Taconic Hills board hears budget workshop as health and retirement costs drive modest increase

At Monday’s board workshop the Taconic Hills Central School District reviewed budget projections for 2026–27 and identified rising employee benefit costs, contractually required salary increases and technology and curriculum purchases as the primary drivers of a modest year‑to‑year spending increase.

Ashley, who led the budget presentation, said the district’s budget development priorities remain preserving current classroom sizes, protecting academic programming and managing fiscal constraints through attrition and right‑sizing. She said the district will postpone detailed special‑education decisions until the final workshop on April 8 to allow additional review of tuition and individual IEP placements.

The presentation listed three major new purchases proposed in the budget: SchoolFront, an online human‑resources/onboarding platform; a student‑data/MTSS platform such as Panorama or an equivalent to centralize progress monitoring; and a set of phonics decodables aligned to the science of reading to replace less‑effective materials. "This will streamline our HR processes and help staff access personnel files," Ashley said of the HR platform, and she added the data platform "strengthens the MTSS process because the data is right in the same location for everybody." (Attributions are to the district budget presenter as recorded in the workshop.)

Enrollment and staffing details factored into the discussion. Ashley reported about 45 pre‑K students currently enrolled who would enter kindergarten next year, plus three additional enrollments observed that night (48 total at the moment) and 41 families in the process of registering for pre‑K. The presenter said the district intends to rely on natural attrition and reassignments rather than layoffs, and described targeted adjustments — including reducing some elementary interventionist positions so staff focus on students in tier‑three interventions, creating a teacher on special assignment to support CSE meetings, and hiring an additional speech‑language pathologist to serve pre‑K students, with partial county reimbursement expected.

Benefit and retirement costs were identified as the largest budget pressures. The presentation cited a projected 7% increase in health‑insurance premiums (with prescription drug costs noted at 23.9%), a projected employer contribution for the state teacher retirement system (TRS) of about 8.24% (a decrease), and an increase in the local ERS contribution to 17.6%. The presenter also forecast a high‑end increase in liability insurance (roughly 11%). Ashley summarized the net effects shown in district materials and said the current presentation reflected about a 1.68% year‑to‑year budget increase.

The workshop also highlighted expected reductions in external placement costs purchased through BOCES, producing an estimated savings year‑to‑year (presentation quoted approximately $175,000 in reduced BOCES placement costs). District staff noted that some technology and curriculum purchases are more expensive but may be eligible for aid through BOCES or other funding streams.

On the timetable, Ashley said final health‑insurance rates are expected March 27 and final state aid figures after April 1. The board scheduled another budget workshop on April 8, a tentative budget adoption on April 15 (with the option to reconvene April 21 if more time is needed), a public hearing on May 6 and the budget vote on May 19.

What’s next: the board will revisit special‑education placement and tuition items at the April 8 workshop and expects to firm up levy options and the tax‑impact reports before the tentative adoption vote.