Superintendent says $3.2 million shortfall; board resists piercing tax cap, asks administration for line‑by‑line budget

Superintendent Gavin told the Rockville Centre Union Free School District Board of Education on March 26 that the district faces a structural budget gap and is proposing a combination of staff reductions, program changes and limited use of reserves to balance next year’s budget. "So, that is the goal of our presentation this evening," he said, describing a process that will lead to a preliminary budget hearing on April 16 and a formal budget hearing on May 7.

The administration said a combination of retirements and proposed reductions has narrowed an initial $6 million gap but that the updated shortfall is about $3.2 million. Gavin outlined proposed personnel changes that began with program reviews and include, as of the presentation, excessing roughly 19–22 teaching positions (depending on final enrollment and restored positions), reducing up to 40 teacher assistant positions (with four retirements factored in), one administrative position and cuts to stipends, club funding and some field‑trip subsidy lines.

Ms. Rehak, who led the tax‑cap and fund‑balance review, told the board the district’s tax levy limit is "currently at 2.06%" and recommended remaining within that cap while pursuing structural fixes. She reported the district’s total fund balance is about 10.94% of its budget and its unassigned fund balance is 3.45%, under the 4% statutory threshold; her recommendation is to appropriate $1.6 million of fund balance to support the 2026–27 operating budget while avoiding an unsustainable drawdown of reserves.

Board members queried specifics about special education, integrated co‑teaching, the number of students projected for incoming kindergarten IEPs, the operational impact of reducing teacher assistants on tier‑one instruction and whether central office positions should be cut. Several members said they opposed exceeding the tax cap. "I do not support piercing the cap," one member said during the discussion, and the superintendent later stated the board had signaled consensus against piercing the cap and that the assistant superintendent for curriculum should be retained in the budget.

The administration identified program and personnel tradeoffs: to make ICT (integrated co‑teaching) universal for incoming kindergarteners across all buildings would require adding three special‑education positions; the district projects roughly 12 incoming kindergarten students who will require services, spread across the five primary buildings. Gavin emphasized that when an IEP mandates a particular staffing ratio or an assistant, the district plans to retain those positions.

The board and administration discussed potential alternatives — rezoning and longer‑term reorganization studies, expanding revenue programs (adult education, out‑of‑district summer programs) and further examination of transportation costs — but agreed most of those options will require separate study and would not produce immediate relief for next year’s gap.

What’s next: the board asked administration to prepare a line‑by‑line balanced budget for the April 16 preliminary hearing, incorporating the board’s feedback, the three positions administration proposed to add back (an elementary teacher for Hewitt, a speech teacher and a contingency position) and assumptions about fund balance and the tax levy. The board voted by consensus to move forward on that schedule; no motion to pierce the tax cap was approved.