Saugerties board adopts $83.76 million budget, taps $4.5M in reserves to preserve student programs

The Saugerties Central School District Board of Education adopted a $83,758,576 budget for the 2026–2027 school year after a presentation from district leaders who said the plan preserves all student programs while closing a roughly $4.5 million gap.

District presenters framed the proposal around student needs and long-term financial stability. “This budget preserves all student programs and opportunities,” said Dr. Warlick, who led the presentation and reviewed district demographics, noting 2,463 students, 613 students with disabilities, 69 English-language learners and 1,027 students classified as low socioeconomic.

Why it matters: The board chose to meet rising costs without cutting classroom offerings, citing mandatory drivers such as contractual salaries, health benefits, transportation and special-education expenses. To bridge the shortfall, administrators proposed a mix of attrition-driven staffing reductions, efficiency measures and one-time use of reserves.

How the gap is closed: Administrators proposed using roughly $4.4–$4.5 million in one-time funds — including $1.1 million from the employee retirement (ERS) reserve, $2.0 million…