Long Island districts will vote on school boards, budgets and propositions. Here's what's at stake.

Total spending in Long Island public schools could rise an average of 3.26% in 2026-27 if voters approve the proposed budgets of 124 districts next week, a Newsday analysis found.

The overall spending increase is on par with the latest Consumer Price Index of 3.8%, as of April.

On May 19, residents will vote on their local district’s budget. A third of the spending proposals call for reductions in staffing or programs. Officials have cited skyrocketing costs — in some areas double-digit spikes — among reasons for the cuts. Only a few said they would add programs or jobs.

Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, said he’s not surprised to see a large number of districts making cuts.

"This is a result of school districts ... dealing with a sustained inflationary environment where the combination of the tax cap and state aid is not keeping up with the inflationary costs," he said.

The state tax levy cap, which was put in place in 2012, limits how much districts can raise property taxes annually. State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli has set the overall cap at 2% for five consecutive years; the actual limit varies depending on a district's financial circumstances.

Under the budget advanced by Gov. Kathy Hochul in January, local districts were set to receive a minimum 1% increase in foundation aid, though state lawmakers are pushing for at least a 2% increase. The state budget, which was due April 1, was yet to be finalized as of Wednesday. 

Even with a 2% increase, many districts said their revenue cannot keep pace with rising expenses. This year, seven districts are seeking voter approval to pierce their levy limits.

Total spending for 2026-27 is projected to be nearly $16.9 billion. Of that amount, about $10 billion would be funded by the local tax levy.

Islandwide, overall tax levies could go up by 2.5%, according to a Newsday analysis of data from the 2026-27 property tax report card data released by the state Education Department on May 8. 

Voters  will also choose from 358 candidates to fill 257 vacancies on local boards. Fewer than half the districts — 51 — have contested races.

To find out your polling stations and hours, visit Newsday’s Voters Guide.

Tax override

To bust the tax limit historically has been difficult, as at least 60% of voters must approve it.

Since 2012, about two-thirds of budgets requiring an override in New York were approved on the first try, according to the New York State School Boards Association.

On the Island, the success rate has varied. In 2012, 10 of 17 succeeded. But the following year, only one of seven garnered enough votes. In another high attempt year, 2016, seven out of nine were successful.

Last year, three tried and two failed, including Shelter Island, which is seeking an override again this year. The six other systems also trying are Uniondale, Lynbrook, Bayport-Blue Point, Greenport, South Country and Islip.

To Vecchio, seeing seven districts attempting to pierce their cap is not indicative of "a regionwide trend."

"Like years past, there are some very localized circumstances," he said. He noted that Uniondale and Bayport-Blue Point have a negative cap, meaning they actually had to reduce their levy for 2026-27 to stay under the limit.

Bob Fredericks, a retired school official who lives on Shelter Island, said the cap is fair in an economy where taxpayers are also squeezed by higher costs.

"We all have to share the difficult financial times that we're going through," he said. 

If a budget fails to garner enough support on the first vote, the district has another chance for a second vote with the same or a different proposal. If that fails again, the district must adopt a contingency budget that freezes the levy.

Fredericks, who voted against Shelter Island’s override request last year, said he would vote no on this year's proposed levy increase of 6.78%. He said he would support a budget that stays under the district's 2.2% cap.

"In a time when all of our expenses are going up drastically ... from home insurance, car insurance, gasoline, oil to heat my house, all of those things are going up drastically, then where we have discretion, we should choose to not pay more," he said.

Superintendent Brian Doelger said the Shelter Island district has faced growing costs. Healthcare insurance for employees alone is expected to rise 12% next year. In the past six years, Doelger said the district has cut four positions out of a staff of about 50.

The district in recent years relied on its reserve funds to help balance its budget, but that is not sustainable, Doelger said. The budget presented to voters this year would maintain programs and bring back a half-day prekindergarten program for 3-year-olds, which the district did away with last year, he said.

"It helps us replenish and rebuild some of our reserves," Doelger said during an April meeting. "And it sets our district on a stable course where piercing the cap will be highly unlikely for many years to come."

For an average taxpayer with a $1.6 million home, their school taxes would go up $206 a year, according to district figures.

Norma Clark, a mother of three, said her youngest child is turning 3 in September and would benefit from the return of the PreK-3 program. Clark said supporting the budget is essential to keeping young families like hers on the island.

"Supporting our schools isn't just about figures on the spreadsheet," she said at a board meeting in late March. "It's about making sure Shelter Island remains a vibrant, welcoming place for young families to put down roots." 

Staffing cuts

On Long Island, more than 40 districts have adopted budgets that call for staffing cuts for 2026-27.

Rockville Centre plans to do away with more than 70 positions. Uniondale wants to reduce staffing by 58. Hewlett-Woodmere calls for cutting more than 20 in staffing. South Country, which cut dozens of jobs last year, proposes to eliminate about 60 more positions for 2026-27.

Most are planning the reductions through attrition, meaning not filling vacancies after someone leaves or retires. There are layoffs too.

Tim Eagen, superintendent of the Kings Park district, which would reduce 4.7 teaching positions, said his schools, like many others, are educating fewer students.

Enrollments have been in steady decline over the years in many Island schools, mirroring a national trend. On the Island, the public school student population dropped from more than 455,000 in 2012-13 to roughly 420,000 last school year.

"In many cases, districts may be doing what I like to call ‘right-fitting’ our staff to our student population," he said. "If you have declining enrollment, you're going to need less."

Eagen, also president of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association, said he believed some districts are also cutting back positions or services funded by pandemic relief grants.

"There might have been extra support teachers that were in place," he said. "Now that we're ... years removed from COVID, we may not need those positions anymore." 

The federal relief dollars were due to wind down in 2024. Eagen said some districts may have continued to fund the extra support in their budgets after federal funding lapsed but can no longer afford it.

Glen Cove is among those cutting programs. The district is "pausing" its twilight program, which offers targeted support and special class schedules to high school students, and its elementary summer program, citing low attendance.

Superintendent Alexa Doeschner said in a statement that the summer program was funded with pandemic relief dollars in its first three years and by the district budget in its fourth. She wrote that the district saw improvement in student test results but that the program’s low attendance "did not justify the continued cost."

Eagen said districts have been squeezed by soaring costs. 

In Kings Park, general liability insurance is going up 14% next year, he said. Employee healthcare coverage is up 10% and the district is planning to spend $88,000 to shore up its cybersecurity protections. The district, which has its own bus fleet, is also paying more for fuel.

For districts that contract with bus companies, Eagen said transportation costs are going up 10% to 30%.

Those expenses are necessary to run a school district, but none of that money goes to improve services for kids, he said.  

"It just makes it very difficult to create something new when just about all of your budget increase is going to pay for noninstructional — like administrative/overhead — costs," he said.

Some optimism

In an annual questionnaire from Newsday, half of the Island districts said they were somewhat or very optimistic their schools could fund programs and services adequate to student need in the next three years.

Twenty said they felt somewhat or very pessimistic. The rest did not respond or said they could not know due to external factors outside district control.

Among those with an optimistic outlook was East Rockaway, one of the few with a proposal to add staff. For 2026-27, the district plans to hire two new special education teachers.

Superintendent James DeTommaso credited the district’s financial footing with good planning. For example, he said East Rockaway used some of the federal dollars to hire a guidance counselor to support student mental health.

"But we budgeted responsibly, knowing in two years down the road, we were going to have to build that into our budget," he said. "So we carefully calculated how we could do that."

Another district adding services is Valley Stream Central. The district is introducing new career and technical education (CTE) programs, including one to train students to become emergency medical technicians.

The EMT program was four years in the making and Superintendent Wayne Loper said seniors could leave the one-year-long program as licensed EMTs and go straight to work upon graduation.

Loper said there are not enough EMTs and the program would offer opportunities for students and benefit the community at large. 

"To get this off the ground, we've been planning and planning," he said. "To put it off because it's a tight or a bad budget year would be just a crime."

Propositions

On May 19, voters will also be asked to consider at least 90 propositions, many for capital projects to improve facilities.

The East Hampton district is proposing to build an indoor pool for $45 million and an indoor athletic space with a basketball court at East Hampton High School for $18 million. The average homeowner would pay $203 more annually for the pool and $82 more for the indoor sports facility for 30 years.

Superintendent Adam Fine said the facilities would be open for community use, though exact the arrangement is to be determined. Students have been using the pool in the local YMCA, which Fine said did not provide adequate access. If the pool is approved, Fine said the district would also place a CTE pool maintenance program there.

"It's up to the community if they want to support [the propositions]," he said. "I think it's a game changer being out East and not being able to get up the Island to access certain facilities."