Niskayuna proposes $116.1 million budget with 2.29% levy increase; SRO contract and nine-bus purchase to appear on May 20 ballot

Niskayuna Central School District officials on Tuesday presented a proposed $116,100,000 budget for the 2025–26 school year, recommending a 2.29% increase in the district's tax levy and roughly $2.46 million in new program investments.

If adopted by voters on May 20, the budget would represent a 4.3% increase in overall spending compared with the current year, district presenters said during the public budget hearing.

The district said the proposed levy increase of 2.29% is below its calculated tax-cap limit of 3.58%. Using current assessment and equalization assumptions, the presenters estimated that the levy change would raise the typical annual tax bill on a $300,000 market-value home by about $110 (about $9.20 per month), but they cautioned those figures are estimates until final assessments and equalization rates are set.

District officials described how the $2.46 million in new investments (20.8 full-time-equivalent positions) would align with district priorities: expanding special-education options with two self-contained classrooms (one elementary and a sixth-grade classroom at Van Antwerp), additional special-education staff at the high school, a dedicated director of science and engineering/technology, a phased-in elementary ELA curriculum (previously approved by the board), and a Summer Learning Academy moved from grant funding to the general fund.

Officials also proposed safety and student-support investments, including: - Funding to contract with a law enforcement agency for a full-time school…