Dear Parents and Members of the Lowville Academy School Community,

Our students have demonstrated remarkable achievements academically, artistically, and athletically during this school year. Academically, they have excelled beyond expectations, achieving high grades, and receiving awards and scholarships that acknowledge their dedication, intelligence, and hard work. Artistically, our students have performed for us, showing us what a stage or canvas can transform into. Athletically, our students have shown exceptional talent, discipline, and perseverance, bringing home championships, breaking records, and earning individual accolades in a variety of sports. This kind of success is a testament to our partnership, between school and home, to provide a supportive environment for students to become well-rounded and resilient. Our LACS students' accomplishments are a source of immense pride for us and for our school community.

BOE Budget Adoption Scheduled for April

Our Board of Education and administrative staff will be working to carefully evaluate all facets of the 2025-2026 projected budget.  The board has focused on the budget since December with considerable time spent on the development of a spending plan that meets the educational needs of the district while accommodating the economic issues at the national, state and local level. 

The challenge for any school district is to provide the high-quality educational programs for its students within the means of local taxpayers and state aid.  The Lowville Board of Education is committed to our strong educational mission and has continually practiced conservative budgeting because we understand that we must not only provide a viable educational program for our students now, but in the future as well.  

Our goal for the upcoming budget is to maintain our current programs, facilities, and extracurricular activities.  Lowville Academy strives to maintain our history of excellent academic performance, individual attention to the needs of our students, and developing students who are college, career and civic ready.  With the support of our community, we will continue to have great success and continued improvement.

The Board plans to address routine maintenance and repair of the facilities through the inclusion of our annual Capital Outlay Project (limited to $100,000) in our budget each year. Capital Outlay Projects are intended to aid in the efforts of New York State Schools to maintain their facilities and operations on an annual basis. The upkeep of our campus is like the upkeep of many homes. There are annual maintenance items that cannot be ignored.

The Board of Education is on track to adopt the 2025-2026 budget at the April 14, 2025 board meeting. There is still unknown information regarding State Aid projections for the upcoming school year. In addition to minimizing district expenditures, the Board is projecting an increase in the tax warrant as well as the use of district reserve funds. Any increase in the tax warrant will stay below the tax levy limit per the state’s calculation.

Thank you for supporting your child and working in partnership with us as we remain focused on our goal of providing the best educational opportunities for each of our students.  Your commitment and dedication to the district is deeply appreciated. 

Sincerely,

Rebecca Dunckel  

Superintendent of Schools

What is the LACS Timeline for Budget Adoption?

Looking ahead, the following dates are important milestones as the budget comes together:  

Adoption of 2025-26 Budget by LACS Board of Education – Tentatively Scheduled for April 14, 2025

Official Public Hearing and Presentation – May 12, 2025 – LACS Elementary Cafeteria 6:30 p.m.

Annual Meeting including Trustee Election and Budget Vote – Tuesday, May 20, 2025 – 12:00 Noon-8:00 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

Annual Meeting – May 20, 2025

School Board Election News

The LACS Board of Education is comprised of nine individuals.  The current Board of Education consists of: Amy Marti President, James Farquhar, Jonathan Gillette, Stephanie Houser Fouse, Steven Fuller, Michael Judd, Dr. Shereen Palmer, Cheyenne Steria and Michael Young.

Any resident of the Lowville Academy school district who meets state qualifications is eligible to run for the Board of Education. The Board member seats of Mr. James Farquhar, Mr. Jonathan Gillette and Mrs. Amy Marti will be up for election at the May 20 annual meeting. Mr. Farquhar, Mr. Gillette and Mrs. Marti have all decided not to run for re-election, so there will be three vacant board seats. We thank them for their years of dedicated service. Individuals interested in becoming a candidate for election to the Board of Education may obtain a nominating petition in the school District Office during normal business hours.  Completed petitions must be returned to the District Office by 4:30 p.m., April 21, 2025.  Petitions must be signed by a minimum of 25 qualified voters of the district with the specific seat identified upon submittal. 

Special Resolution – “At-Large Board Seats”

There will be a special resolution on the ballot this May. Currently, our community members run for specific board seats. The original intention was for each municipality in the district to have a seat, or a representative, from that area. However, over time, it has become less about representation from different municipalities. Our Board of Education is seeking to move to an at-large voting system where the individuals who receive the most votes are elected to the board with no specific seat. In order to do this, we must first understand the Education Law behind a change.

Education Law § 2018 permits the District to transition from voting for individual, specific board of education seats to an at-large voting system if voters approve a proposition to make this change.  If the proposition is passed, the at-large system will take effect starting with the election immediately following the one in which the proposition was enacted. The board of education will place the proposition on the ballot through a resolution.  In practical terms, if our community approves this resolution in May 2025, the board election held in the subsequent year (2026) will be the first to implement the at-large voting system. 

Early Mail Voting

On September 20, 2023, Governor Hochul signed into law Chapter 481 enacting the New York Early Mail Voter Act. If you are interested in voting early with a mail ballot, you will need to obtain an application from the District Clerk. In order to be a qualified voter you must be:

• a citizen on the United States
• at least 18 years of age; and
• a resident of the school district for a period of at least 30 days preceding the meeting or election at which you seek to vote.

Absentee Ballots Available

Absentee ballots for the annual budget vote and school board election will be also available for any qualified voter who otherwise is unable to vote in person on May 20, 2025. 

A qualified voter is eligible for an absentee ballot when he or she is:

• Absent from district when polls are open due to business, occupation or studies;
• Confined in hospital or jail;
• Chronically ill or has a physical disability;
• Absent due to vacation – whether actively working or retired

Qualified voters desiring an absentee ballot will need to complete an application. Applications may be obtained by contacting the school district clerk at 315-376-9100 or srivers@lowvilleacademy.org

Applications must be returned to the district clerk as follows: 

• By 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 13 if absentee ballot is to be mailed to applicant
• By 5:00 p.m. Monday, May 19 if absentee ballot is to be picked up at school by the applicant.
• All absentee ballots must be returned to the district clerk by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20 for the ballot to be counted.

Qualified voters with disabilities who are named on the county list will automatically be sent an absentee ballot.  Please contact the School District Clerk, Sandra M. Rivers, if you have questions or would like additional information regarding the absentee ballot procedure. She can be reached at 315-376-9100.

Safe Schools Endeavor Grants

Lowville Academy and Central School won a Northern New York Community Foundation Safe Schools Endeavor grant totaling $1,500.00. The District has contracted with a nationally known public speaker to address our students on the dangers of drug addiction. The program is called Steered Straight and our middle school and high school students will sit for this program on the afternoon of March 26, 2025. Thank you to the Safe Schools Endeavor program for making this program possible.