District overview
How New Rochelle schools are funded, run and what is under way
New Rochelle schools run on a yearly budget of about $370 million. Most of it comes from a school property tax on city homes and businesses, plus state aid and payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) from the city. A nine-member elected Board of Education writes the budget with the superintendent. Voters then approve it every May. Because the 2026-27 tax increase stayed under the state tax cap, it needed only a simple majority.
State law limits how fast the property tax levy can grow. For 2026-27 the board proposed a 1.85% increase, within the cap, which passed 1,867 to 756 (unofficial count).
Leaders said state aid for 2026-27 fell by about $2 million, after a one-time $1 million gift the year before. Past yearly increases ranged from about $0.4 million to $16 million.
Nine trustees are elected at large for five-year terms, with two or so seats up each year. Singal and Vega's seats are next, in May 2027. The board is also looking at whether to move to three-year terms, which would need a voter-approved change.
District leaders named salaries and benefits (health insurance up about 11% in January 2026), transportation (up about $2.7 million), special education and debt payments as the main reasons costs rose faster than money coming in.
A $22.5 million gap does not mean the district is mismanaged. The September 2026 auditor reported a clean (unmodified) opinion for 2025-26 and said the district sits at the 4% legal limit on unassigned fund balance, as in prior years. The 2024 audit did find a repeat accounting weakness and an $8 million overspend of the voter-approved budget, which management pledged to fix by June 2025; the 2025-26 audit reported none.
Calculated: $370,369,165 divided by about 10,119 students is about $36,600. Includes transportation, benefits, debt and facilities, so it is not what is spent in a classroom.
Boilers at four elementary schools, new public address systems, building controls, rooftop air units, and drainage with underground water storage at the high school so the rebuilt pool does not flood again. Earlier pool money came from a 2022 referendum after Hurricane Ida and a 2024 vote using capital reserve.
Prop 2 bond of up to $35 million (Prop 2 passed 1,844 to 744, unofficial), plus 2022 referendum and capital reserve money for the pool
The board is gathering ideas on a middle school split, magnet and gifted program changes, a therapy center and a career and technical program. A feasibility study and community survey are planned.
Not yet costed; the board said it was not discussing finances yet
The board began planning the next budget earlier than usual. The vote and trustee election are set for May 18, 2027.
Property taxes, state aid and PILOT; not yet drafted
New Rochelle
Annual budget vote and election of trustees for two seats whose terms end June 30, 2027. The budget hearing is scheduled for May 6, 2027.
Official source · verified Oct 20, 2026
New Rochelle · $370,369,165
Voters approved the $370.4 million budget with a 1.85% tax levy increase, 1,867 yes to 756 no (unofficial count read by the board).
Official source · verified Oct 20, 2026
New Rochelle · $35,000,000
Voters approved a capital bond for elementary boilers, public address systems, building controls, rooftop HVAC and high school drainage, pool-area flood protection and bleachers, 1,844 yes to 744 no (unofficial count). The architect confirmed on Oct 8, 2026 that it passed.
Official source · verified Oct 20, 2026
New Rochelle
Roshanie Ross was re-elected and Carmen Perez was elected to five-year terms, per board remarks on May 20 and June 2, 2026.
Official source · verified Oct 20, 2026
Built from the district's own Board of Education recordings (auto-generated captions), its budget web page and its board roster page, reviewed for October 2025 through October 2026.
We read every agenda, packet, recording, and set of minutes, and write up the decisions that affect families — each one linked to the document it came from.
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