Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery schools cut eight jobs to balance budget

Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery schools approved a $41,489,472 budget that closes a projected shortfall by cutting eight positions, a move that will be felt in classrooms, counseling and day-to-day school support.

The Board of Education approved the spending plan unanimously on April 21. Three of the eight positions will disappear through attrition: a K-12 school counselor, a secondary social studies teacher and an elementary teacher. The district also will eliminate four additional certified positions and one classroom aide.

District leaders have framed the cuts as part of a balancing act, not a simple downsizing. The goal is to keep next year’s budget workable without a larger tax increase or deeper reductions that could force more disruption in Highland Falls, Fort Montgomery and the James I. O’Neill High School community.

The pressure built over several weeks. In early March, Assistant Superintendent for Business Chris Carballo presented a $42,181,842 preliminary spending plan. Superintendent Michael McElduff said the district faced a projected $1.25 million revenue gap if state aid matched the governor’s proposed figures, while instruction alone was set at $23,154,016, or 54.9% of the budget.

Other costs kept climbing. Transportation was expected to rise 3%, health insurance premiums 7%, and the district said it had lost about $2.3 million in tuition-based revenue since 2021 as fewer students came from West Point and Garrison. McElduff said the Town of Highlands has only 7% taxable land, with most of the rest federal, state or tax-exempt property, leaving the district unusually dependent on federal Impact Aid.

That dependence is central to the district’s long-term problem. Officials said Impact Aid totaled $3.6 million in 2014 and $3.7 million in 2025, a level they said has not kept up with inflation. NYSED lists Highland Falls CSD at 894 K-12 students, a small enrollment base for a district that still has to staff Fort Montgomery Elementary, Highland Falls Intermediate School and James I. O’Neill High School.

The cuts come after a March board cycle that already showed churn in staffing. Trustees accepted the retirement resignation of longtime elementary teacher Lisa Galu, along with resignations from teacher Ryan Monaco and custodian Herminia Yovera, while also appointing Catherine Fitzgerald as a special education elementary teacher and Jennifer Hassan to a full-time teacher aide post. For a district this size, each vacancy changes class size, course options and support services quickly, and the latest budget makes clear that the strain is now showing up in the classroom.