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Levittown board previews 2026-27 staffing plan, reserve proposal and $15 million capital referendum
Summary
At a March 25 planning session the Levittown Union Free School District reviewed enrollment projections, proposed roughly 10.5 net FTE additions (driven by special education and English-language-learner needs), a revised reserves plan and a Proposition 2 capital reserve referendum asking voters to deposit up to $15 million.
LEVITTOWN, N.Y. '026 '026-03-25 '026
The Levittown Union Free School District on March 25 presented a staffing-focused preview of the 2026-27 budget that keeps the tax levy under the district's target while proposing modest program expansions and a voter referendum to replenish capital reserves.
The budget presentations and Q&A centered on enrollment projections, program-driven staffing needs and the district's plan to use and replenish reserves. Jacqueline Gaddis, who led the staffing presentation for the district, said district and BOCES demographic work show a modest long-term decline in total enrollment but a rising concentration of students needing special-education and English-language services. "We are estimating through looking at our trends and summer enrollment over the past 3 years of kindergarten, specifically, a kindergarten enrollment of about 440," Gaddis said.
Why it matters: even as total student counts are expected to drift downward over a 10-year horizon, the growth in ELL and students with disabilities drives program-specific staffing needs. Gaddis told the board the staffing plan for 2026-27 anticipates additions that largely address those programmatic pressures rather than broad class-size reductions.
What the plan would add and why: Gaddis said the district plans to budget roughly a net increase of about 10.5 instructional FTEs to support expanding special-education and ELL programs. She identified specific line items the administration proposed adding or funding in the staffing code: five additional special-education teachers, about 10 teaching assistants, one additional speech teacher, one BCBA position and five psychologists to support middle-school mental-health needs; at the elementary level the plan also includes one additional ELL teacher. She said the district also budgeted an elementary librarian, an instructional coach and a business teacher shared between middle schools to support an expanded career-exploration program.
Gaddis framed those changes as targeted responses based on PowerSchool and BOCES cohort-survival projections and recent trends in births, housing and transfer activity, not as a general increase in class-size hires. She also noted the district will absorb some retirements rather than refill every position and that contingency positions remain in the budget to accommodate summer enrollments.
Reserves, capital and levy: Business presenter Fabiano walked the board through the reserve-fund annual report and a five-year forecast. He said the current proposal reduces appropriated fund-balance use relative to earlier drafts and recommends a target range for appropriated fund balance of about 1.5% to 3.5% of the budget. He also described a capital-fund picture with roughly $23 million on hand but about $14 million tentatively set aside for athletic-field projects. "The proposition that will be before the voters will be to approve the expenditure of $15,000,000," Fabiano said, describing Proposition 2 as a capital-reserve referendum that, if approved by voters, would replenish the capital fund for a new set of projects.
Fabiano and staff also said the district's proposed levy stands below the district's tax-levy limit (presented in materials as about 2.18 percent) and that the proposed budget-to-budget increase is roughly 3.67 percent. Fabiano cautioned that outside publications may report earlier iterations of levy calculations because those outlets pull the state controller's published numbers once per cycle.
Questions from the board: Trustees pressed presenters on practical mechanics. Board members asked how the district plans for summer entrants who can change staffing needs, whether contingency positions provide sufficient cushion, and how charter-school tuition and related services are billed. On charter tuition Fabiano said the district follows the state-required billing process and that the district is requesting backup documentation where related services drive higher-than-expected bills.
Votes at a glance: the board approved routine items on the consents and moved into an executive session on personnel. Recorded routine actions during the special meeting included: acceptance of budget transfers (item 3.1) and schedules (item 3.2) and approval of consent items 4.2'04.17; those motions were recorded as passed by voice vote with all members present voting in favor (6-0). The board set the public budget hearing for May 6.
What's next: the administration's staffing plan and the reserve/capital proposals will be part of the board's review leading up to the public hearings and the May vote on the budget and Proposition 2. The district indicated staff will continue to refine counts and backup documentation before finalizing budget lines.
Attribution: quotations and specific program counts in this article come from the board meeting transcript; direct quotes are attributed to Jacqueline Gaddis (staffing presenter) and Fabiano (business presentation).
