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North Syracuse district projects $6.8 million shortfall; officials propose staff attrition and program trims
Summary
District business official Mr. Keegan told the Board of Education the 2025–26 budget currently shows a $6.8 million deficit and outlined strategies including using attrition to reduce staff costs, trimming programs funded by expiring federal relief, modest vehicle purchases, and a May ballot for pool funding.
Mr. Keegan, the district business official, told the Board of Education that the preliminary 2025–26 budget shows a $6,800,000 deficit and described steps the district is pursuing to close the gap.
Keegan said revenue is projected to rise by about $9,300,000 but that a 2% increase in state foundation aid and rising expenditures, including a larger debt-service payment, leave the district short. “We still have a $6,800,000 deficit,” Keegan said. He repeated that the district will not assume Micron-related revenue for 2025–26 because a pilot agreement has not been finalized.
The business official outlined three principal strategies: reduce spending on items originally covered by federal COVID-era relief that the district cannot sustain; use attrition and retirements to reduce instructional staff levels where appropriate; and trim support-department positions where vacancies occur. Keegan said the district will prioritize maintaining “adults in front of children” but acknowledged staffing levels are higher than peer districts and must be evaluated.
On transportation, Keegan said the district plans to buy two special‑needs buses and eight 65‑passenger buses plus two buses with larger gasoline tanks and cargo bays to reduce chartering costs for extracurricular trips. He noted transportation aid is roughly 75 percent and that bus purchases are highly aidable. Keegan said the proposed vehicle bonding would have an estimated tax impact of about 0.15 percent, or roughly $2.65 for a home with a true value of $100,000.
Keegan reported health‑benefit projections remain near 4 percent and that the district projects an unassigned fund balance of about $10,000,000 at year end. He reminded the board that the district subsidized the 2024–25 budget by using roughly $1,000,000 from its general liability reserve, leaving about $34,000 in that reserve.
Keegan said debt service and BOCES costs are driving expenditure growth; overall expenditures are currently projected to rise about 7.6 percent. He described continuing conversations with staff and the community and said the board will bring recommendations back in March and April ahead of final budget adoption.
The presentation closed with schedule notes: the district will ask voters to approve pool-related budget items and other propositions on the May ballot; the district’s next meetings on the budget process were scheduled in March and April, with the budget to be finalized in April.
Keegan said the district will seek to preserve core instructional, co‑curricular and athletic programs while identifying further reductions through attrition and operational changes.
