The Port Washington Board of Education discussed revenue options for the proposed 2025-2026 school year budget during their third and final budget work session on Tuesday, March 25.
The district’s proposed budget is just over $199 million, a roughly $4.5 million increase from the 2024-2025 budget.
The board will approve a final budget during its meeting on April 22. Based on a calculation by Schneps Media LI using the district’s enrollment data and proposed budget, Port Washington School District would spend around $37,000 per pupil in the upcoming school year.
At previous work sessions, board members discussed how the district could cut costs to close an approximately $1.2 million budget gap, primarily driven by a reduction in state aid. Despite the budget deficit, the district said it plans to keep the increase in the tax levy on residents below the state cap of 3.39%.
During the second work session, the district outlined how creating more efficiencies could offset the budget gap while outlining priorities for health and safety upgrades, including ten new AC units and instructional programs like field trips and science equipment.
Despite the estimated $800,000 in costs, these priorities would add to the already tight budget. Interim Superintendent Christopher Shields said during the recent work session that the district would consider reallocating around $200,000 in resources as a solution.
In one instance, the district hired an outside firm to teach the goal-oriented organizational tool to third, sixth and ninth graders. But by incorporating the skills into professional development for staff instead, the district said they could save around $100,000.
The district also identified $46,000 in savings from absorbing expenditures in supply and contractual codes that were not entirely spent each year and around $57,000 from the retirement of a receptionist.
Other savings would come from reducing one English as a New Language teacher, one guidance counselor for the pre-K program, and additional teacher retirements. The district said these reductions would not significantly increase staff members’ workloads in similar positions.
Shields also discussed elementary classroom sizes, which some parents have raised as a concern to the board at previous meetings.
Shields also said that while elementary class sizes are around an average of 19 to 22 students per grade across the district, below the limit of 23 for grades one and two, and 26 for grades three through five, administrators will prioritize the outlier classrooms with higher student enrollment.
The district said it would like to address the issue by hiring at least one new elementary school teacher and monitoring the class sizes of each grade at each elementary school.
The Port Washington Board of Education will next meet at the Schreiber High School Auditorium on Tuesday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m., when they will adopt a budget that the public will vote on Tuesday, May 20.
