The Herricks school district administration held a preliminary budget meeting at its Board of Education meeting Thursday, Feb. 5.
The current draft of the budget proposal shows an increase of $4.86 million over the 2025-’26 budget, according to a presentation from Assistant Superintendent for Business Lisa Rutkoske.
This represents a 3.36% increase from the previous year, bringing this draft’s total budget up to $149,403,210
Rutkoske said the district has projected a tax levy increase of up to 2.3% over 2025-26, but board president Juleigh Chin asked Rutkoske to present drafts with slightly smaller increases in preparation for future budget meetings.
Rutkoske said the primary budget increases come from additional payroll, benefits and special education costs projected for the next academic year.
The district has increased the levy by an average of 1.7% over the last 11 years, according to the presentation.
The board also approved a resolution to instruct the district’s counsel, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C., to initiate lawsuits against multiple insurance companies, seeking remedies for the district’s settlements from the Child Victims Act.
Superintendent Tony Sinanis said the district is pursuing this legal action to try and get insurance companies that had contracts in the past to pay for some of the settlement costs for suits alleging child abuse. He said the district has paid around $50 million in settlements.
The district was accused of ignoring sex abuse complaints over a school psychologist in the 1980s, according to CBS News.
The legal action is aimed at Utica Mutual Insurance Company and Graphic Arts Mutual Insurance Company; Allianz Global Risks U.S. Insurance Company, as an affiliate of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company; and Chubb, as successor to Pacific Employers Insurance Company.
At the meeting, the school board honored the four Herricks students who were among the 300 Regeneron finalists this year: Emma Su, Abigail Thomas, Eli Jacob and Aarthi Palaniappan.
