The Glen Cove City School District is facing a multimillion-dollar budget gap for the upcoming school year, driven by rising costs, declining enrollment and limited increases in state aid, district officials said at a Board of Education budget workshop last week.
“As of today, we do not have a balanced budget,” Theresa Kahan, the district’s assistant superintendent for business and operations, said.
The district is projecting a gap of roughly $4.7 million for the 2026-27 school year, Kahn said, with expenses expected to exceed revenues unless adjustments are made in the coming weeks.
“There are several factors that contribute to this shortfall,” she said, “including the rate of inflation, rising costs for items such as health insurance, special-education services and transportation, limited foundation aid increases, and declining enrollment.”
District officials presented updated state aid projections during the March 4 workshop. According to Kahan, the district now expects a state aid increase of just under $1.15 million — less than the nearly $1.28 million increase estimated at the district’s budget presentation on Feb. 11.
Kahan noted that the figures are based on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s preliminary state budget, and could change. Final state aid totals will not be confirmed until the state adopts its spending plan, which is expected in April.
The district is proposing a tax levy of just over $81.5 million in 2026-27, an increase of 2.42 percent — the maximum allowed under the state’s tax cap formula.
Kahan also outlined the program component of the budget, the largest portion of district spending, which includes teacher salaries and the cost of classroom materials, textbooks and educational equipment. This category of spending also encompasses special-education services, occupational and physical therapy, BOCES career and technical-education programs, school libraries, guidance departments, psychological services, social work services and extracurricular activities.
Transportation and employee benefits are also major cost drivers for the district. Transportation and health insurance costs are both projected to rise by roughly 10 percent next year, Kahan said.
Overall, expenditures for the budget’s program component are estimated to total just under $104.4 million.
To help offset expenses in recent years, the district has relied on financial reserves. According to Superintendent Alexa Doeschner, the district withdrew roughly $2.98 million in reserves during the 2021-22 school year, $1.88 million in 2024-25 and $2.6 million last school year to help balance the budget. Doeschner warned, however, that repeatedly drawing from those reserves is not a long-term solution.
“Reserves is another name for a savings account for a school district,” Doeschner said during the presentation. “They are not limitless funds, and they’re not recurring revenue. Every dollar drawn today is another dollar unavailable for tomorrow’s emergency,” she added.
Declining enrollment has also contributed to the district’s financial challenges. “Enrollment has fallen to its lowest point in the last 12 years,” Doeschner said, “which has a direct implication for our state aid calculations,”
The district had 3,273 students in the 2016-17 school year, but as of last month, enrollment has declined to 3,059.
Doeschner explained that lower enrollment affects the district in two ways: fewer students means less state aid, and also increases the district’s calculated “wealth per pupil,” which can further reduce aid.
The superintendent said that district leaders are evaluating potential ways to close the budget gap while trying to minimize the impacts on students and staff.
In an email after the meeting, Doeschner wrote that district officials are examining a number of categories of spending.
“As we review the budget, we are looking carefully at both staffing and programmatic expenditures to determine where adjustments can be made,” she wrote, “while minimizing the impact on students and staff.”
The budget review will continue in the coming weeks, and will include an analysis of staffing needs across the district’s schools, and whether additional reserves can be used.
Another budget workshop is scheduled for March 18, when administrators expect to provide further updates, including the status of the district’s capital projects and any changes tied to updated state aid figures.
The Board of Education is expected to adopt a proposed spending plan later this spring before it is presented to voters on May 19.
