Newburgh superintendent proposes $394 million budget, flags multi-year shortfalls and staffing changes

The Newburgh Enlarged City School District unveiled a superintendent's proposed budget of $394,068,884 for the 2026-27 fiscal year, with administrators warning that revenue is projected to grow more slowly than expenses over the next three years.

Ms. Roring, who led the presentation, said salaries and benefits remain the largest expenditure, followed by supplies, contract services, tuition and equipment. The plan includes staffing reductions of 35.6 full-time-equivalent positions, which the district said are being achieved through retirements and vacancies and do not involve layoffs. The proposal also adds seven new positions not tied to the CTE building, including six roles for exceptional learners and a PM chief custodian.

Revenue assumptions include a flat local tax levy (the proposed tax levy matches 2025-26), a 4% year-over-year state-aid increase largely driven by expense-driven aids (BOCES, transportation and building aid), and a 1% federal-aid increase. The district expects to reduce the use of appropriated fund balance by roughly 5% annually as a policy priority.

Officials presented multi-year projections showing a structural difference between revenues and expenses of about $4.16 million in 2026-27, rising to roughly $8.4 million in 2028-29 and $12.7 million by 2029-30 under current assumptions. The presenter said the district will continue to evaluate programs and staffing to address the gap.

Restricted funds were a focus of the presentation. District staff described the contract-for-excellence set-aside within foundation aid as prescribed dollars that have increased materially in recent years; the presenter said SED guidance projects roughly $26.1 million in that restricted category for Newburgh in 2026-27, to be phased in over several years and allocated to categories such as teacher/principal quality, pre-K, ENL, middle/high restructuring and time-on-task.

Board members asked for clarification on CTE staffing, transportation aid increases and the district's recruitment efforts for hard-to-fill special-education roles. Ms. Holder, who presented substitute and attendance data, noted that current-year absences are projected to be substantially lower than last year's total through March 10 but cautioned year-end projections are not final.

Next steps: district staff said the board is scheduled to adopt the budget on April 7, and administrators signaled continued review of staffing and program adjustments ahead of that vote.