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Lynnbrook board told state aid rise eases but budget pressures remain, including 68% jump in transportation costs
Summary
At a Jan. 22 work session, district leaders said a proposed increase in state foundation aid would add roughly $1 million but warned of persistent unfunded mandates and large cost increases in transportation, special education and security that will shape the 2025–26 budget.
Lynnbrook school leaders said a proposed uptick in state foundation aid offered a reprieve but not a fix for deep, structural budget pressures as the district begins building its 2025–26 spending plan.
Dr. Lynch (staff member) told the Board of Education on Jan. 22 that the governor’s executive budget appears to include an increase in foundation aid for the district and that a change to the state’s poverty metric would mean “surprise, surprise, that equals a million more dollars in aid.” He urged trustees and residents to continue lobbying Albany even as the district prepares for likely reductions elsewhere.
The nut graf: District officials said the extra money helps but will not cover rising costs tied to special education, transportation, security and mental-health programming — areas they described as mission-critical and largely uncovered by current state formulas.
District leaders outlined where pressures are concentrated. Dr. Lynch said the state’s current funding rules require the district to “spend $70,000 of your money before the state even starts to aid us on kids that we're keeping in the district,” meaning aid for in‑district special‑education placements begins only after very high per‑student expenditures. By contrast, he said, placing a student out of district can qualify the district for aid beginning above roughly $23,000 in costs, a discrepancy he called “backwards.”
Officials also highlighted a sharp transportation cost increase. Dr. Lynch said that because the district had not rebid transportation since 2011, its vendor had renewed on inflationary terms for years and is now seeking a new contract. When the district solicited bids, he said, the transportation contract rebid produced a 68% increase that “now has to hit this budget.”
Another program cost that is not matched in the state formula is the district’s security staffing, officials said. Dr. Lynch told the board the district recently created a security force of retired law‑enforcement personnel and that “nowhere in the funding formula is that expense matched.” He framed the spending as a local priority that Albany’s aid rules currently do not cover.
Board members and staff said they have begun internal budget reductions and will defer adoption of a final budget until April to await state numbers. At the meeting Mr. Belmont (board president) told administrators they were conducting “very hard looks” at building and program budgets; Dr. Lynch said administrators had been cooperative and that the district aims to preserve classroom programs to the extent possible.
Officials asked trustees and community members to push legislators for adjustments in aid formulas and other fixes. Dr. Lynch said he will prepare sample messaging the board can use with state lawmakers.
Ending: The district’s business official, Mr. Press (staff member), is scheduled to present the detailed 2025–26 budget proposal in March; administrators said the board is likely to adopt a final budget in April after state aid numbers are finalized.
