Thursday, October 1, 2026
The school board of the Roosevelt Union Free School District has proposed a budget of $151 million for the 2026 to 2027 school year, a decrease of nearly $1.5 million from the previous budget. District administrators say that the proposed decrease in spending is largely due to the district’s steadily declining debt and capital obligations.
Shaneiqua Butts-Bell, Roosevelt’s interim assistant superintendent for business and operations, presented the proposed budget to the school board and community members during a budget hearing on May 5 at Roosevelt High School, and outlined the key factors driving the district’s spending. Aside from the total proposed budget decreasing about one percent from the previous year’s spending, Butts-Bell highlighted that the school district will maintain a tax cap levy of one percent, well below the state allowed tax cap of 7.38 percent.
“We have maintained a consecutive one percent tax levy increase for the third consecutive year,” she said. “At the same time, state aid has decreased by approximately $1.7 million. Despite this, we have been able to maintain stability through our local planning and internal reallocations.”
Butts-Bell added that a priority for the budget planning was not giving Roosevelt tax payers any further costs.
“Even though we have the ability to increase taxes significantly, we are choosing not to,” Butts-Bell asserted.
A few increases for certain budget items are a part of the proposal, including investing over $800,000 more towards teacher salaries and program support, as well as a projected increase in charter tuition spending by over $650,000.
The budget proposal projects over $3 million in savings compared to the 2025 to 2026 budget for capital spending. The district says that the reduced capital costs will directly help support increased investment in student programs. Employee benefits costs are also suffering a slight decrease of less than two percent, from $28.42 million down to $27.87 million.
Roosevelt residents will be able to vote on accepting the district’s proposed budget on May 19 at either the Roosevelt High School Gymnasium or the Centennial Avenue Elementary School Gymnasium. If the budget is defeated after that vote, the board of education could recommend a re-vote to occur on June 16.
Additionally, residents will be asked to vote for two candidates running to be elected to the school board. Alfred T. Taylor, a former Roosevelt school board president, and Veronica L. Walters, a daycare provider in Roosevelt are both running to replace current school board president Belinda Monroe, who served the district for over six years and is not seeking re-election. Emily Moore, a current board member, is seeking re-election and is being challenged by Frank Abel, a band director at Roosevelt High School and community leader.
The two election winners will serve three year terms from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029.
