Lake Region Union High School had the annual meeting where voters are welcomed to vote on the budget for the next fiscal year. The LR Post was only able to get there once it was about half way done so the story can only start there. Anyone who wishes to review the budget should look at the documents page of the OCSU website. It is listed as the 2024-2025 Lake Region Union High School annual Report.
In regards to the budget that was voted on, FY 26 is up $462,000, which is about 4.67% from FY 25. Most of increase is the assessments, health insurance, and salaries. Local taxes are about 37% of the revenue, the state covers over 50%. Per pupil spending for FY26 will be $13,495.41. The budget passed by an overwhelming majority which was done by voice vote. The presentation of the budget was done by Richard Carbonetti a member from Albany. Dave Blodgett presented on the Capitol reserve fund. The current reserve fund is a bit over $300,000. The proposed increase is $60,000. The board explained that they ask for these funds because taking out a bond is overall more expensive because they have to pay interest on that bond versus having money in the bank that can actually gain interest. The capital reserve fund was passed by a unanimous voice vote.
Andre Messier, principal of Lake Region, explained how the school had to put in a lot of drainage because of a state mandate on the water runoff of the impervious surfaces such as the parking lots and roofs. The Capitol Reserve fund couldn’t be allocated for this cost because of the language of it saying that it could only be used for repairs or updates to the building. This does not cover the parking lot. The allocation of these funds was approved by unanimous voice vote.
The meeting next year will be Wednesday March 18, 2026 at 6:00 PM at Lake Region Union High School.
Andre Messier was recognized for his many years of service to the school by Dave Blodgett and the audience gave him a standing ovation for his contributions that have done a lot of good for the school and therefore the community.
The meeting ended at 8:25.
