Dear GCSD community,
As we continue our work to build a responsible and student‑centered spending plan for the year ahead, we invite our community to join us for the upcoming Budget Q&A Forum on Tuesday, March 17. This special session is designed to give community stakeholders a dedicated opportunity to learn more about the draft budget and to ask questions directly related to the proposal.
Superintendent’s draft 2026-27 budget presented at March 7 Board of Education meeting
On Tuesday, March 10, Assistant Superintendent for Business Dr. Andrew Van Alstyne and I presented the draft budget for the 2026-27 school year to the Board of Education and Guilderland community.
We incorporated stakeholder input, including results from this year’s ThoughtExchange survey, to shape the drafted budget. The proposal reflects the community’s top priorities while upholding strong fiscal stewardship.
Meeting these priorities has become more challenging as school districts face significant financial pressures. New York’s outdated state aid formulas, rising student needs and uncertain federal support continue to strain public school funding.
While early‑elementary enrollment is declining, operating costs are increasing. The draft budget includes a 3.16% revenue increase (to $131.58 million), but a gap remains.
Recommended reductions would shrink the deficit from $4.1 million to $1.8 million. To help close this gap, the district is proposing the elimination of a small number of teaching and staff positions as well as several co‑curricular programs.
The draft budget focuses on aligning staffing with enrollment, meeting mandates and reducing non‑essential programming while protecting key academic, special education and operational priorities.
Budget Q&A Forum
A Budget Q&A Forum is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17 in the high school large group instruction (LGI) room. Because this is not a regular board meeting, the usual meeting format will not apply: there will be no voting, updates or public comment. Instead, the forum will focus solely on budget-related questions from both the Board of Education and the community.
If you would like to submit a question in advance, please email boardofeducation@guilderlandschools.net. Please note: public comments will take place during the next regular board meeting on March 31.
Thank you for your ongoing partnership and engagement as we continue to finalize our budget for the next year.
Sincerely,
Daniel Mayberry
Superintendent of Schools