This message was emailed to all families and our community messenger list on April 9, 2025. If you did not receive this email please update your contact information with the main office. If you are interested in joining our community messenger list please sign up using our Community Member School Messenger Request Form
April 9, 2025
Dear Berlin Community Members,
I am reaching out to provide yet another update regarding the Berlin CSD 2025-2026 budget development.
In my prior communications, I provided the links to access all information related to budget development and our process to date. The Budget Information Page has and will continue to be updated throughout the process.
The board met again last evening, Thursday, April 8, 2025; the budget presentation focused on feedback to date from the Board of Education and members of the community, and included a DRAFT 3 Budget for the Board’s consideration.
The DRAFT 3 budget would carry a 3.5% tax levy. Based on community and Board of Education feedback, it would restore the Music and Physical Education positions eliminated in DRAFT 2, and remove the proposed addition of the Coordinator of Curriculum and Educational Technology. There is still some question about the inclusion of Distance Learning.
We are appreciative of the community engagement in the process to date, and continue to 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 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 striving to achieve fiscal sustainability.
To this end we are seeking your feedback, via a brief survey, in advance of the April 22, 2025, meeting at which the board will need to adopt the budget they will bring to voters. We ask you to please consider completing the SURVEY by 4:30 pm on April 21, 2025, so the board has the information before them prior to finalizing their decisions. Paper copies of the survey are also available at our local public libraries. Please return any completed paper copy surveys by April 21, 2025, to the Berlin District Office (Monday – Friday between the hours of 9 am – 3 pm). All relevant information can be reviewed on our Budget Page, and the video’s of the presentations can be accessed at Streaming BCSD.
The NYS Budget was not adopted by the April 1 deadline; we remain optimistic that it will be in place prior to April 22nd so we can consider any increases in aid to school districts which may result from that.
Also, a reminder, the deadline for submitting petitions to run for the Board of Education is fast approaching. Petitions must be submitted by April 21, 2025. There are three open seats for the Board of Education. Information about running for the board can be found here.
The Final budget presentation and adoption by the board is scheduled for Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at 7:15 PM in the Berlin Middle High School Auditorium.
Respectfully,
Dr. Maureen Long
