Sewanhaka H.S. district proposes $244M budget

By ANA BoRRUTo aborruto@liherald.com

The Sewanhaka Central High School board has unveiled a proposed $244 million budget for 2023-24, which includes the implementation of new courses and several improvement projects across all five schools in the district.

Kevin O’Brien, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, detailed the budget’s plans during a public Board of Education meeting on Feb. 28. The 2023-24 spending plan is about $17 million larger than the current school year’s $227 million budget, O’Brien said.

The state aid projection for next year is more than $72 million, roughly $14 million more than what was offered this academic year. O’Brien added that there will be a 2.4 percent increase in the tax levy, which falls below the district’s tax cap.

“We’ve initiated a lot of programs with the additional federal funds that we’ve received,”

Superintendent James Grossane said. “This way we can start transferring costs from the federal funds into our general budgets so programs that we put in place for students can be maintained. This large infusion from the state we’re very grateful for, because that will enable us to do that.”

The executive budget is typiContinued on page 11