Manhasset superintendent presents preliminary 2025-26 budget with program and security investments

Manhasset Union Free School District Superintendent Dr. Posse presented the district's preliminary 2025-26 budget at the March board meeting, describing a proposal that would increase spending by 3.38% from the current year and remain within the district's 3.11% property tax cap.

The budget, Posse said, focuses on expanding career-oriented pathways and investments in curriculum, facilities, safety and technology while keeping class sizes low. "This budget represents a strategic investment in our students, educators, and facilities," Posse said during the presentation.

The nut of the proposal is that compensation and benefits account for 74% of total spending, while 57% of the budget increase is directed to curriculum, technology, facilities, security and other initiatives. The administration is budgeting a $3.7 million budget-to-budget increase overall and is estimating a 7.68% rise in health insurance for planning purposes.

Key items in the preliminary plan include: - Program expansions: a biomedical sciences pathway (first course to run in 2025-26), expansion of the virtual enterprise business course, a new AP comparative government course, added Chinese pathway coursework, funding to expand VEX robotics and one additional club and one academic team at the secondary school. - Elementary instruction: preserve low class sizes and add a math coach by reallocating an existing literacy coach; the budget is built to keep elementary sections below district class-size guidelines. - Security and visitor management: funding for a contracted professional security consultant to serve as director of school security, a secondary-school student swipe system to track attendance and a visitor management system to print badges and log visitors. - Facilities and repairs: $172,000 to replenish the district repair reserve, continuation of an equipment rotation schedule and painting and building condition survey work. - Transportation: a planned 5% contractual increase this year tied to the final year of the current transportation contract and higher coach-bus costs; the administration recommended a transportation study in 2025-26 to find efficiencies ahead of expected contract re-bids that other districts report could rise 25%–30%. - One-time and reserve uses: the budget proposes allocating $328,000 from the district's debt service fund (previously raised in anticipation of a bond that was delayed), $50,000 from the TRS reserve and reducing appropriated fund balance by $120,000 to $720,000 overall; administrators cautioned these are one-time offsets.

Posse and staff emphasized where cost pressure is non-discretionary: certain health insurance and pension costs are set by external factors and collective bargaining, and special-education services are driven by students' individualized education plans. "Within the 74% allocated to compensation and benefits, certain costs are nondiscretionary," Posse said.

Board members asked for follow-ups on several lines: exploring alternatives to contract therapists (including mixed staffing models), clarifying the professional security consultant's role and visible identification, and confirming that curriculum and professional-development line items are sufficient for new course development. On the security consultant, administration said the district would contract with a K'12-specialized firm and expect one full-time security consultant, typically a retired law-enforcement professional, to provide day-to-day supervision, training and to attend county Homeland Security meetings.

The administration will present a final budget for adoption at the April 10 meeting; a formal budget hearing is scheduled for May 8 and the annual budget vote for May 20. Posse invited questions from the board and public at the close of the presentation.

Votes and routine items taken during the meeting included approval of the minutes and the consent agenda; specific vote tallies were not recorded in the transcript.

Ending: The board and administration plan follow-up work on transportation, contract-therapist staffing options and final cost estimates for security and visitor-management systems before the April adoption vote.