LIVINGSTON MANOR, N.Y. – The Rockland Central School District Board of Education unanimously voted to adopt a $33.9 million district budget for the 2026-2027 school year on April 21. The budget now goes to voters to decide on May 19.
The budget includes cutting seven staff positions and shrinking some programs, including after-school and summer programs. It also includes a 4.48 percent tax levy, expected to generate $669,579 in revenue for the district.
The cuts include eliminating the positions of two elementary school teachers, one physical education position, and a social studies teacher. The other reductions include positions in the budget that had not been filled and one retirement attrition.
Kathryn Blackman, Interim School Business Manager, said that the latest budget has no budget gap – a shift from the $1.2 million budget gap previously reported during the April 6 board meeting.
Blackman said that increasing healthcare costs, coupled with the district’s high debt service – the costs to repay debt obligations – mirrors the tight financial challenges many school districts across the state are facing this year.
“Across the state and probably the country, we’re seeing a rebound effect from COVID and health insurance costs have increased into double digit – a low double digit increase for your district,” said Blackman during the April 6 board meeting.
READ: NY Schools Vote on District Budgets by May 19: What You Need to Know
To close the $1.2 million budget gap, Rockland Central School District (CSD) plans to use $905,123 in reserves and cut spending on equipment, school lunch fund program, summer school, after-school programming, and security.
Interim Superintendent Keith Lewis told Radio Catskill that the summer programs will be temporarily scaled back to serve roughly 80 students, down from 100.
“We’re not eliminating it. There might be a little reduction in time, but that’ll be the determination of the next administration,” said Lewis, who joined Rockland CSD last December as Interim Superintendent until the district hires a new permanent superintendent.
Lewis also said that staff reductions are likely to increase class size from an average of 15 to 17 students to 18 to 22 students.
“Class sizes, if anything, might increase a smidge, three to four students per class,” said Lewis. “That’s contingent on the fact that we stay static with our enrollment. We’re hoping that we have more students coming in.”
During Tuesday’s board meeting, a community member asked about whether teachers were consulted about other budget alternatives besides staff cuts. Lewis said he hadn’t consulted the broader teacher community and was unsure if other district leaders had.
In December 2024, the Roscoe and Livingston Manor Central School districts voted to merge into one single unified school district after decades of debate about a potential merger. The 2025-2026 school year marked the district’s first school year for its roughly 600 students following the merger.
Lewis said that if voters did not approve the upcoming budget, it could be “devastating to the district” to move to a contingency budget. “We’d have to cut another almost $669,000. That would wipe out all supplies, all equipment. You’d be at bare bones.”
As healthcare, program, and utility costs increase for school districts across the country, schools across New York are facing an especially difficult budget cycle this year. Meanwhile, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has yet to pass a state budget, leaving districts unsure exactly how much state aid funding they’ll receive.
The school district will host a public budget hearing on May 5 at the Rockland Middle School/High School, and residents will vote on the budget on May 19. Polls will be open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Rockland Middle School/High School and Rockland Elementary’s new gyms.
Image: Exterior of the Rockland Middle School/High School building in Livingston Manor, N.Y. (Photo Credit: Kimberly Izar)