Vol. 36, No. 5 3 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018
Panthers
soar Bushmen
cruise
Page 35 Page 36
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ONE DOLLAR
w w w .W a l l k i l l V a l l e y T i m e s . n e t
Pine Bush enrollment continues to drop VC budget
By JASPREET GILL
[email protected]
A Western Suffolk BOCES demographic
study shows that enrollment in the Pine
Bush Central School District is projected
to decrease by 258 in the next five years.
Several factors contribute to these
figures, including population data,
private school enrollment, and home
sales.
Between 2010-2016, the population in
Orange County saw an increase of 1.7%,
while Ulster County saw a decrease of
1.8% and Sullivan County’s population
decreased by 3.5%.
Non-public school enrollment has
increased this school year to the highest
level since 2011, an approximately 4.6%
increase from last year. This number is
expected to grow as more families move
into Chestnut Ridge, a proposed 396
townhome project in Bloomingburg. To
date, 50 units have been sold and occupied
in Chestnut Ridge.
“The best part about this report is that
home sales are continuing to rise,” said
Michael Pacella, Pine Bush Assistant
Superintendent for Business, during
last week’s board of education meeting.
“There are 299 units sold in 2016 and
that’s up 44% when you look at the prior
year.”
Along with the rise in home sales, the
median sales prices for homes increased
by 4.1% to $242,000.
“Residents are seeing their property
values starting to rise which is a sign of a
little bettering economy,” he says.
The current Pine Bush Central School
District enrollment is 5,026 students, 8
students less than last year and is projected
to decrease to 4,589 students over the next
10 years. The number of births continue
to be low with a projected Kindergarten
class size range of 316 students to 345
Continued on page 4
Eyes on the starting gate
Members of Walden’s Cub Pack 32 anxiously await the start of the annual Pinewood Derby, Saturday, at Most Precious Blood Church. More
photos on page 19.
within the
tax cap
By TED REMSNYDER
The Valley Central School District
has a stated goal of ranking in the top
five districts in Orange County among
all educational measures, and the
district is preparing a 2018-2019 budget
that would maintain programs and
school staffing while supplementing
curriculum and boosting professional
development for teachers. During an
early budget presentation by Assistant
Superintendent Lisa Raymond during a
Board of Education meeting on Jan. 22,
the district laid out its objectives for the
proposed budget, which will ultimately
be up for a public vote on May 15.
While the district is still waiting on
final state aid numbers, Valley Central
has set a goal of crafting a fiscally
responsible budget that wrings maximum
returns out of local, state and federal aid
dollars. The district already knows that
the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is at two
percent for 2018, up from 1.26 percent in
2017, and the district’s tax growth factor
for 2018-2019 will come in at 1.0254, an
increase of .0172 over last year. As of the
beginning of the year, the district has
received 14 official letters of retirement
from staff members, which adds up to
$500,000 in salary savings. The district is
projecting increases in health insurance
(between eight and 11 percent) and
general insurance (three percent) rates.
Along with the final state aid figures, the
district is also awaiting numbers on its
Continued on page 4
SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL