The Locust Valley Central School District said it plans to spend over $10 million on capital improvement projects, including over $1.4 million on interschool athletics and roughly $2.2 million on instructional technology as part of its proposed 2026-2027 academic budget.
The district has yet to unveil its total proposed budget for the upcoming school year.
The board of education has two more budget meetings planned before it adopts the budget in April. The district is currently operating with a $98.2 million budget for the 2025-2026 school year.
The district said at a previous budget meeting that its allowable tax cap for the upcoming school budget is 2.84%, or $92,722,034. The district’s current budget includes a 2.3% tax levy increase, totaling $90,158,181.
Karen Horoszewski, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, said at the board of education meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 25, that the district may have a tax levy for the upcoming budget lower than the maximum.
The district has done more with less ever since the community rejected a 2016 bond vote, Horoszewski said during a presentation on capital improvements. She said the district consistently transfers funds to its capital fund and has worked to lower its debt.
This past year, the district completed safety upgrades, facility improvements and athletic field upgrades, Horoszewski said.
“These funds are transferring our students’ experiences,” she said about the district’s capital improvements.
As part of the 2026-2027 proposed budget, Horoszewski said the district plans to spend $3.05 million to replace all classroom locks and doors, $450,000 to convert two spaces into bathrooms at its middle school, $2 million for air conditioning installation in the high school’s auditorium, $4 million for window and panel curtain wall system replacements at two schools, $300,000 for gym bleachers and $400,000 for a flat roof replacement at the Bayvillee Intermediate School.
Danielle Turner Cosci, the district’s director of athletics, health and physical education, said the district supports over 80 interscholastic athletic teams for students, with recent additions including flag football, swimming and boys volleyball.
She said the proposed budget allows the district to continue offering athletic opportunities to its students, improve its athletic facilities and supplies, including a baseball scoreboard, uniform rotation and tackling dummies for the football team, and continue to offer a comprehensive Health and Physical Education curriculum.
Horoszewski said the district’s proposed $2,154,273 instruction technology budget for the upcoming school year marks an 11% decrease, or $270,474.69, from the current budget.
The athletics budget will increase by 6.63% from $1,291,639 to $1,377,300 in the proposed 2026-2027 budget, Horoszewski said.
Locust Valley community members will vote on the board’s adopted budget on Tuesday, May 19.
