The Rye City School District will officially move ahead with a $116 million budget next academic year, after voters overwhelmingly approved the measure Tuesday night.
The budget was approved by 80% of the qualified voters present and voting, passing with a total of 429 “yes” votes to 108 “no” votes. Shaun Kloepfer received 461 votes to retain her seat on the board of education, and Emily Borell received 461 votes to join the board. Both candidates ran unopposed for three-year terms.
Marking a 3.08 percent increase over the current budget, the 2026-27 budget will maintain all existing district programs and services for an anticipated enrollment of 2,805 students. One full-time social worker will be added, and there will be a net reduction of four full-time employees due to attrition and unfilled vacancies.
Based on enrollment expectations, district officials plan to dissolve one fourth-grade class each at Milton and Osborn Elementary Schools. The students in Milton’s four third-grade classrooms will be divvied up among three fourth-grade classes next year. Osborn’s five third-grade classes will be split into four rooms in fourth grade.
The district is also planning on some new additions for next year, including converting eight school clubs to teams so officials can pay for supplies, entry fees, and travel costs. The total budgeted amount for the new teams – Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), Model UN, Robotics, Rhythm on Rye, Science Olympiad, Mathletes, Engineering, and Speech and Debate – is $75,000.
The largest infrastructure project included in next year’s budget is $700,000 for a new roof on the Rye High School gym.
The majority of funding for the Rye City School District comes from local property taxes.
To support the plan, the tax levy will rise by 2.96 percent, requiring $105 million to be collected through property taxes.
Depending on final property assessment totals from the city, district officials estimate taxpayers will be charged approximately $785 per $1,000 of assessed value of their homes next year. That’s a slight increase from the 2025-26 budget, which outlined a charge of $767 per $1,000 of assessed value.
As in prior years, approximately 84% of the budget is comprised of fixed costs, including salaries, health insurance and retirement benefits for faculty and staff. The new budget will officially go into effect July 1.
