Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District administrators worked with the Board of Education Finance Committee this week to finalize its 2026-27 budget proposal. The $74.9 million dollar spending plan will be presented to the board for adoption on Monday, April 20.
“We believe this is a thoughtful and carefully crafted budget proposal that prioritizes our students,” said Superintendent Darcy Woodcock. “We’ve worked as a team to develop a budget that can provide the best education experience possible while remaining fiscally responsible to the community we serve.”
THREE-PART BUDGET
During Monday’s board meeting, administrators will present the proposal as a three-part budget. All New York state public schools are required by law to report their spending in three categories: administrative, capital, and program.
Administrative Component
The administrative component represents district and building oversight along with support services for all areas of operations. It represents 9.18%, or $6,882,505, of the proposed budget. It includes the superintendent, building principals, district office staff, and clerical employees. It also covers business operations, legal representation, district communications, information technology systems, audit services and various insurance coverages.
Capital Component
The capital component represents the expenses required to operate, maintain and secure district facilities. This includes debt service and funds transferred to the Capital Fund for work to be performed on district facilities. The capital component represents 16.36%, or $12,264,207, of the total budget.
Program Component
The program component represents 74.46%, or $55,815,747, of the total budget and includes instructional costs such as teachers, classroom support, pupil support services, co-curricular activities, athletics and the operational cost of transporting students.
BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS
The proposed budget calls for a $365,208, or 0.48%, reduction in spending over the current year’s budget. This is due to reductions made during the current school year, which have led to a year-over-year decrease in spending to better align expenses with revenues.
Administrators looked closely at all areas of the budget while navigating a rise in essential operating costs. The plan addresses a budget gap of approximately $5 million, driven largely by increases to utilities, health insurance premiums, and commercial insurance.
The district faced these increases while anticipating an estimated 1-2% increase in Foundation Aid from the state for the 2026-27 school year.
In the past, the district has used fund balance, essentially the district’s savings account, to help fill gaps, but it’s not a sustainable or fiscally responsible option to balance the budget. The district is planning to use about $2.5 million in fund balance and reserves to help fill the budget gap, which is $1.5 million less than last year.
Administrators, along with input from the board’s Finance Committee, followed three guiding goals while making budgetary decisions: maintain student programming, reduce staff through attrition as much as possible, and adhere to the tax cap.
District leaders used enrollment data to make staffing adjustments through retirements, resignations, and rethinking staffing models in all buildings to minimize the impact on students and programming. Academics, extracurriculars, and athletic offerings will not be impacted and remain available to all students.
The proposal includes a reduction of approximately 35 positions across the district. This includes 32 full-time equivalent instructional positions, two full-time equivalent administrative positions, and one full-time equivalent non-instructional position. 24 positions were reduced through retirements and resignations while 11 positions were reduced through layoffs. The positions include eight districtwide, seven at the high school, eight at the middle school, and 12 across the three elementary schools.
“We worked carefully to spread the reductions across the entire district to minimize the impact on any one school building or department,” said Woodcock. “These were difficult decisions, approached with fiscal discipline and a high level of respect for our employees. We strived to prioritize students and ensure the district is prepared to support its mission and strategic plan in the years ahead.”
The proposal stays within Jamesville-DeWitt’s calculated tax levy limit of 2.63%, requiring a simple majority of voters to approve the budget for it to pass. The decision reflects voter feedback and awareness of the financial pressures impacting the community.
The 2026-27 proposed budget would be funded through four areas: state aid ($22.9 million), the tax levy ($47.5 million), fund balance and reserves ($2.5 million), and other revenues ($2 million) from such items as county sales tax and interest income.
PROPOSITIONS AND BOARD ELECTION
When district residents vote on the proposed budget on May 19, they will also vote on two propositions and elect three Board of Education members.
Student Transportation: The bus proposition would allow the district to stay on schedule with its replacement plan, which aims to keep maintenance costs low and provide safe transportation for students. The plan includes the purchase of four new 65-passenger gasoline buses and one Micro Bird wheelchair (WC) bus for a total cost of $837,993.
The district continues to monitor the state mandated transition to zero-emission buses and intends to apply for a two-year extension to better analyze the impact on district finances and operations.
Community Library: Another proposition would allow the district to levy and collect a tax in the amount of $1,688,580 for the Community Library of DeWitt & Jamesville.
Board Election: Three Board of Education seats will also be on the ballot. The candidates with the highest number of votes will fill the available seats. Each term will run from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029. The board is made up of nine school district residents whose terms are staggered. Board members are not financially compensated for their service.
NEXT STEPS
A newsletter and postcard notice detailing the proposal will be mailed to the Jamesville-DeWitt community.
The district will hold a public hearing on Monday, May 11, at 7 p.m. at J-D High School in the Large Group Room. Community members can attend in-person or watch via YouTube. The budget vote is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, at the J-D High School gymnasium from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.