Budget, field fixes, buses all approved by voters

The Red Hook Central School District will move forward with a renovation of its troubled main athletic field using a natural grass surface, acquire four more electric school buses and go into the 2025-26 academic year with a $65 million budget.

Voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly supported the district’s proposed budget and each of its propositions, including a $6.085 million capital improvement project that will allow the district to reopen the competition field between its high and middle schools when work is complete. The field has been closed since late March due to safety concerns.

Incumbent Kelly Borrelle (986 votes) and Patrick Boyd (945) were favored among the four candidates for two open school board seats, over Robert Tynes (773) and incumbent Charles Kachigian (632). Borrelle and Boyd will serve three-year terms beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2028.

Here’s a look at what was approved Tuesday:

Budget (passed, 1,309 votes to 455)

The $64,998,156 2025-26 spending plan represents a 3.43% increase over this year’s approved budget and a tax levy increase of 3.98%. It maintains programs and supports the growth of important initiatives like the IB and technology training programs and universal pre-K.

Proposition 2: Electric bus acquisition (passed, 1,033-722)

Voters approved the purchase of four electric school buses that cannot cost more than $300,000 individually or $1.2 million cumulatively. However, officials have assured residents each bus will be acquired at little-to-no cost thanks to grants and state aid reimbursement programs.

The district is eligible for reimbursement on roughly 50% of the electric vehicles’ full cost, and remains eligible for a New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, grant for roughly $220,000 per bus for up to six buses.

Between the two programs, a bus that may cost roughly $460,000 can be obtained for around $10,000. The exact percentage of reimbursement and cost of the bus is expected to fluctuate, making it impossible to give an exact estimate of how cheap the final expense will be. The district will also have to put forward the cost of the buses before being reimbursed by the state.

Proposition 3: Capital improvement project (passed, 1,266-495)

The $6.085 million capital project encompasses:

• A new grass surface for the main athletic field at the high and middle school.
• A drainage system under the field.
• A replacement of the surrounding track.
• LED field lighting installation.
• Repairs to the surrounding chain-link fencing
• Renovations for some high school bathrooms.
• A new kiln room for LAMS.

The approval marks the end of a lengthy effort to repair the field, which began in Fall 2019 when Athletic Director Tom Cassata first brought to the attention of the Board of Education the field’s uneven surface and patchy grass. Despite extensive maintenance efforts the conditions steadily worsened to the point where, in March, it was determined the slope of the field’s crown exceeded safety standards. The field is also inaccessible to certain populations due to its slope and grooves.

The district proposed to voters three previous renovation plans centered on an artificial turf surface, which were all defeated.

The district will receive state aid for nearly two-thirds of the project cost, leaving taxpayers with a less-than $2.2 million expense.

The field’s main use will continue to be for football and lacrosse competitions and the track and field team, with other fields and spaces utilized for other sports, practices and the physical education department. The district will aim to preserve the surface and protect against the overuse that has plagued the schools’ fields. The LED lighting will enable some competitions and community events to be held after dark.

Propositions 4 and 5: Library budgets

The final two propositions on the ballot asked voters to increase budgets for local libraries and were not tied to the school district’s operations or budget.

In Proposition 4 (passed, 1,297-463), the Red Hook Library’s annual appropriation was increased by $10,000 to a total of $234,400.

In Proposition 5 (passed, 1,287-470), the Tivoli Free Library’s annual appropriation was increased by $2,701 to a total of $104,487.