meets the April 1 deadline, as that information will be critical to our board finalizing its decisions for the Berlin Budget by the April 22 deadline.
We encourage all members of our Berlin School Community to actively engage and stay informed as the process continues, by attending meetings, or watching the live streams, and monitoring the information that has been, and will continue to be, posted to the district webpage. Our ultimate goal is to develop a budget that will best meet the needs of our students while achieving fiscal responsibility.
Sincerely,
Dr. Maureen Long
Interim Superintendent