RCSD Community Update: 5/12/23

Dear RCSD Community,

Busy season is officially here (accompanied this year by extreme pollen season). End-of-year choral, orchestra, and band concerts abound at every school, the High School will shortly finish administering 1,227 Advanced Placement exams, and our soon-to-be graduating seniors headed out today on their month-long internships. In recognition of the difficulties associated with tracking it all, we have once again created…

The Beloved End-of-Year School Calendars

The end of the school year is a joyous but hectic time at the schools, full of events, half-days, and the newish Juneteenth holiday (celebrated this year on the actual day, Monday, June 19). To help everyone keep track of all the comings and goings, we have created “refrigerator calendars” for the final weeks of June at the elementary, middle, and high schools. They are linked here, or you can look for them in your email in-boxes and on the homepage of the District website on Monday.

Every Vote Counts

Please, please mark your calendars to come out and vote this Tuesday in the 2023-2024 school year budget and Board of Education election. In Rye, this is traditionally a very low voter turnout event. For the past five years, voter turnout averaged around 18% of all registered voters in Rye. This means that every vote really does count! 

Please grab a friend or a child or several children (free civics lesson) and head to the polls! They are open from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the RMS Gym. We have blocked off the RMS parking lot for voters to use, so you will not experience the traditional parking spot hunting exercise that usually accompanies a trip to the RHS/RMS campus. It is so important that all voters come out and vote on Tuesday!

The RCSD 2023-24 school district budget is tax cap-compliant and fiscally-responsible. It maintains all current programs, ensures excellent class sizes, funds critical mental health support programs, and expands the District’s graduation pathways to meet the needs of all our students. It also supports debt service for the ongoing capital projects including security measures like the new SALTO high tech locks and the classroom door replacement program.

We have two candidates running for two seats on the Board of Education, making this an uncontested election. The candidates are Shaun Kloepfer and Tom Stein. Tom is currently serving on the Board of Education and Shaun is known to many in the community as a long-time, dedicated school volunteer.

To learn more about the budget and the candidates, please click here to read the District’s annual Focus on Excellence budget newsletter or here to watch the Budget Hearing at our last Board of Education meeting. There is a host of voter and budget information on the District website here.

RFE Spring Benefit

Congratulations to the RFE on a hugely successful fundraiser last Thursday night. The event organizers created an incredible video explaining where the Fund’s funds go (hint: it’s all about our students). Watch it here.

A very happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there. Enjoy the weekend!

Sincerely,

Eric Byrne, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools