“As of today, we do not have a balanced budget,” Theresa Kahan, the Glen Cove City School District’s assistant superintendent for business and operations, said at the board of education meeting on Wednesday, March 4.
Kahan said that as of the meeting, the district would be spending roughly $4.7 million more than it would be receiving for its 2026-2027 proposed budget.
Kahan said several factors contribute to the budget’s shortfall, including inflation rates, rising costs of select items, limited foundation aid increases and declining enrollment.
“For the next few weeks, we will review the budget to determine how to eliminate this gap,” she said.
A new update in state aid since the last budget meeting shows state aid only increasing by $1,146,906, rather than the $1,276,418 figure shown at the Feb. 11 meeting, Kahan said.
The final state aid totals have not yet been finalized and will be included in the state’s budget, which is set to be approved in April.
The district is considering using additional reserves and waiting to see the governor’s adopted state budget, which will show a final state aid total, Kahan said, about the district’s efforts to balance its proposed budget.
Kahan also said the district is proposing a tax levy cap of $81.5 million, representing the maximum the district is allowed to levy in taxes, for its 2026-2027 budget. This represents a 2.42% increase from the current tax levy cap of $79.6 million.
The district began its budget discussion in January but has yet to present its total proposed budget for 2026-2027. The district is currently operating with a $118.1 million budget for the 2025-26 academic year.
District officials also presented a mid-year momentum report at the meeting on Wednesday, during which Superintendent Alexa Doeschner said the district has seen a declining enrollment over the past decade. She said the district had 3,273 students during the 2016-2017 school year, and as of February of this year, it has only 3,059 students.
“Enrollment has fallen to its lowest point in the last 12 years, which has a direct implication for our state aid calculations,” Doeschner said. She added that the decrease also impacts staffing and long-term budget planning.
Doeschner presented a timeline of what would happen down the road if strategic cuts were not made to the current proposed budget, saying the district’s reserves would help in the short run but would create a “dangerous setup for next year” while also reducing the district’s financial flexibility to cover unexpected costs.
“Every dollar drawn today is another dollar unavailable for tomorrow’s emergency,” Doeschner said.
She also said future decisions would become more difficult and would lead to larger program and staff reductions, as well as structural instability.
The district will hold another budget meeting on March 18 before the board of education adopts the proposed budget. The community will vote on the budget on Tuesday, May 19.
