Dear Bedford Central School District Residents,
On May 13, the Board of Education adopted the proposed 2020-21
BCSD budget that will be presented to you, the voters, on June 9, 2020.
We are pleased to put forth to our community a balanced budget that
we believe serves our students, families, and school community. For
the past three years, we have been able to provide slow, incremental, and
sustainable program growth and improvements. While we continue to
maintain the growth and improvements made over the past three years,
we were especially mindful this year that we are presenting a budget
during the global COVID-19 pandemic that is impacting all communities,
our families, and our school district. We were mindful that we need to
remain vigilant about balancing the educational needs of our students
with deference to our taxpayers, especially as many are experiencing
challenges as a result of this current health and financial crisis.
This budget continues several of our multi-year initiatives which are
important objectives of our District’s 2020-2021 Long-Range
Strategic Plan, including, among others:
• Elementary Literacy Programs and Practices
• Inclusive Educational Programs and Practices
• Social and Emotional Learning
• STEM
• Data Analysis and Data Driven Decision Making
• Instructional Technology, including Assistive Technology,
Universal Design for Learning, and Blended Learning
• Protection of Student and Staff Data Privacy
Recognizing that there will be challenges to our school system in
2020-21 due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,
we believe this budget provides the flexibility to identify and address
emerging needs of our students, families and schools. Areas of focus
include, among others:
• School Safety and Health Services
• School and District Facilities Cleaning Protocols
• Mental Health Supports for Students, Families, and Staff
• Academic Interventions to Address Student Regression in Learning
• Realignment of Curriculum Standards
• Continued Professional Development in Instructional
Technology and Remote Learning
In summary, this budget continues our efforts to provide outstanding
educational programs for students and maintains our path to
sustained fiscal health. The budget supports our mission to continue to
improve programs and services for students, upholds BCSD’s guidelines
for elementary class sizes, is below the allowable NY State Property
Tax Cap, meets State and Federal mandates, and plans for the effective
management of reserve funds to be maintained at acceptable levels.
In addition, with voter approval, we will establish a Capital Reserve
Fund for future facilities needs. We take our fiduciary responsibilities
very seriously.
For additional information, see our budget
presentations on our website: bcsdny.org
With Respect and Appreciation,
The BCSD Board of Education and
Dr. Joel Adelberg, Interim Superintendent of Schools
