The Kings Park Central School District on Dec. 9 received an initial overview of the 2026–27 budget that shows an early estimate of roughly a 5% budget-to-budget increase, Superintendent Dr. Egan said.

Dr. Egan told the board the district is building a “wants and needs” budget while awaiting several key outside numbers. “We don’t fully know our state aid until on or about April 1,” he said, and noted the district must work within New York’s tax cap law. He described retirement contribution pressures, saying the teachers’ retirement system (TRS) rate may fall slightly while the employees’ retirement system (ERS) contribution — which largely affects classified staff — may rise.

Those retirement changes, Dr. Egan said, could materially affect the budget: “Our teacher salary line is probably on the order of about $33 or $34 million,” he said, and adjustments to the TRS rate can change district costs significantly.

He also flagged that the district’s highest-cost students — students with intensive special-education needs — have been more expensive in recent years because of federally mandated services. “What we've experienced in the last couple years is that our most expensive students have gotten a little bit more expensive,” he said, adding the district must meet required services even if they raise costs.

Dr. Egan walked the board through the calendar for budget development: a deeper review of technology and school-based budgets in late January after the governor’s proposal, athletics/extracurricular and transportation discussions in February, central-office and staffing reviews in March, a final pre‑April review in late March, a budget hearing on May 12 and the budget vote scheduled for May 19, 2026. He emphasized the district will not know final state aid until roughly April and that the allowable levy will be calculated after CPI and other formula steps are known.

Board members asked for clarification about the drivers behind ERS versus TRS rate changes. “They're two separate funds that fluctuate,” Dr. Egan said, offering to research the investment and actuarial differences and report back.

Mr. Bianco framed the board’s objective as keeping staffing and student opportunities stable while staying within the tax cap. “It would not be our intention to pierce the cap,” he said.

Next steps: the board will continue a series of budget workshops through March and revisit assumptions as state and actuarial numbers materialize. The administration will return with updated figures after the governor’s proposal and once CPI and state aid estimates are available.