Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled her 2025-2026 budget proposal with a $2 billion investment in Nassau County schools – a 5.22% increase. While a majority of school districts are poised for a bump in their state aid, with all getting foundation aid boosts, seven districts are anticipating drops in their overall state aid.
School districts had mixed thoughts on the proposal, whether they were proposed an increase or decrease in aid.
This includes Glen Cove, which is in line for a proposed 3.88% state aid increase yet expressed displeasure with the amount.
“As I saw the preliminary numbers, I’m not too happy with what we’re getting, but I’m hoping that we see better numbers in the near future,” Glen Cove Superintendent Maria Rianna said at a Board of Education meeting.
She said in a statement the district would be advocating for the “appropriate funds” and new foundation aid formula based on the Rockefeller Institute’s recommendations.
Levittown is up for a proposed 7.04% increase in state aid, yet Superintendent Todd Winch said this may not cover all of the district’s growing expenses and greater aid could also reduce cuts from its budget proposal. Winch said its transportation budget could possibly go up by as much as 30%.
“While 7 percent is a healthy increase, there are still heavy increases in our expenses,” Winch said.
Sewanhaka Central High School District has the second-highest student population in Nassau County. Superintendent Regina Agrusa said the district is relieved to have received a 4.1% increase in aid and that the money plays a crucial role in the budgeting process.
Other districts, like Jericho, expressed cautious optimism with proposed state aid increases, but many praised the increases.
“This is a starting point, and we have a lot of work to do on the budget side,” Farmingdale Superintendent Paul Defendini said. “The fact that foundation aid went up was a pleasant surprise for us as a school system and a good starting point for us.”
Manhasset, which was initially assigned a proposed 20.7% drop in foundation aid last year before it was reinstated, is slated to receive a 2% increase in foundation aid and a 26.26% increase overall. Manhasset Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations Sam Gergis said the increase came as a surprise to the district.
“The starting point this year is better than last year’s starting point,” Gergis said.
The governor proposed $37.4 billion in total school aid in her 2025-2026 budget, about $2 billion more than last year.
But with another year also comes changes to the aid formula. Hochul said the state is beginning the process of updating its foundation aid formula to better serve students.
“We’re replacing 20-year-old poverty metrics with current census data to more accurately determine student need,” Hochul said. “This will ensure state dollars reach the children who need them most.”
Hochul addressed anticipated concerns with these changes by ensuring schools would be getting more money with the changes than without.
“Let me be clear: I know that any change is hard. And whether it’s working or not, the status quo is always easier,” Hochul said. “That’s why it’s important to know that the vast majority of schools will receive more money than they would have without these slight adjustments to the formula.”
A majority of Nassau County school districts are slated to receive an increase in their state aid, yet seven are anticipating reductions.
These seven school districts, ranked from the greatest decrease to the least are Port Washington, East Williston, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park, Franklin Square, Mineola, Locust Valley and Westbury.
Port Washington has been designated a proposed 2.89% reduction in state aid from the current year. It received the fourth highest amount of state aid of school districts in the Town of North Hempstead with a proposed $20,336,067 for 2025-2026.
Westbury is awaiting a proposed 0.38% decrease in state aid. It received the highest in North Hempstead at a proposed $100,534,153 for the 2025-2026 year.
But Locust Valley Assistant Superintendent for Business Karen Horoszewski said the district was not concerned with its 0.41% proposed reduction and told a Board of Education meeting that the district relies mostly on taxes for funding.
The state aid proposals are not final, but will be adopted once the state adopts its budget in April. Even after that, amounts may change as they are readjusted mid-year based on the districts’ actual spending.
Foundation aid’s history
School state aid is split into 16 categories with the greatest amount of funds being allocated to foundation aid.
Foundation aid was created after a 1993 lawsuit by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity alleged the state failed to provide the money needed to suffice New York City public school students’ constitutional right to a “sound basic education.”
After 13 years in the courts and multiple appeals by then Gov. George Pataki and the State of New York, the organization won in 2006.
Born out of the suit was foundation aid, a formula which would equitably distribute state funds to school districts based on school enrollment, student economic factors, regional wages and inflation.
But due to the 2008 housing crisis, the full funding of foundation aid was paused – until last year.
Hochul enforced the first budget that fully funded foundation aid, which the state was required to do by 2024 due to a legal settlement with New Yorkers for Students’ Educational Rights.
The state allocated $35.3 billion in total state aid to school districts in the 2024-2025 budget.
But last year was the first year the state proposed reeling back its “hold harmless” policy for foundation aid, which ensured school districts either get the same amount or more of those aid category funds year-to-year.
This change was staunchly opposed on Long Island where many schools contended the change would cause harm to the districts who expected and relied on those funds.
The governor ultimately re-instated it when the budget was adopted for 2024-2025.
Yet while foundation aid was considered restored through the state’s hold harmless policy, some administrators said final totals still came in lower than anticipated due to changes in the formula and a lower inflation rate used.
The pre-K caveat
Each school district is allocated an amount for the state’s universal pre-K initiative, with the total amount varying between school districts.
Even though amounts for this program vary from district to district, some districts say it is still an overestimation of the total amount they will actually be awarded.
Great Neck Deputy Superintendent John O’Keefe said Great Neck was proposed to receive just over $1.3 million for their pre-K program, yet he estimated they would only receive about $600,000.
This discrepancy is because Great Neck operates a half-day pre-K program, but O’Keefe said the funds proposed for them are set for a full-day program. He said the district does not plan to expand its program to a full day.
“That is something we are in the works on, but we don’t have it yet because we offer pre-K to everybody,” O’Keefe said. “If we go to a full-day model, we won’t necessarily have a seat for everybody because it would be limited by space and we would have to go to a lottery.”
Manhasset does not have a universal pre-K program. Gergis said those allocated funds from the state will not actually be seen by the district. He said there are no plans to instate the program next year.
O’Keefe said this discrepancy can overinflate the funds proposed to districts, running a higher amount than what they may actually receive come next school year.
O’Keefe said this is really the only state aid category that does this, yet mid-year adjustments based on the school’s actual expenditures may too cause changes – both increases or decreases – to their state aid totals.
Schneps Media Long Island Reporters Hannah Devlin and Casey Fahrer contributed reporting to this article.
