New Paltz Central School District

March 15, 2025

Dear Friends of the New Paltz Central School District,

Last week was a busy week and there will be a lot going on in the coming weeks so now seems like a good time for a brief update:

School Board Meeting/Community Budget Forum on Wednesday March 19

On March 5th at the school board meeting we gave a presentation on a proposed budget for the 2025-2026 school year to the school board for their consideration.  The summary of this presentation is shown in this slide:

If you would like to see the budget presentation in its entirety, you can click on this link.  The actual budget presentation starts at the 14:30 mark of the video. 

The slides from the presentation can be found by clicking on this linK.

If you would like a summary of this presentation you can read a recent community update that I put out by clicking on this link.

If you are looking for extra detail on the budget you can click on this link which will take you to the full proposed line by line budget for 2025-2026 (which does not yet include the proposed reductions)

On March 19th, the school board will be considering the proposal with the goal of adopting a budget to bring to the New Paltz voters on May 20, 2025.  As always, the school board is interested in hearing the questions and comments of the public.  For that reason, they will be holding a community forum that same evening.  At 6:30 pm, there will be a brief presentation at the board meeting where the winter athletes will be publicly recognized.  After the presentation, the community forum will commence and questions and comments will be welcomed from the public for up to 1 hour.  After the community forum, the regular school board meeting will continue.

I encourage you to come out at 6:30 pm on March 19, 2025 in the MS auditorium and let the board know what questions you have and what your fiscal priorities are.

Leftover snow/emergency days

As you may know, we scheduled seven snow days for the 2024-2025 school year.  We have only used two of these snow days.  It is possible that we will use more snow days before winter ends.  It is also possible that emergencies may arise at any time between now and the end of June that require the use of an emergency day.  It is even possible that we might need a 2 hour late arrival day before school ends.  If a 2 hour delay becomes necessary, we will call a full snow day because we have so many days in reserve and because a 2 hour delay results in a loss of educational hours that we don’t get back.

Having said that, it is becoming more and more likely that we will have up to five give back days in the spring schedule.  So, I thought I would make sure everyone knows when these days would be so families can plan appropriately.

If we end up using 6 snow days, there will be no school on June 6th.

If we end up using 5 snow days, there will be no school on June 6th or April 21st

If we end up using 4 snow days, there will be no school on June 6th, April 21st, or May 23rd

If we end up using 3 snow days, there will be no school on June 6th, April 21st, May 23rd, or May 27th

We have not yet determined which day will be given back if no more snow days are used.  This is because we fully expected to use at least three snow days.  However, at the board meeting on Wednesday night I intend to ask the board to approve April 11, 2025 as the last give back day.  If they have no objections and if we do not use another snow day before April 11th then there will also be no school on April 11th.

School Board Elections

On May 20th, voters will also be asked to vote for people to fill two open school board seats.  If you are interested in filling a three year school board term, you can learn more about being a board member by clicking on this link.

All District Concerts

This past week we were treated to the first ever all-district choral concert on Tuesday night and the band concert on Thursday night.  These concerts featured performers from 5th grade, 8th grade, and high school making music together.  They did a great job and the crowds loved them.  

If you would like to see a clip from the all district choral concert, please click on this link. 

If you would like to see a clip from the all district band  concert, please click on this link. 

If you would like to see a clip of our high school jazz band performing at the all district concert, please click on this link.

School Musical Season

Last weekend the Middle School students did a wonderful job presenting the play Aladdin.  Soon you will be able to see the High School Drama club’s production of Big Fish.  Here are the details.

Continuing Education Program

Our spring community continuing education program is entering Week 8.  Here is a breakdown of the classes being offered this week:

Trivia Night to Benefit the New Paltz CSD Foundation for Student Enhancement!

TRIVIA NIGHT to benefit the New Paltz CSD Foundation for Student Enhancement! Join us Thursday, April 3, at 7pm at P&Gs with your team of 4.

$35 / per person includes a buffet dinner (cash bar). Door prizes! 50/50 Raffle! Prize for the Winning Team! Emceed by Superintendent Stephen Gratto. Pay at the door or buy in advance (preferred!).

All proceeds raised will help the Foundation continue to serve students in New Paltz Central School District through innovative, teacher-led projects. Here are some of the projects that the NPCSD Foundation for Student Enhancement has funded in our district this year:

Gaga Ball Pit at Lenape (coming soon!)

Student Research Microgrants for NPHS students

Guest speaker / Caldecott Award winner Brian Collier at the NPHS

Plastic Fantastic / guest artist project with NPHS students

Digital tools for English Language Learners

Flexible Seating and Standing for Occupational Therapy at Duzine

... and more!

Thank you for reading this update, and thank you for your continued engagement with all facets of the New Patlz Central School District.

Best Wishes,

Stephen Gratto - Superintendent