Niskayuna board adopts 2025–26 budget, approves pre-K contracts and bus proposition; discusses returning school resource officer

Niskayuna Central School District Board of Education on April 8 approved the 2025–26 spending plan and a set of related contracts and propositions as it heads into the district budget vote on May 20.

The board adopted a budget of $116,121,281 — a 4.83% increase from the prior year — with a tax‑levy increase of 2.29%, below the district's 3.58% cap. The motion to adopt the budget passed unanimously (7–0). The budget includes roughly $2.46 million in new investments and funds 20.8 new full‑time equivalent positions, board materials showed.

Why it matters: the budget sets the district's spending and the tax levy that voters will consider May 20. The package funds additional special education and student support, expands summer programming previously funded by grants into the general fund, restores one full‑time counselor at Iroquois Middle School for the sixth‑grade reconfiguration, and adds elementary staffing and security measures the administration says respond to community priorities.

Key details and context

- New positions and priorities: The presentation highlights 20.8 positions tied to academic priorities, including expanded special education supports, a dedicated director for science and…