Emilia Teasdale is reporting in The Columbia Paper the Ichabod Crane Board of Education last week finalized and adopted its $39 million 2017-18 school budget at a special meeting. The spending plan requires a 1.47 percent tax levy increase. Along with the budget, district voters will be asked to approve a $478,000 bus purchase and fill four seats on the board, when they go to the polls Tue., May 16. Candidates are: Susan Ramos, Tammy Crawford, Craig Luckfield, Daniel Cohn, Brendan Caluneo and Francis McKearin. The district learned earlier this month it will receive approximately $210,000 more in state aid than originally proposed. The additional funds will be used to hire a new high school computer teacher, new kindergarten teacher and will allow the school to increase time for a part-time art teacher and boost the salaries of summer maintenance workers. School board candidates have been invited to participate in a forum to be held at 6 p.m., May 2, immediately preceding the budget hearing. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.