Rockland Writes: East Ramapo Central School District’s Poor Budgeting Skills

There are those who claim that the East Ramapo school budget has been voted down in prior years due to the Orthodox community voting it down.  This opinion has been expressed by the monitors at school board meetings as well as by Nancy Cutler in The Journal News just yesterday.  A closer look at the actual numbers, however, clearly demonstrates that this narrative is false.

In East Ramapo, there are approximately 60,000 registered voters.  In last year’s election, a mere 2,000 voted no to the budget, a measly 3.3% of the voters.  The reason the budget did not pass was because ONLY 1,000 people voted for it, an even tinier 1.6%.  Rockland County is the 2nd highest taxed county, per capita, in the United States (behind only Westchester).  The poverty level in East Ramapo is also very high, as evidenced by the number of free and reduced lunch-eligible children and Title I funding-eligible children.  That there are individuals that vote no is no surprise.  The REAL question is, why is nobody voting FOR the budget?

Any businessman knows that you need to market your goods and create demand for your product.  How and why has the district failed so miserably?  Is it because of the way that district staff talks to parents and members of the community when interacting with them?  Is it because of the myriad transportation problems experienced annually by virtually everyone?  Is it because as the population ages and costs soar, the tax burden takes on a larger concern in household budgets?  Is it simply because the perception of the public is that district staff are overpaid, much of the budget goes to retirees who are no longer working for the district – in short, the product isn’t worth buying?

Coming around to the 2023 budget, has the district sold the budget to the voters?  I don’t think so.  Has the district heard the concerns of the voters?  I don’t think so.  $40 million in new aid funding lots of reserves, and still a tax increase on the homeowners?  What has the district done to get out yes votes?  Time will tell.

NHR – ERCSD Parent

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