The Hempstead School District issued a plea for financial relief from the state on Thursday, March 6, to avoid program cuts in the face of a deficit that could exceed $30 million for the 2025-26 school year resulting from rising charter school tuition payments.
“We are in a financial crisis,” Hempstead School District Board of Education President Victor Pratt said at a press conference held in a packed auditorium at the district’s high school.
The district’s main financial struggles were attributed to an expected $106.4 million payout in charter school tuition payments for the upcoming school year, an increase of nearly $20 million for the 2024-2025 school year.
Public schools are required to pay tuition for each student attending a charter school, but the amount varies greatly between districts.
Hempstead paid $26,196 per student this year and is expected to pay $28,486 next year, according to the district’s budget.
Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations Jamal Scott said that number is much larger than neighboring districts He said, as an example, Freeport paid just $18,373 per student for the 2024-25 year.
Pratt said four local charter schools have taken 3,151 Hempstead-zoned students out of the district’s public school system for the 2024-25 school year.
A fifth charter school, Diamond Charter School, will open for the 2026-27 academic year in Hempstead Village and will accept 162 students for its first year before eventually expanding to 486 students, according to the SUNY Board of Trustees.
Hempstead Superintendent Susan Johnson said the district has looked for various ways to cut costs for the 2025-26 school year. The largest change will be decreasing the number of active elementary schools from five to four, although Johnson said the district has not decided which school will close.
The superintendent also noted that up to 15 teachers and nine administrators will lose their jobs due to the closure. Johnson also said further cuts to staff, salaries, special services, field trips and supplies have all been discussed.
“Without financial relief, our students will suffer,” the superintendent said.
Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Gary Rush said music and art programs, counseling and summer learning may all be negatively affected by the funding issues that the district will have to deal with.
The district had budgeted $45 million for charter school tuition payments during the 2019-20 school year and just $19 million for the 2016-17 school year.
The Hempstead school district had 5,738 students during the 2023-24 academic year, a large drop from its 6,705 student population 10 years prior.
The administrators who spoke on Thursday said that many students have been “poached” by nearby charter schools as they run advertisements to persuade students away from the public school district.
The district had its first budget meeting on Feb. 26, revealing its $348,369,676 projected budget, a 6.01% increase from the 2024-25 academic year for the upcoming school year. That includes Nasasu County’s highest state aid figure, $239,749,576, proposed in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s January budget announcement.
But that total is just $4 million higher than the 2024-25 figure given to the district.
“If the projected charter school increase is going up $19 million for the ’25-’26 school year, and the state aid is only going up approximately $4 million, we’re already behind,” Scott said. “And that’s without the regular contractual increases, inflation and things of that nature that the district faces, like operating costs, gas and electric salaries, and the structural needs that students need to continue to thrive in the school district.”
Part of the governor’s financial package includes funding for charter school transition aid – which the school will receive nearly half of the $10.9 million it received this year for the 2025-26 school year.
Scott said that to combat a higher increase in charter tuition payments than the increase in state aid, the district needs to dip into its reserves. But, he said, the district only has a certain amount of money in its fund balance, which is used to balance the budget, and that there is uncertainty about how stable Hempstead’s financials may be in future years.
The district also called for a change to how the state calculates its transition aid, calling for an alternative formula for schools with more than 20% of their total enrollment in charter schools.
The administrators all publically asked for local and state lawmakers to help the district through the situation.
“They must provide aid to help mitigate the devastating budgetary impact payments to charter schools are having on the Hempstead School District and other districts across Long Island,” Pratt said.
The governor’s education 2025-26 budget is expected to be finalized by April 1.
Efforts to reach state Assembly Member Noah Burroughs and state Senator Siela Bynoe for comment were unavailing.
