Port Washington Schools Propose 3.43% Budget Increase

Port Washington taxpayers are looking at a 3.43% spending increase in the 2026-27 school budget, with a proposed tax levy hike of 3.25%, as the district’s Board of Education rolled out its preliminary plan Tuesday night.

The total budget, driven largely by surging employee costs, keeps the district within its tax levy limit. But a union leader’s pointed math during public comment cut through the administrative language: why eliminate department chairs costing under $20,000 each and replace them with a single director carrying a $200,000-plus price tag?

That question came from Regina McLean, president of the Port Washington Teachers Association, who challenged the district’s plan to scrap math chairperson roles in favor of a new districtwide director of mathematics, business and computer science. “Why replace chairs, who cost less than $20,000 per year, with a director who would cost over $200,000?” McLean said. “That is an additional $200,000 every single year. This is a budgetary boast, not a necessity.”

District administrators offered no direct rebuttal during the presentation.

Employee costs now consume roughly 73 cents of every dollar the district spends, and that share shows no signs of shrinking. Rising benefit costs are the primary engine pushing the budget upward, a pattern familiar to anyone tracking school budgets across Nassau County. The district is banking on a 7.5% increase in state aid under the governor’s proposal to help offset those costs, a projection that introduces real fiscal risk if Albany delivers something smaller.

Superintendent Gaurav Passi acknowledged the uncertainty around state funding, noting that both the Senate and Assembly have proposed foundation aid increases above the governor’s initial 1% offer. “We are encouraged to see movement in both houses, and remain hopeful that the final budget will include a more favorable adjustment,” Passi said. He also flagged that potential expansions of universal pre-K requirements under discussion in Albany could place additional pressure on the district, requiring partnerships with community-based organizations due to space limitations at existing facilities.

Board President Adam Smith said district leaders have been meeting with state representatives to push for more aid and greater flexibility in how funding gets allocated.

On the staffing side, the budget proposes a net increase of four full-time positions, bringing total district employment to 966 people. New additions include instructional coaches in math, a special education teacher and an elementary math AIS teacher. The district frames these hires as investments in student performance, though the simultaneous elimination of math chairs raises legitimate questions about whether the restructuring improves instruction or primarily shuffles administrative costs upward.

There is one clear piece of good financial news buried in the proposal. A recent facilities study determined that three schools no longer require planned electrical upgrades. That finding frees approximately $1.875 million to return to the capital reserve rather than disappear into construction contracts. For a district leaning heavily on employee costs, redirecting nearly $2 million back into reserves is a sound move.

Port Washington is not alone in navigating these pressures. Across Long Island, school districts are wrestling with the same combination of rising benefit costs, uncertain state aid and post-pandemic enrollment shifts. But the specific choices a district makes with limited dollars matter enormously to the homeowners writing those property tax checks twice a year.

The math chairperson restructuring deserves scrutiny before April 14, when the board is scheduled to adopt a final budget proposal. McLean’s arithmetic is straightforward. If the district eliminates positions that collectively cost a fraction of what a single director commands, taxpayers should expect a transparent accounting of what instructional benefits justify that added expense. Administrative reorganizations often promise efficiency and deliver something closer to overhead growth.

Voters will have the final say on May 19. Between now and then, Port Washington residents should press for clarity on the director’s full compensation package, the number and salary of chairs being eliminated and what metrics the district will use to measure whether the restructuring actually improves student outcomes. A budget built on 73% employee costs leaves little room for expensive experiments in organizational theory.