Mary Deas, a retired Fredonia teacher and district resident, urged the Board of Education to “hold the line” when constructing its 2025-26 school budget. Deas also spoke out at previous meetings, both leading up to this past December’s capital project vote and after its result.

“The voters spoke in December. We talked about how we just don’t have a strong business or populous tax base. You can’t keep biting the hand that feeds you,” Deas said.

Deas highlighted the Village of Fredonia has proposed a tax increase of 55% in its preliminary budget. Coupled with rising costs in many areas of everyday life, Deas urged the District to be frugal with its spending in the upcoming year.

“You really have to make cuts. I know that’s not easy, but homeowners have to do it,” Deas said.

Business Administrator John Forbes discussed the preliminary 2025-2026 budget for the Fredonia Central School District at a recent meeting.

Deas took aim at administration costs, specifically assistant principals and the Wheelock campus. Additionally, Deas said the District needs to consider consolidation of services, and also urged the District to evaluate the need for each position when a vacancy occurs.

“You can’t keep killing the taxpayers. That’s what you’re doing,” Deas said.

Deas was twice urged to wrap up her comments after surpassing the allotted time for members of the public to address the Board of Education. The Board asks speakers to keep their comments to five minutes or less, while Deas spoke for over seven minutes. She took exception to being urged to finish, stating, “I know you didn’t like what I have to say, so you’re real careful on my time tonight, but I do appreciate the time.”

Board of Education President Steve Johnston responded, “It’s not that we don’t value your comments. It’s just that we have a time limit — it’s five minutes, and you got eight.”

Deas then responded again, criticizing the district’s focus on student achievement, before the Board moved on to a presentation from Business Administrator John Forbes regarding the preliminary budget.

The maximum allowed tax levy for the District is $17,958,000, while the District’s preliminary budget has a proposed tax levy of $18,242,000, meaning the District would need to reduce its budget by $284,000 to stay below the tax levy limit.

The preliminary budget exceeds the tax cap of 4.65%, including exceptions. The District can exceed the cap if it receives a 60% majority vote in favor of doing so. If the budget is rejected twice by voters, the District would need to comply with the administrative cap, which in Fredonia’s case cannot exceed 11.51% of the previous budget. The preliminary budget is below the administrative cap by approximately $19,000 as it stands.

Superintendent Dr. Brad Zilliox called the budget “a work in progress,” stating “a variety of unknowns” have the District projecting more figures this year than in years past. Those “unknowns” include the delayed state budget and the aid that will come from it, local equalization rates, an emergency project, and leasing of space at the Wheelock campus.

Zilliox highlighted several focus areas of the District in its upcoming budget, including literacy, curriculum review, academic and behavioral interventions, social and emotional learning, and planning for upgraded facilities. Zilliox noted enrollment has remained steady in recent years and projects a similar trend in the upcoming year.

“In the end, we want to ensure that all students have access to a strong education program and a wide variety of experiences that we offer to our students, adults and families, while still being mindful of the cost to our community of taxpayers,” Zilliox said. “There is a balance we are attempting to strike here, where all students are in a position to be successful and have their needs met, while not overburdening our families with a levy increase they cannot manage.”

The Board will hold a special meeting on Thursday, April 24 to discuss the District’s 2025-26 budget.

“We feel like this will help us have the most up to date information we can prior to final adoption, and will also allow us to make as thoughtful decisions as possible,” Zilliox said.