Port Washington board reviews $199 million 2025–26 budget draft, reallocates $767,000 to classroom, safety and special-education priorities

At a meeting of the Port Washington Union Free School District Board of Education, interim Superintendent Dr. Daniel Shields and district administrator Kathy Manuel presented a draft 2025'26 school budget that they said would remain under the district's allowable tax-levy limit and require a simple-majority approval from voters.

"Tonight is budget workshop session number 3. Our goal tonight is to give you an update on our revenue sources and then explain how we recommend reallocating funds for the 25''26 school year priorities," Dr. Shields said.

The administration proposed an appropriation budget of $199,007,128, a 2.28% increase over the prior year, with a calculated tax-levy increase of 3.39%. Kathy Manuel told the board, "This draft budget is a budget of 199,007,128." The draft assumes flat revenue in most categories but notes a projected decrease in state aid of about $1,041,000 compared with the prior year.

Why it matters: the draft keeps the tax levy under the district's allowable limit, meaning the budget as presented would need only a simple majority to pass, but the administration said the final numbers could change depending on the New York State budget and final foundation-aid allocations expected in early April.

What the draft would fund: staff and program priorities presented by the administration total roughly $767,000 after reallocations. The list included: - Three prioritized full-time equivalent (FTE) positions in order of priority: at least one elementary classroom teacher to address class-size pressure, a middle-school guidance counselor and a high-school financial-literacy teacher; the administration said these are in priority order and could be adjusted depending on enrollments. - An assistant director for Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) to provide additional administrative support for special-education programming and compliance; Dr. Shields and Dr. Allen described the role as providing building-level support and allowing the PPS director time for administrative oversight. - Health-and-safety and facilities items including 10 air-conditioning units, a five-year AED upgrade plan estimated at $10,000, and device charging stations for first-grade classrooms (the administration deferred second-grade charging carts to next year). - Instructional items: increased field-trip allocations and science kit purchases for middle and high school totaling tens of thousands of dollars; specific line items noted included $8,000 for middle-school field trips and $66,000 for science kits. - Capital transfer items already planned: roof replacement and chimney work at Schreiber High School (about $2.5 million), a Salem roof replacement (about $1.35 million), bleacher replacement at Weber and district corridor flooring (total transfer to capital about $4.2 million, equal to last year's transfer).

How it would be paid for: the administration said the $767,000 of priorities would be covered by reallocating existing budget lines rather than increasing the proposed levy. Specific reallocations cited included reducing the executive-function outside-agency line from $150,000 to $50,000 (a $100,000 reduction), using unspent contractual codes (about $46,000), and savings from recent retirements and position realignments.

On class size and staffing: Dr. Shields and staff presented average class-size figures districtwide (averages of about 19'22 across grades) and flagged outliers at specific schools: for example, Guggenheim showing averages in some upper-elementary grades around 24.2 and SUSA around 22.6. "We will also be monitoring how many kindergarten classes come in," Dr. Shields said, noting the budget currently assumes 18 kindergarten sections but that number could change and affect staffing needs.

Trustees pressed for details and trade-offs. Trustee Mocconi confirmed that reallocations found $767,000 of the previously discussed $803,000 in priorities after deferring the second-grade charging carts (a $36,000 deferral). Trustee Gulliard and others pressed administration on the effect of removing one special-education FTE and on whether mandated services or caseload limits would be violated; the administration repeatedly said services would remain compliant with New York regulations and Part 200 limits. Dr. Shields and Dr. Allen said the district expects to remain within required ratios and would reallocate staffing to meet caseloads.

On devices, charging stations and monitoring: the administration proposed charging carts in first-grade classrooms this year but deferred second-grade carts until the next budget cycle. Dr. Shields said the carts respond to teacher concerns that devices left in classrooms lacked a reliable way to be charged, and noted the district plans to use device-monitoring software (budget-neutral) to manage instructional use and restrictions. Jessica Milani, a Manor Haven and Weber parent, urged the board to consider whether the district should remain 1:1 at the elementary level before funding additional device infrastructure.

State aid and timeline: the administration said it was awaiting final state aid numbers, expected between April 1 and April 9, and plans to refine the draft before the April 22 adoption. The budget hearing is scheduled for May 6 and the vote for the budget and board election is set for May 20.

Discussion versus decisions: the board did not adopt the budget at this meeting; trustees voiced general support for the approach but asked for continued refinement and more cohort-level data on outliers. Dr. Shields said he wanted flexibility to deploy the three prioritized FTEs as final enrollments and aid figures become clearer.

Votes at a glance (motions recorded during the meeting): - Motion to recess to executive session to discuss employment of a particular person and contract negotiations. Mover: Board President Adam Smith; second: Trustee Mocconi. Vote: 6'0yes, 0'no. Outcome: recessed to executive session. - Motion to reconvene in public session. Mover: (board president). Second: Trustee Deborah Brooks. Vote: unanimous; outcome: reconvened. - Motion to approve minutes from recent committee meetings (listed in agenda). Second: Trustee Emily Bayes. Vote: 7'0yes, 0'no; outcome: minutes approved. - Motion to approve consent agenda items 13.10.1 through 13.6.1b. Mover: (board president). Second: Trustee Julie Epstein. Vote: 7'0yes, 0'no; outcome: consent agenda approved. - Motion to adopt three policies (Independent Educational Evaluations; Declassification of Students with Disabilities; Time Out and Physical Restraint). Mover: (board president). Second: Trustee Julie Epstein. Vote: 7'0yes, 0'no; outcome: policies adopted. - Motion to adjourn. Second: Trustee Emily Bayes. Vote: 7'0yes, 0'no; outcome: meeting adjourned.

What's next: the board is scheduled to adopt the proposed budget on April 22, with a public hearing on May 6 and the budget vote on May 20. Administrators said they will update figures once the New York State budget and final aid numbers are available and will provide more granular cohort data to trustees as they refine staffing decisions.

Ending: trustees and administrators framed the workshop as an update and an invitation for continued detail work rather than a final vote; community speakers called for stronger action on outlier class sizes and for a careful review of the district's device strategy before further hardware purchases.