Five school budgets across the Hudson Valley that were initially voted down have now been approved following revotes.
In Westchester, voters in the Eastchester School District passed a revised spending plan by a large margin after officials made reductions to stay under the state tax cap of 2.35%.
In Orange County, the Goshen School District budget also received approval. The plan includes a spending increase of more than 4% and a 2.8% tax levy increase, with investments in arts, music equipment and theater programs.
Voters in Pine Plains in Dutchess County and Greenwood Lake in Orange County also approved their revised budgets.
In Mount Vernon, the revised school budget passed by a narrow margin of about 86 votes, with stronger voter turnout than the original vote.
The approved plan totals $275.5 million and includes a 1.5% tax levy increase—about half of a percentage point less what was proposed in the earlier version. District officials say they reduced nearly $700,000 from the original plan while preserving key programs, including athletics, extracurricular activities, counseling, gifted and talented programs, and bilingual education. Officials say if the vote had failed again, the district would have been forced into a contingency budget, which could have eliminated sports and after-school programs.