Webster Central School District reviews $227 million draft budget as benefits, special education and transportation drive increases
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Summary
At a March 24 workshop, the Webster Central School District presented a draft $227,000,000 2026–27 budget (a 3.1% increase). Officials said benefit costs, rising special‑education/BOCES tuition and transportation pressures account for the bulk of the increase; board members discussed next steps and the public hearing timeline.
At a March 24 Board of Education budget workshop, the Webster Central School District reviewed a draft 2026–27 budget totaling slightly more than $227,000,000, a 3.1 percent increase from the prior year.
Mister Freeman, the district’s business official, told the board the draft adds about $6.8 million overall and that roughly 52 percent of the increase is attributable to fringe benefits, primarily health and pension costs. He also singled out rising special‑education tuition costs paid to BOCES and transportation costs as major budget drivers.
The draft combines materials from Workshops 1 and 2. Freeman showed line‑by‑line changes and described how some previously budgeted reserve offsets and a Medicare/consortium health‑cost adjustment between workshops required an upward revision. He said the district’s total draft is the product of planned attrition savings in instructional staffing, modest non‑instructional increases and larger unavoidable increases in benefits, special education and utilities.
Board members pressed for detail on the largest drivers. Freeman said special‑education tuition pressures could raise the district’s BOCES bill materially; he noted an illustrative tuition increase scenario that could add roughly $6.4 million to the bill if more students required external placements. By contrast, the district’s in‑house OWL program carries approximately $2.5 million in direct costs, producing a net budget advantage when OWL placements substitute for external tuition, Freeman said.
On transportation, Freeman presented how the state formula translates prior‑year transportation expenditures and district wealth factors into an aid ratio and then applies a series of deductions that reduce the effective aid the district receives. He showed a modeled example in which a projected aid ratio of 67.7 percent can fall to an effective rate near 59.8 percent after standard deductions.
Freeman reiterated the budget calendar: Workshop 3 on April 7, budget adoption April 14, a public hearing on May 5 and the budget vote on May 19. The state budget deadline is April 1; Freeman said the district will finalize state‑aid estimates after Albany’s budget provides specific figures. Materials from this workshop will be posted to the district website.
The workshop ended with a short staff recognition video. The board adjourned after a motion to close the meeting.
The board plans to return at Workshop 3 to review revenues, finalize state‑aid assumptions and present the levy‑limit estimate before the public hearing and vote.
