Residents in the Saratoga Springs City School District will head to the polls on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, to vote on the proposed 2026-2027 school budget for the upcoming year.

The proposed $166,095,679 budget includes a 3.85% tax levy increase, which remains below the state’s tax cap, reflecting the district’s continued focus on fiscal responsibility while maintaining strong educational programming.

2026-2027 Proposed Budget Highlights

As part of the budget development process, the district reviewed existing allocations to identify opportunities for cost savings and efficiencies. Through staff reallocations and careful resource management, the district aligned staffing and programs with student needs while maintaining strong educational opportunities for students.

The 2026–2027 budget supports a range of initiatives designed to meet the evolving needs of students while expanding opportunities across the district. Key highlights include the expansion of the Strategies Special Education Program to provide additional targeted support for students, the growth of the girls flag football program to include a modified level to increase access and participation, and the creation of a girls wrestling program through a merger, further expanding athletic opportunities. The budget also continues investing in academic programs that support student achievement and engagement.

In addition, the budget includes a $100,000 capital outlay project to replace the Blue Gym doors at Saratoga Springs High School as part of safety and security upgrades.

Also on the Ballot:

Bus Bond Proposition: This would authorize the school district to issue an estimated $2,413,000 in serial bonds to purchase eight 70-passenger buses, five 30-passenger buses, and three Suburban vehicles. State aid would reimburse the district for approximately 40 percent of the cost.

Board of Education Election: District residents will elect three individuals to the Board of Education for three-year terms. The candidates, in the order that they will appear on the ballot, are Lauren Allen, Anita Stabrowski, and Beth Braxton.

• Lauren Allen is an Assistant Professor at SUNY Empire State University with expertise in behavioral and school psychology. She completed advanced training at the Kennedy Krieger Institute through the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  Lauren holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Psychology, along with a B.S. in Psychology, from the University of Southern Mississippi. She is actively involved in the Saratoga Springs community and supports neuro-inclusive programming through partnerships with local organizations, while also serving in leadership roles in professional associations.

• Anita Stabrowski is a Saratoga Springs community member and retired public school teacher. She brings a strong background in education and a continued commitment to supporting students and schools. Anita earned her B.S. from Western Illinois University and her M.S.Ed. from the University of Rochester. She remains active in the community and regularly volunteers at city-hosted events.

• Beth Braxton, the current Board of Education Vice President, is seeking a second term. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Chair of the Counseling Division at SUNY Adirondack, with more than 20 years of experience in clinical and educational settings. Beth holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Richmond, as well as an M.Ed. in School Counseling and an Ed.S. in Mental Health Counseling from James Madison University. A Saratoga Springs native, she lives in the community with her husband and their three children and remains active in local organizations.

Popular hands-on STEM camp returns July 13–16

The Innovation Center at Saratoga, Inc. is bringing back its high-energy Roller Coaster Summer Camp, taking place July 13–16, 2026, at the Innovation Center’s facility on Old Stonebreak Road in Malta, NY.

Designed for middle and early high school students, the four-day camp immerses participants in the science, engineering, and creativity behind roller coasters and theme parks. Working in small teams, students will learn core physics concepts, design their own rides, and build digital theme park experiences, culminating in a real-world visit to the Great Escape.

Camp registration includes:

• 3 days of hands-on learning in physics, math, and computer-based design

• Creative theming and design elements integrated into each team’s park

• 1 full day at the Great Escape, including lunch, refillable drink mug, and camp t-shirt

Based on a program developed by the Physics and Math departments at Clarkson University, the camp blends STEM learning with imaginative design. The Innovation Center’s instructors have been trained by Clarkson faculty, and campers will gain insight into how classroom concepts translate into real-world engineering.

“This camp is a unique opportunity for students to experience STEM in a way that’s both practical and fun,” said Beth Moeller, President of the Board of Directors. “They’re not just learning concepts—they’re applying them, collaborating, and seeing how those ideas come to life in a real theme park setting.”

The Innovation Center at Saratoga is a makerspace and innovation hub that will support inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs in the region. Programs like Roller Coaster Camp reflect its mission to inspire the next generation through hands-on STEAM education.

Learn more and register at https://innovationcentersaratoga.org/summer-camp/. 

The Innovation Center at Saratoga, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) developing a makerspace and community collaboration space supporting inventors, creators, and the innovators of the future. More information can be found at https://innovationcentersaratoga.org.

Skidmore College has received a $175,000 grant from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations to support SkidMORE Discourse: Meaningful Open Respectful Engagement (M.O.R.E.), a campuswide initiative designed to make civil discourse a defining feature of the Skidmore experience.

Beginning this June and running through June 2028, the initiative will be co-led by Natalie Taylor, interim dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs, and Adrian Bautista, dean of students and vice president for student affairs, in partnership with faculty, staff, and programs across campus, including: the Office of Academic Advising, Civic Engagement, Center for Leadership, Teaching, and Learning (CLTL), First-Year Experience (FYE), Career Development Center (CDC) and Office of Residential Life, among others.

“We are thrilled to receive this generous support from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations,” said Skidmore College President Marc C. Conner. “M.O.R.E. will allow us to advance our efforts from dialogue as a program to dialogue as culture.”

At its heart, the initiative reflects Skidmore’s commitment to ensuring that every student — regardless of major — graduates with the skills and confidence to engage constructively with people whose experiences, beliefs, and perspectives may differ from their own.

M.O.R.E. is organized around three connected parts of campus life: in the classroom, in residence, and in community, so that students can practice thoughtful dialogue not as a one-time exercise, but as an everyday habit.

“Skidmore’s approach is grounded in the principle that civil discourse is learned through repeated, structured, and supported practice,” Taylor said. “We believe we can achieve lasting cultural change by embedding civil discourse across academic, residential, and community life.”

In the classroom, the initiative will support faculty development, new courses, and advising approaches that help students practice active listening, intellectual humility, and respectful disagreement as part of their liberal arts education. In residential life, it will bring peer-led dialogue and mentoring into the daily rhythms of campus life, integrating civil discourse into Skidmore’s Residential Curriculum and helping residence halls become spaces for belonging, creativity, and courageous conversation. In the broader community, it will expand public forums and include a speaker series and a national symposium that connects students’ learning on campus with the larger civic questions shaping our society. 

“What makes this effort so exciting is that the M.O.R.E. project is intentionally designed to move beyond one-time events and to embed civil discourse and dialogue across differences into residential life,” Bautista said.

The initiative is rooted in Skidmore’s liberal arts tradition and advances the goals of Creative Futures: The Skidmore College Strategic Plan, 2025–2030. It also builds on a series of recent institutional investments that have strengthened the College’s work in speech, dialogue, and civic preparedness, including the Speech and Expression on College Campuses Symposium, the Frederick Lawrence Residency, Election 2024 programming, and participation in College Presidents for Civic Preparedness (CP2), among others.

At a time of deep polarization, M.O.R.E. is intended to help students build trust, confidence, and habits of constructive engagement — not only for life on campus, but for life as engaged citizens in a democratic society. As the work develops, Skidmore also aims to share what it learns with peer institutions and contribute to national conversations about how colleges can foster open, informed, and respectful dialogue.

“The ability to engage with different perspectives, and think critically about what we read and hear, is essential not only to academic work but to the health of our democracy,” Conner said. “Dialogue is not episodic, but essential — it should be a sustained, expected part of every student’s education.”

Saratoga Jewish Community Arts, generously supported by a grant from the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York and sponsored by Temple Sinai, presents a panel discussion on Zoom of the public television documentary, America and the Holocaust, Wednesday, May 6 at 7 pm.

 America and the Holocaust explores the decisions that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his State Department made to block news about the growing genocide in Europe, as well as to keep Jewish immigration drastically below the limits of an-already tight quota system, both before and during World War II. 

 That policy’s result: nearly 200,000 Jews eligible for entry into America were barred and subsequently murdered in the Holocaust. Americans’ self-image of ethical uprightness in the face of Nazi terror remained an unexamined myth of national life that was shattered by this 1994 film, directed by Martin Ostrow, and by later documentaries by Ken Burns and others.

 Ostrow reveals how social, political, and economic forces in America during the Roosevelt years shaped the U.S. government’s response to growing antisemitism in Europe. Racism, antisemitism and isolationism during those years permeated both political parties.

 Since the end of WWII, evidence has accumulated that before and during the war, the State Department was in effect a pioneer in Holocaust revisionism. The film traces the Government’s apparent indifference to the antisemitism of the 1920s and 1930s, typified by the German American Bund’s mass rallies and Rev. Charles Coughlin’s antisemitic radio broadcasts. Nativist politicians echoed their hate-filled messages. In the film, a former Treasury Department official says State Department officials shrugged off the plight of European refugees in deference to America’s perceived economic and political interests in the Middle East.  

 Do the forces that fueled America’s indifference to refugees’ plight in last century persist today, in old and guises?

 “The record may stir uncomfortable, if not infuriating, thoughts about current American behavior toward refugees seeking to escape despotism, war and other abysmal conditions,” said Phyllis Wang, Coordinator of the SJCA series. 

 Where to Watch the Film

The documentary is available to stream free on YouTube. Click https://youtu.be/ZG1GR61qkls?si=3ngOBSO_yxtHksus 

 How to Register

Pre-registration is required. Click the blue box above or enter the URL below in your browser:

The Saratoga Springs City School District welcomes families and community members to join them for the Fourth Annual Student Voices Event on Thursday, April 30 at Geyser Road Elementary School. 

This special evening highlights the importance of building inclusive, supportive school communities and celebrates the perspectives and experiences of our students.

This districtwide gathering provides an opportunity to hear directly from students and explore the many ways they are helping to create a culture of belonging across our schools.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. with a student performance and panel discussion. Following the panel, attendees are invited to connect with student clubs and groups representing schools across the district.