District overview
Lakeland Central School District
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
How is Lakeland paid for, and who decides?
Lakeland is an ordinary New York school district serving parts of Yorktown and Cortlandt in Westchester County. Its Board of Education has nine unpaid members who live in the district and are elected at large to three-year terms, three seats each year. Each May, voters decide the school budget and any other questions on the ballot, such as a bond. Most of the money comes from local property taxes and state aid, but the dollar amounts are in PDF budget documents that are not yet collected here.
Voters approve the budget
On May 19, 2026, voters approved the 2026-27 budget 1,036 to 609 and a bus and vehicle bond 1,052 to 582.
Nine unpaid, elected trustees
Terms end in 2027 (Daly, Burfeind, Massaro), 2028 (Kaufman, DiSalvo Kolesar, Marchese) and 2029 (Baisley, Franco, Hedberg). The May 2026 election filled the three 2029 seats.
Budget built in public workshops
Four workshops from Jan. 8 to April 9, 2026 and a budget hearing on May 5, 2026 preceded the vote. The Board approved its 2027-28 budget development calendar on Oct. 15, 2026.
Committees do much of the detail work
Standing committees cover policy, audit, facilities, health and safety, wellness and special education. Their meeting dates are listed as TBD.
Posting results and calendars is not the same as publishing the budget details. This page cannot yet say how large the budget or the tax levy is.
Where the district stands
NYSED's data site reports 5,230 K-12 students and 166 English language learners for 2024-25.
Vote held May 19, 2026.
Five elementary schools (Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Lincoln-Titus, Thomas Jefferson, Van Cortlandtville), Copper Beech Middle School, and Lakeland and Walter Panas high schools, as listed on the district home page.
Three-year staggered terms, three seats elected each spring.
Major projects
Capital Project (library media centers and STEAM labs)
Under construction in phasesVoters passed the district's multi-phase Capital Project, 444 to 173. Work is renovating libraries and adding STEAM labs at Walter Panas High School, Lakeland High School and Copper Beech Middle School. The district announced grand openings of the new library media centers.
- Public forum on the proposed project at Lakeland High School
Funding
Voter-approved capital project; the dollar total is not in the collected pages.
Energy Performance Contract with Ameresco
Last update posted Jan. 4, 2024Upgrades to lighting, heating and ventilation, plus solar panels on five main buildings, meant to cut energy costs over time.
- Ameresco progress update posted
Funding
Energy savings pay for the contract; terms are in a PDF not collected.
2027-28 budget development
Calendar approvedThe Board approved the 2027-28 budget development calendar on Oct. 15, 2026. Last year's cycle ran from a Jan. 8 overview through an April 9 adoption and a May vote.
- Board approves 2027-28 budget development calendar
Funding
Property taxes and state aid; amounts not yet published.
Built from the district's own web pages (budget, board, committees, policies, audits, capital project) and the NYSED data profile. The district's PDF documents (budget book, audits, policy texts, calendar) and BoardDocs agendas and minutes could not be collected yet, so dollar figures are mostly missing.
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