WGXC Radio Council member Max Goldfarb recorded the Hudson City School District budget meeting on Monday night, April 11. There, a 9.8 percent tax levy increase, including the loss of 27 employees, passed by a narrow 4-3 board majority. Even if the budget gets voted down May 17, the district has the option to adopt the budget as is, according to Daniel Barrett, the district’s business manager. HCSD board members Peter Meyer, Peter Rice and Elizabeth Fout voted against. Both Rice and Meyer believed the vote should have been put off for one more week with the intention of taking another look at the numbers.

Sound clips featured District Superintendent Jack Howe, who grew up in the district, as the main voice. They include an introduction of the basic numbers, a discussion of state aid figures, and what the HCSD administration saw itself working with, and towards; Board member Elizabeth Fout, who voted against the spending measure, raising other ways of cutting costs at one point, including the cutting of days the buildings were open; and Howe outlining future steps, following the budget's passage by the board, including ways in which job cuts could be re-addressed in the future.

For now, we present some talk of the proposed elimination of a specific social studies teaching position: Board_Ed03_4_11


And finally, some back and forth regarding the costs of transportation, a wild card in recent years: Board_Ed06_4_11