Historic boost in state aid for many school districts

State aid to school districts across New York will increase significantly next year under Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed budget, released last week. The money — a boost of 10 percent overall over the current academic year — would meet the state’s legal requirement for funding its school districts.

The statewide total of $34.5 billion in school aid is the highest in the state’s history.

The Assembly and Senate will hold budget hearings, and likely offer their own amendments, before the April 1 budget deadline. Hochul’s spending plan appears headed for adoption by both houses of the Legislature, however, since Democrats control both with supermajorities.

In the Lynbrook district, which will see a 27 percent increase in state aid, district officials were scrutinizing the implications of the jump in funding. Superintendent Melissa Burak said that the district was scheduled to publicly release its 2023-24 budget on March 1.

“We are still in the middle of our budget process,” Burak said. “We always need to analyze these state aid runs, because very often those are not the exact numbers. We analyze the figures carefully.”

Still, she added, Lynbrook officials were satisfied that the state came through on its promise to fully fund foundation aid. “We are very pleased that the projections from last year did come to fruition this year,” Burak said. “It helped us in our long-range planning.”

Fiscal conservatives, however, offered notes of caution about the historically generous state aid. In a statement, newly elected State Sen. Steven Rhoads said he was still reviewing Hochul’s spending plan, and warned against overspending at taxpayers’ expense.

“At first glance, it looks like the governor is piling on more spending and more taxes — particularly for Long Island residents,” Rhoads said.

West Hempstead schools will see an increase of just under 10 percent in state aid next year, and the East Rockaway district, 14 percent. Officials in those districts could not immediately be reached for comment.

Malverne Superintendent Lorna Lewis said she was grateful that the state was finally meeting its financial obligations to the schools. Malverne’s state aid is projected to increase 29 percent in the 2023-24 school year, one of the largest increases on Long Island.

“The state promised exactly the right amount of foundation aid, and we were able to plan accordingly,” Lewis said. “We are extremely appreciative of that foundation aid.”

Lewis added that Malverne now planned to expand its Spanish language program to sixth-grade students, and hire a literacy coach for the elementary grades.

“It is imperative that every child become a reader and writer by the third grade,” she said.

Even with the historic increase in funding, Lewis said, most of the additional money would be used to cover increases in energy, transportation, special education and insurance costs. Those expenses alone, she said, will add up to $4 million more next year.

“It takes almost our entire state aid increase,” Lewis said. “There’s not a lot left over.”