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Trustee raises alarm over BOCES transportation spike; superintendent urges Foundation Aid changes
Summary
A trustee highlighted a roughly 70% projected increase in BOCES transportation costs; Superintendent Dr. Lynch said New York's updated poverty data will raise Lynbrook's Foundation Aid by about $1 million but urged further formula changes.
A Lynbrook board member told trustees the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) transportation budget for the region is projected to rise sharply, and the superintendent urged continued state action to update school funding formulas.
“For this upcoming school year, the budget will be $16,900,000. That's BOCES. That's not us. That's over a 70% increase,” a trustee said during the board’s BOCES budget report, contrasting prior years’ transportation budgets of about $8.4 million and $9.5 million. The trustee said the increase illustrates regional pressure on transportation costs that districts must absorb or address jointly.
Superintendent Dr. Lynch briefed the board on state-level movement on Foundation Aid, saying the governor’s proposal would use current poverty data rather than 25-year-old figures. “What that means for us practically is, dollars 1,000,000 increase in foundation aid. That's a 6.92% increase,” Dr. Lynch said. He described the change as “a move in the right direction” but argued the formula still fails to reflect modern school needs such as expanded mental-health staff and security costs.
Dr. Lynch told trustees the district is pressing legislators for additional changes to how special-education and school security costs are aided. He said administrators are bringing more students back to district-run special-education programs because they are pedagogically preferable and, in many cases, more cost-effective than out-of-district placements — but that state aid does not flow proportionately when services are provided in-district. He cited a formula example in which the district must spend tens of thousands before aid is reached.
Trustees said they expect BOCES to finalize its budget in April and noted that the high regional transportation costs will factor into local budget planning. No formal board budget actions were taken at the meeting; the discussion was informational and framed as background for upcoming budget work sessions and community outreach.
