Wappingers superintendent presents 2026-27 budget calling for new special-education director and ~2.5% tax-levy increase

Superintendent Doctor Banck presented the Wappingers Central School District's recommended 2026-27 budget at the March 23 board meeting, saying the plan would add a human-resources supervisor and a director of special education while remaining below the state tax cap.

"For the fifth consecutive year, we will be coming in with a budget that will be below the tax cap," Doctor Banck said, and added that the district expects the tax-levy increase to be "somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5%." He said the budget would be balanced without staff layoffs.

Banck told the board that a $2,500,000 COVID/recovery grant the district used to fund additional social workers and school psychologists has expired. "Those monies have run out, so we were hoping to potentially absorb those positions within the budget. Unfortunately, we're not gonna be able to do that," he said.

Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Mr. Zipp explained how grant-funded positions affected coverage and what their loss would mean. "So right now with the grant, we have 3 school psychologists in it, 2 social workers, and a CAPE counselor as well as 2 behaviorists from a partnering organization," he said, and estimated that the district has added "upwards of about 30 individuals" to pupil personnel services since COVID.

Banck said the district plans to spend about $14,000,000 of fund balance this year and still expects to retain at least $11 $12,000,000 in fund balance going into next year. He said the proposal to add a director of special education responds to Tri-State consortium recommendations and community feedback and "will be an individual that will work between the assistant directors and the assistant superintendent for special education" to improve consistency across the district's 15 buildings.

Public commenter Allison Conte, a parent of two children in the district, praised the new director position and urged the district to provide more training and clearer information to general-education staff about special-education services. "I do hope it does give the opportunity for ADs and special-ed staff to be able to visit even our own programs in our district," she said.

There was discussion about whether and when expired grant positions could be restored; the superintendent said the district will evaluate staffing after a systemic restructuring of special-education services. No final budget vote occurred at the meeting; the superintendent directed the board to the district website for the full budget presentation.

What happens next: the presentation will inform the district's formal budget process and the May budget vote timeline announced later in the meeting.